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hide-in-imagination · 16 days

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"Roads That Cross... with a Phone Call"

You can read the previous chapters here: (1),(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16), (17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24), (25), (26), (27), (28), (29), (30)

I only needed a solar eclipse to update! Yay!

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The next day, Simón left two more marks on Ámbar’s chest.

It was during lunchtime, which was rare because, usually, after a night like that, they didn’t need to satiate any more urges so soon after. But the pause in activity had been felt by both of them, and now that they could do it again, they didn’t seem to want to wait at all.

“I can’t stop thinking about last night,” Ámbar breathed between kisses and hurried hands, yanking off his clothes with the same urgency as her tone of voice. “I can’t concentrate on anything.”

Simón groaned and held her against his body, and then he gave her what she wanted and fucked her into the mattress.

There was something so satisfying about reducing such a strong force of nature like Ámbar into a gasping, whining mess with just a few bucks of his hips. She always had a witty comeback at the ready, an ironic comment aimed at whoever talked to her, but when she was like this, with him, she felt so much that Simón could leave her speaking in tongues.

It filled him with pride. It incited him to give more.

After, when they were dressing back up to grab something to eat (Simón shouldn’t have unraveled her for as long as he did, now they’d have to eat fast if they didn’t want to go over their lunch hour, but he’d missed this) Ámbar saw the new hickeys on her breasts and laughed, saying she didn’t know he had this side of him.

Honestly, Simón didn’t know either. It took seeing Ámbar wearing nothing but his shirt for him to realize just how much he liked it, and he couldn’t deny the surge of primal satisfaction upon seeing the marks on Ámbar’s breasts and neck. It looked sexy. She looked his.

Luckily, Ámbar said she didn’t mind, as long as they were few and nowhere visible, and as long as he allowed her to mark him too. Simón had no issue with that. In fact, part of him wanted her to leave the most obvious love bite on his neck and then have her show her own ones too just so he could flaunt them in front of Benicio like— See? We’re very happy together, stop being a pest.

But that would be petty of him, and he would feel bad using Ámbar like that, as if she were an object he wanted to show off. He felt a little disgusting just for thinking about it, so Simón pushed the urge down, down, down, until he could barely feel it at all. Besides, his imagination-self was way more shameless than he actually was. If Simón really walked around with a hickey on his neck, he’d die of embarrassment.

There was nothing to prove anyway. Benicio could’ve been bluffing when he spoke about that spot on Ámbar’s neck—A lucky guess. But even if he wasn’t, it didn’t matter. Ámbar chose Simón. Perhaps they’d been seeing each other less than usual the past few days, but every morning without fail they had breakfast together, and when the time came for Simón to leave, instead of saying goodbye, they always said: ‘I love you.’

“Have a nice day, I love you.”

“See you later, I love you.”

“I’m running late, gotta go, love you.”

I love you, I love you, I love you. That was the one thing important.

Throughout the next few days, they saw each other a little more actually, which came as a pleasant surprise to Simón. A couple of official, Manager things required Ámbar’s presence in the Roller, starting with the arrival of the new hires Ámbar had been requesting from Vidia for a while. They were three part-timers who would be taking over the weekends from now on so that Pedro, Eric, and Simón himself, could rest: two girls who would be in charge of the cafeteria, Cata (or Cat for short) and Rae, and one guy who would be the rink assistant and in charge of the lockers, called Alex.

Ámbar introduced them all personally on their first day of training. She told the girls and Alex that Eric, Pedro, and Simón would be in charge of showing them the ropes around the Roller, while she also managed to, somehow, slip into conversation, twice, that both Simón and Pedro were in a committed relationship. Very much taken. Not single.

She said it all with a smile and it was very smooth, but Simón still had a hard time refraining from laughing. Personally, he didn’t think it was necessary to point that out considering they would only be training the girls for a couple of days and then they’d never see them again unless they visited the Roller in their free time, but Ámbar apparently still felt the need to draw that line in the sand.

To be honest, it made Simón feel pretty good. It seemed like he wasn’t the only one with a bit of a territorial streak in the relationship.

The second reason Ámbar started visiting the Roller more was to personally supervise the last few arrangements for the Day of the Dead party. There were some led light signs that needed to be installed on the walls, spotlights for the ceiling and stuff like that, so Ámbar had to be there to give directions to the handymen responsible for it. Some decorations had to be done by hand too, and while Ámbar could make some of them at home, oftentimes it was more practical to just do them at the Roller.

Simón was happy to see Ámbar more, no matter how briefly. When she first started working on the decorations, he offered to help, but she told him to just worry about his own work, that she got it covered. Simón still helped her bring a table to the rink, one wide enough for her to put all of the materials on top of it and work on her crafts comfortably, and also carried any bags she needed to move from one place to another— There was no way he’d let her do all of that herself when he had a good pair of arms.

On a good day, they walked back home after work together like they used to, Ámbar’s hand in his, her snuggling up to his side to fend off the cold.

“How do you think the new guys have been adapting to the Roller?” Ámbar asked him conversationally, turning to look at him. “I mean, I asked them, obviously, they said they were fine, but with me being the manager maybe they don’t feel as comfortable talking to me as they do with you.”

Simón smiled. People could say whatever they wanted about Ámbar, but she was actually thoughtful, and ever since she’d become manager of the Roller, she’d been doing a great job at it. He would already put her leaguesover La Generala.

“They’ve been doing great,” he replied. “Alex is amazing at rollerskating, which is very lucky because that was the only thing Eric couldn’t teach him.” The two laughed at that. “The rest, he’d been picking it up nicely. Same thing with the girls. They both had experience working at places like this before, so it’s been easy for them to get the hand of making the beverages and working the register…”

“Oh that’s right, didn’t they both work at a coffee shop before this?” It must have been on their resumes, or maybe Ámbar talked about it with them when they met, before she introduced them to everyone. “Not like the same coffee shop but, you know.”

“Yeah.” Rae and Cat had told him that too. “Actually, I think they bonded over that and they’re starting to become friends.”

“That’s good.” Ámbar smiled. She looked to the side. “As long as they don’t get too distracted and do their job, obviously.”

“Obviously.” Simón laughed. Yeah, the boss position fit her well. Maybe she wouldn’t work at the Roller forever, but he could totally see her leading, with good ideas and consideration. “You know, I actually worked at a coffee shop too,” he mentioned.

Her eyes focused on him with a curious glint. “Really?”

“Yeah, back when I was sixteen. Then I started at Foodger Wheels when I turned 17. Then when Luna turned 16, she joined me at Foodger Wheels, and, well, you know the rest of the story.”

Ámbar leaned her head back a little, looking at him with slightly wide eyes. “Wow, I didn’t know you worked at Foodger Wheels too,” she said with disbelief. “So, that means that day it could’ve been you delivering my food instead of Luna?”

“Oh.” It was Simón’s turn to be surprised. “I had never thought of that— You’re right.” He huffed out a laugh. “How crazy.” He looked to the city in front of him, imagining how that could’ve been. “Do you think anything would’ve turned out different if it had been me instead of Luna?” He asked Ámbar.

“Well, maybe it would’ve helped to get me into your good graces if you hadn’t first known me as the girl who threw your best friend into the pool,” she said.

Simón burst out a laugh. “Oh my god, I had forgotten about that.” It seemed like a lifetime ago.

His gaze centered on Ámbar and his heart melted at how far they’d come since then. He brought their joined hands over her head and wrapped his arm around her in a fluid movement they had done dozens of times.

“Maybe I would’ve fallen irrevocably in love with you at first sight and never even questioned my friendship with Luna,” he told her, smiling down at her.

Ámbar’s lips ticked in that way that meant she was holding back from smiling. “I mean, I am that pretty,” she agreed, making him laugh and place a kiss on her temple. Ámbar’s giggle finally broke free after that. “But I think just knowing I had a boyfriend you would’ve forgotten about me,” she said. “Too much of a mess. I can’t see you wanting to get in the middle of that.”

Right, back then Ámbar and Matteo had been dating for a while. They were the ‘it couple’ of the Roller. If Simón had fallen for Ámbar back then, he surely would’ve had a very bad time, kind of like Luna did when she was falling for Matteo.

It certainly wasn’t a position he would’ve liked to be in. But Ámbar was wrong in thinking he could’ve just forgotten about her so easily. Simón hadn’t been able to do that ever since last year, ever since he first started falling in love with her. He couldn’t imagine how he’d manage to do so.

“Honestly, I’m glad you didn’t fall for me back then,” Ámbar said, looking to the front. “I would have not treated you right.”

She tried to make it sound funny but he could catch the self-deprecating edge in her voice. Her gaze lowered to her feet. “Well.” Her voice turned shyer. “Even now I’m not sure if I’m doing so great.”

Gently, Simón brought them to a stop. “Hey.” He squeezed her softly against his side, and when she turned to face him, he smiled at her lovingly. “You make me very happy. Don’t ever doubt that.”

Ámbar looked between his eyes and then her mouth curled into a smile, just as loving. “I love you.”

Simón gave her a short kiss. “I love you too.”

That was the one thing that mattered.

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

Another day, another 300 decorations Ámbar had to do.

She left the house that morning with Simón, choosing to work in the Roller that day. She had a box of unfinished flower garlands in her room, but she had many masks and posters at the Roller that she had started to paint and she wanted to finish those first, before anything happened to them and the paint smeared and she had to do them all over again.

If anyone had told her a year ago that she’d be doing all this craftmanship, ever, Ámbar would have either laughed very loudly or asked what millionaire sum they were paying her because there was no way she would do that otherwise.

As it turned out, some people were worth more than any sum of money, and Ámbar would personally paint hundreds of skull decorations if it meant making Simón happy. In fact, it wasn’t so bad. The artistry was rather relaxing if she just focused on the task at hand and didn’t think about how many other little trinkets she had to finish before the big day.

Maybe she would have to ask for help after all. Especially considering these were all decorations for a tradition she had never celebrated, meaning she wasn’t even sure if she was doing them correctly.

In a moment of distraction, she accidentally bumped one of the paint bottles with her arm, tipping it over and causing its contents to start dripping over the table.

“Shit.”

Ámbar hurried to pick up the bottle and place it straight on the table again. She reached for her purse and pulled out the pack of tissues she always carried with her to wipe off the damage. Thankfully, she was quick enough that the paint didn’t spread too much, so the decorations were safe and she didn’t stain the rink either. The same thing couldn’t be said about her fingers though. She hadn’t really thought about that in her hurry to protect all her precious hours of work.

The tissues helped with most of it but she couldn’t get all of the paint off her skin. Ámbar didn’t want to risk staining the decorations with her fingers, so she left the rink and walked toward the dressing room. A make-up remover wipe would definitely do the trick.

It didn’t occur to her to knock because she didn’t expect anyone to be there when she pulled the door open.

She certainly wasn’t expecting to find Delfi and Pedro making out when she did.

The couple sprung apart instantly when they heard her come in and whirled around to find Ámbar at the door. They stood there frozen, their backs to the mirrors and their wide eyes fixed on her as growing embarrassment flooded their features.

Ámbar maintained a poker face, staring back in complete silence.

Her eyes centered on Pedro.

“It’s not what it looks like,” he blabbered hastily.

She arched a brow.

“I mean, it is, but it’s not— I’m— I only took a short break, all the tables already have their food, I’m waiting— Please don’t fire me.”

Pedro, as it seemed, gave up on trying to salvage the situation and just begged.

Ámbar kept her voice and gaze even. “Pedro.”

“Yes.”

“Get back to work.”

The boy nodded energetically. “Yes. Of course, Ámbar. Right away.”

With his head down, Pedro sped out of the room as if his life depended on it. The door closed behind his back and Ámbar and Delfi were left alone. Their eyes found each other, and they kept each other’s gaze for a long second.

Ámbar couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

Delfi still looked embarrassed but she started laughing too, catching it from Ámbar, and just like that, all the previous tension totally vanished.

“Oh my god, you should’ve seen your faces—I should’ve taken a picture!” Ámbar rejoiced. It had been priceless. “I see you two totally made up from your fight,” she said to Delfi, giving her a teasing smirk. “As a person, I love it, but as the manager of this place, I need to make sure that kissing is the only thing you two have done in here.”

Delfi blushed furiously. “Of course! Are you insane? I would never do more right here in public!”

Ámbar laughed at her flustered state and raised her hands placatingly. “Okay, okay, it was just a question.” She let her hands drop. Her smile turned more genuine. “Good for you though. You both seem happy.”

Delfi smiled with that distinctive softness pertaining to being in love. “We are. Very much.” Then, either for the sake of being polite or maybe to draw attention elsewhere, she brought the topic around to Ámbar. “How about you? How are things going with Simón?”

Well, we don’t secretly make out at the Roller, but we do much worse at the mansion when no one’s around. Or should I say better?

“Mmm, you know how couples sometimes watch TV shows together?” Ámbar said instead of that— Too much information. Delfi nodded. “Well, my boyfriend is making me watch all Marvel movies in chronological order,” she shared flatly. There truly was a lot of time for leisure when one got their period— Who would’ve thought?

“Hey, at least those are entertaining,” Delfi said. “My cinema teachers at my university make us watch 3-hour-long, black-and-white films in which nothing happens— And they swoon like it’s the best thing ever!” She complained with disbelief.

Ámbar grimaced. “That sounds awful.”

“It is. How I wish I could be staring at Chris Evans’ back instead.”

“Oh yeah, nice view,” Ámbar had to agree. “He’s not my favorite though— Too goody-goody.”

“Says the girl that’s dating Simón.”

Ámbar gave her a dry look.

“Is it Thor then?” Delfi asked curiously. “Chris Hemsworth is hot too. Or Antman. He’s dorky; maybe it reminds you of Simón.”

“Why does it have to be like Simón?” Ámbar protested, and kept talking before Delfi could make another joke at her expense. “For your information, my favorite’s Iron Man. He gets so much shit for being— What? Proud? He’s the smartest man alive and a multimillionaire— He has reasons to be proud. If I were him, I wouldn’t even help those idiots; fend for yourselves.”

“It’s cute the mentor-like relationship he has with Spiderman though,” Delfi said, and immediately started breaking down. “Oh my god, when I watched Infinity War, you have no idea how much I—”

“Ssshh! Don’t tell me, we haven’t gotten to that one yet,” Ámbar stopped her, raising her hands.

Delfi’s brows ticked up. A teasing smile formed on her lips. “Ah, so you do like them.”

Ámbar shrugged and focused her attention on pulling some nonexistent lint out from her sweater. “I like that Simón likes them.”

When she looked up, Delfi’s smile had grown into a shit-eating grin.

Feeling a surge of embarrassment, Ámbar straightened her back and hid it behind a scoff.

“Why am I still talking to you?” She moved toward the mirrors. ��I came here to do something much more important, and I have plenty more important things to do. If you’ll excuse me.”

Ámbar sat in front of one of the mirrors and rummaged through the drawers until she found a package of makeup remover wipes.

As she pulled one out, she caught Delfi’s reflection on her peripheral vision, staring at her. “You know, you really are different now,” she commented.

Ámbar glanced at her through the mirror before refocusing on wiping her hands. “Is that bad?”

“No,” Delfi said light-heartedly. “I like this Ámbar better. Less bossy and easier to tease.”

Ámbar sent her a look, but the small curl to her lips betrayed she wasn’t entirely mad at this playful dynamic. It felt nice to just have some unserious conversation with someone once in a while— other than her boyfriend, obviously.

She had just finished cleaning her fingers when Delfi spoke once more.

“Jazmín told me you apologized to her the other day.”

Ámbar tried not to show her disappointment at losing the levity of the conversation so quickly. Peaceful moments never lasted very long for her. It seemed like something always had to remind her of her old transgressions (or her current ones, which she refused to think about.)

She dropped the used wipe into the trashcan next to her and replied with tranquility. “It was the right thing to do.”

She could’ve left it at that, but given the opportunity, Ámbar turned around in the chair to look at Delfi directly. “But I’m not expecting you two to go back to being my minions or anything, don’t worry,” she clarified. “I’m just slowly, little by little, tying up loose ends.” It was all she could do.

She couldn’t go back in time and change the things she did. All she could do was apologize, and be better in the future. Before, her concept of ‘better’ only meant succeeding in all aspects of her life, no matter the cost. Now, she understood all the damage she had inflicted, onto others and herself, for thinking that way.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t like to be your minion again,” Delfi said, with clear disdain forthat idea. No one would want to be in that position, Ámbar thought with some guilt.

A playful expression showed up on Delfi’s face. “But maaaybe I could be your friend.”

Ámbar had to do a double-take. She stared at Delfi, trying to discern if she was only making a joke, but she looked sincere. Something warm and bright fluttered weakly in Ámbar’s chest— Hope.

“Really?”

Delfi showed her a small smile. “I think you’ve really changed. And, if we ignore all the awful things, we did have some very good moments throughout all those years of friendship. Plus,” she added with that playful lilt again, “I’ve noticed that the only people you talk to lately are either Simón, Ramiro, or the rest of the guys that live at your house— I think you’re in desperate need of a girl view.”

The fluttering was no longer a tentative thing but the mighty upward flight of a bird through the sky. A smile grew on Ámbar’s lips and she rose from her chair, hesitating only for a moment before going for a hug, and to her utter relief, Delfi hugged her back, just like in the old days, but better.

“Thank you,” Ámbar told her over her shoulder, eyes closed to capture this moment, this proof that not all her bridges were burned.

She could hear Delfi’s smile in her voice as she answered. “You’re welcome, girl.”

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

The raucous of many voices talking and laughing all at the same time permeated the locker room as the Roller Team tied up their rollerskates for another training session.

There weren’t enough benches in the place, so everyone took turns to put their skates on. Simón had been the first one to enter the lockers, so he gave his spot over to Jim and was then the first to slide out.

He was excited about rollerskating, of course, but the truth was that his main motivation to arrive before everyone else was the dazzling blonde standing on one corner of the rink, surrounded by an assortment of flowers and skull decorations in different colors, almost as vibrant as her, but not quite.

Ámbar heard him roll near, so she spun on her feet, and a smile blossomed on her lips when she saw it was him. Simón felt his heart do a happy dance and thought of how lucky he was to have her, not for the first time. Having the person you love love you back had to be the most magical thing anyone could ever experience. Having said person also throw a party for you just to gift you a little piece of home had to be a bonus not many received, and one Simón was incredibly grateful for.

Sure, their relationship wasn’t perfect— not by a long shot. There were a lot of things that worried him. Things he wished that could be better. But in the quiet moments, Simón was simply in awe of just how in love he was with this girl.

“You’re kidding,” Ámbar said with a happy sparkle in her eyes. “I was just about to call you, how did you know?”

If he hadn’t been already, that would’ve made Simón smile. “I don’t know, I guess we’re connected.” At least I’d like to think we are.

He pointed down to his skates. “Also, it’s time for our training session.”

Ámbar’s eyes widened. “Oh, is it that time already?” She checked her phone and, upon confirming this, pocketed it quickly. “Sorry, time flew by. Before I go, real quick— I changed my mind.” She looked at him with a slightly chagrined expression. “Could you help me with all of this? I’m sure you know a hell lot more than I do and—” The rest of the guys started filling the rink right that second. Ámbar looked behind Simón and called out to them. “Please stay clear of this corner!” She gestured to her table. “I’m working on all this stuff and I wouldn’t want them to tear or anything.”

His friends made different sounds of agreement. Simón turned to face Ámbar again. “Sure, I’ll help you with the decorations, no problem.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I’m just kinda lost with all these skeletons and things.”

“Well, you don’t have to fret anymore because the bestMexican boyfriend in the world has at least a million ideas for you,” Simón declared playfully.

Ámbar’s brows ticked up with interest. “Really? A million ideas? Well, I sure have to find him now and get him to help me. You know where I can find him?”

Simón placed one hand on the table behind her and leaned in closer, answering her little smirk with one of his own. “Well…”

Juliana clapped her hands loudly from the middle of the rink. “Alright, alright! Time for practice!”

“Yeah, let each other breathe for a moment, you guys!” Matteo yelled at them.

Simón pulled away from Ámbar and looked at the other boy. “Envy is bad for you, Matteo!”

The rest of his friends started to tease Matteo. Simón turned back to his girlfriend with a smile. “See you at the mansion?”

Ámbar nodded. Simón gave her one quick peck before skating away to join his team with the initial warmups. He watched from afar as Ámbar walked away from the rink.

Simón wished she didn’t have to. He missed having Ámbar as his skating partner, the days when she was on the team and they were all friends. He knew that a lot had happened, and Ámbar had only stopped being a Red Shark some time ago, so it wasn’t as easy as just inviting her back, but he wished he could. He didn’t know how everyone would react if he did though. He’d like to believe they wouldn’t be completely opposed to it, but that wasn’t the same as liking the idea, and Simón would hate himself if he put Ámbar through an uncomfortable situation like that. He didn’t want there to be a them with her just existingon the sidelines. (Although he understood that it was her who first created that divide.)

In summary, he just had to be patient, as with all things Ámbar-related.

That was fine by him. After all, he was convinced that she was worth it.

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

Hours later, after everyone had already had dinner and the oldest went to sleep, Simón found himself with the guys in the storage room. They’d been showing Matteo some new songs they had created for the Roller Band, and he even helped them finish some of them, coming up with some brilliant ideas that made Simón and Pedro’s eyes sparkle and their hands play the instruments more enthusiastically.

(Simón refrained, once again, from just asking him if he wanted to be part of the band. While he would love that, Matteo had his solo career dreams, and that was totally okay— Simón wouldn’t want him to accept just out of a sense of comradery for them, or pity, and then regret it later.)

Now, after all of that, it had gotten late (and Simón had some arms to return to), so Pedro had risen from his seat behind the drums, and Matteo and Simón were putting their guitars away, disconnecting cables, and all that stuff.

It was just the usual until Matteo made a joke about how “If you wanted to, you guys could be a Christian Rock duo and call yourselves ‘The Apostles’, what with those names you’ve got” and Simón rolled his eyes.

He was about to point out how ‘Matteo’ was also an apostle’s name when Pedro jolted suddenly and grabbed Matteo’s shoulder.

“There! Did you see that? I told you!” Pedro exclaimed, amused, and pointing at Simón for some reason.

Matteo let out a laugh, joining Pedro’s amusement. “Oh my god, you were right!”

Simón looked at them a little self-consciously. “What? What is it?”

Pedro looked at him with a teasing smile. “Ámbar’s rubbing off on you, man. You roll your eyes just like her now.”

Simón wrinkled his brows, bemused.

“Doesn’t everyone roll their eyes sometimes?”

“Not like that they don’t,” Matteo countered. He pointed at him. “That is a registered trademark of Ámbar Smith.”

Even though they were making fun of him, the notion made Simón feel all warm inside.

A little laugh escaped his lips. “Well, maybe. I mean, we spend a lot of time together.”

“We know,” Pedro said dryly.

“Yeah, you smell like flowers now, dude,” Matteo said, “I think everyone knows.”

“Actually, I’m surprised Luna’s dad hasn’t told you anything yet,” Pedro said.

“I think he’s pretending not to notice for the sake of his mental health,” Matteo theorized.

Simón frowned a little. He knew he was bound to smell a little like Ámbar when they started sharing bathroom products, but he didn’t think it was that noticeable— He still used his own deodorant and wore cologne some days. He tried bringing his arm up to his nose to see if he could catch a whiff of ‘flowers’, as his friends said, on his skin, but of course, it being his own body, he couldn’t really smell anything because his nose was used to it.

“Maybe I should start using my own products,” Simón thought out loud. He liked knowing he smelled a little like Ámbar (it felt like they were married, which was silly and insane, of course, therefore that thought only lived in the most profound level of his subconscious) but maybe parading around that they shared the same shower when he was supposed to have his own room wasn’t the best idea.

“I mean, considering whatever Ámbar uses is probably more expensive than what you earn in a whole week, yeah, maybe,” Matteo said.

Oh. He… hadn’t thought about that.

“Anyway, we were talking about your new music career,” Matteo continued. “Should I help you two replace all mentions of ‘girls’ in your songs with ‘Jesus’?”

Simón and Pedro laughed out loud.

“Absolutely not.”

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

Ámbar was about to change into her pajamas and get into bed when she realized she couldn’t find her Scotch tape anywhere.

It wasn’t like it was a terrible thing. She could easily buy another one. But she liked to be organized, so she decided to go downstairs and check the living room in case she’d dropped it when she was working on the decorations earlier. If it wasn’t there, then she’d consider it lost and buy another one, because she was sure she still had it at the Roller.

Ámbar walked through the hallways and down the stairs trying to make as little noise as possible in case someone was already sleeping. The lights were off in the living room, but there was enough light coming from the garden lighting outside that it wasn’t hard to see. It wasn’t enough to find a tiny clear tape on the carpet though, so Ámbar turned on a table lamp, and when that wasn’t enough, pulled out her phone and used its flashlight as well.

Finally, she found the little roll of tape underneath the sofa. She must have kicked it under there by mistake earlier. She put it in her pants pocket, and she had just turned off the flashlight on her phone when the device started ringing, startling her a little.

It was the loud sound against the otherwise silent house, the lightning panic of ‘shoot, I’m going to wake up someone’ that reflectively crossed her mind. She would’ve gotten over it as quickly as it happened if it had been any other number calling her on the phone. But as she read the caller’s ID, Ámbar’s nervousness didn’t settle down— It was heightened.

‘Vanessa’

Maybe it was the suddenness of it— That she took her by surprise. Maybe it was her brain urging her to quiet the noise as soon as possible. Maybe it was the mix of curiosity and worry at having her godmother call her at this hour. Maybe, under different circumstances, Ámbar would’ve thought about it twice before answering the call.

But the fact of the matter was, she did.

“Hello?”

“Ámbar.” Sharon’s voice came through with its usual mix of impassiveness and undercurrent firmness. “I hope you’ve gotten over your little tantrum because I need your help. It’s important.”

The ball of anxiety grew in Ámbar’s chest, along with confusion. “My help? With what?”

“I need to get inside the mansion,” Sharon said without preamble. “I can take care of the guards at the entrance, but I need you to make sure that no one crosses my path while I go in and out of my room. I’ll go at night, when it’s less likely someone will see me.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Get inside the mansion— Are you insane?” Her voice almost rose for a moment and Ámbar had to remind herself to keep speaking quietly. If anyone heard her, it would be incredibly bad— But what her godmother was saying was even worse. “Wasn’t it enough with last time?” She demanded with outrage. “I thought you had understood that it’s not a good idea— You’re going to get caught.”

“Not if I have a good lookout, which is why I need you. You’re the only one I can trust, Ámbar.”

Ámbar shook her head. That was always Sharon’s technique— Try and pull at Ámbar’s heartstrings when she needed something from her. But Ámbar had done this dance too many times. She knew how it ended.

“No,” she replied, firmly. “I am not going to help you. Why are you even asking me? Ask Rey or Maggie—they are your little toy soldiers, don’t pull me into your crazy ideas.” I have too much to lose.

The mild softness in Sharon’s voice vanished as fast as it had appeared. “Rey got me the key for the chest four days ago, but since then, he’s been reluctant to cooperate with me and I can’t enter the house without help from the inside, it’s too risky,” she explained with evident frustration. “It must be Maggie’s influence, no doubt. That woman only causes trouble.”

Good job, Maggie, Ámbar thought with some relief.

“Or maybe Rey doesn’t want to help you because he knows as well as I do that this is a bad idea,” she emphasized. “What even is in that chest that you want it so much?”

“That’s none of your business,” Sharon retorted immediately. “Just help me get inside to retrieve what’s mine and I promise that I won’t step on that house again. Not until I have gotten rid of those pests who took it from me in the first place, of course,” she added.

Ámbar closed her eyes. How could she not see? No one took anything from her— She was the one who alienated herself from her family for trying to hide the truth. Was accepting the reality that Luna was the heir to the Benson fortune so impossible for her that she was willing to destroy everything in order to avoid it? Destroy herself?

“You need to stop this, godmother.” Ámbar tried to infuse strength into her words but her emotions filtered in, making it sound like begging. “What you’re doing is wrong. Not only is it wrong, it’s dangerous— I’m worried that something might happen to you. Please stop this before it’s too late.”

“If it really worried you that much, you would help me,” Sharon said. “The sooner I get what I want, the sooner all of this will be over— You know that, Ámbar.”

“The Valente don’t deserve this,” Ámbar said. “They’re good people. And if you don’t want to think about them, think about Grandpa— He is your father. He almost had a heart attack the last time something happened, imagine if something terrible happened to him— Would you really be able to live with that?”

“My father made his own decisions, including siding with those newcomers who took everything from us, so whatever happens to him will be exclusively his responsibility.”

Ámbar shook her head in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.” Was she really that far gone? Did she not care about anything?

Am I wasting my time? Ámbar thought with sudden, terrifying despair. Is there no way to fix this?

“I’m very serious,” Sharon declared. “So think very carefully if you want to keep siding with that family.”

Ámbar swallowed a groan of frustration. “You don’t understand, it’s not about sides. I just want—”

The sound of footsteps coming from behind her made Ámbar’s heart jump to her throat.

Rapidly, she hung up and turned around, trying to not seem too suspicious.

The fist in her chest tightened when she saw it was Simón who had come in through the kitchen door— out of all possible people— and, judging by the curious look he was casting her way, he had definitely caught her talking on the phone.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

“I thought you’d be in bed,” he said. “Why did you hang up so fast? Who was it?”

Ámbar tried to think through the buzz of panic in her head. “Yeah, um, I forgot something down here so I came to find it,” she said. Her mouth felt dry. “I did, so, it’s all good.”

Simón made a noise of understanding but the wrinkle between his brows remained. “And the call?”

“No one,” Ámbar responded instinctively. Fuck, she was so stupid— of course it couldn’t be no one! “I mean, no one as in nothing important, don’t mind it,” she tried to dismiss it.

Simón let out a laugh. “If you really told me you were talking to no one, I would be worried that you’ve been stuck inside this house so long it has started to affect you and you hear voices now,” he joked.

Ámbar forced a weak laugh out of her in response. “Yeah, no, it was… Emilia,” she came up with. “She was just calling to annoy me, so I cut her off. But it was nothing, really.”

The amusement left Simón’s expression and he became serious. “Do you want me to talk to her?” He offered. “I’ll talk to her,” he decided before she could speak. “It’s not fair that she’s harassing you after they kicked you off the team. What does she think she’s doing?”

Ámbar’s eyes widened slightly. “Nonono, leave it, really, I can handle her,” she assured him, trying to seem as unbothered as possible while fear gripped her senses. “It’s not like it bothers me anyway, it’s her time she’s wasting, not mine.”

“You sure?”

Ámbar nodded immediately, eager to put the topic to rest. Simón, too good to just let it go, walked toward her with a slightly saddened expression and held her hands in his. “We shouldn’t have even invited her to sing with us at the Roller Jam,” he said with some bite. “I know why you suggested it, but if she’s still bothering you even after you tried to do something nice for her, then she’s not worth it.”

He was so aggrieved for her sake and it only made Ámbar feel worse. He only wanted her to be treated fairly, kindly— He wanted to defend her from what could bring her harm. And in the meantime, what was she doing? Sinking in a sea of lies and drowning others with her in order to maintain them.

I’m the harm and he doesn’t know it.

“I just thought it was fair. And who knows? Maybe she just needs time,” she attempted to defend Emilia in order to salvage her conscience. “But whatever— I don’t have time to think about Emilia or anything of the sort, it really doesn’t matter,” she said fast and dismissively. She squeezed his hands and smiled. “Let’s just go upstairs, okay?”

Ámbar turned off the lamp and they went up to her room hand in hand. The darkness gave her an excuse to not look him in the face.

The warmth of Simón’s hand felt suffocating against her own, as if it burned her skin— holy water on the worst sinner. Ámbar felt disgusting. She didn’t deserve this hand.

But she was not going to let it go. She held it tighter. She held him tighter.

She was not letting Simón go.

Ever.

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

The next morning, Ámbar woke up before him, as she usually did, but Simón convinced her to stay in bed and sleep some more. They’d had a long night last night (Ámbar had been inspired, running her hands and mouth all over his body, and he had no desire to say no) but more than that, she’d been visibly tired lately with all the preparations for the Roller Jam, and she deserved the rest.

“It won’t kill you to sleep in one day; take the morning off.”

His stubborn girl was still sitting up and rubbing at her eyes, trying to wake up even though she was clearly exhausted. “I can’t do that, I’m supposed to be working.”

“I won’t tell Vidia if you won’t.”

Ámbar gave him a disapproving look and pouted, and she looked absolutely adorable with her disheveled hair and sleepy eyes.

Simón kissed her pout. “Seriously, just sleep two more hours, it’ll be okay.”

Ámbar closed her eyes and let her head fall back on the pillow. “Mmm, but I like having breakfast with you,” she murmured.

Simón smiled and tucked some hair away from her face. “Me too. So, sleep so that we can do that tomorrow.”

Ámbar hummed again and snuggled under the covers. There might have been an ‘okay’ there somewhere but it was too muffled and sleepy to tell.

Simón leaned down to drop a kiss on the top of her head before getting up. “I love you.”

“Luv u,” Ámbar mumbled, and by the time Simón walked out of the room, she was out like a light.

The rest of Simón’s morning went on as normal, with him walking to the Roller with Pedro, starting his workday, and supervising the new part-timers while they learned the ropes in the cafeteria.

The first few days of this last activity had felt like double work for Simón and Pedro because they had to train the new girls in addition to keeping up with all their usual duties, so it was a lot. Alex, the new rink assistant, had been easier: He already had rollerskating experience, so all they had to do was show him how the rental system in the lockers worked and teach him about safety precautions in the rink and what to do in case of any accidents— stuff like that. Eric, being the full-time rink assistant, took over most of his training, so Simón and Pedro only had to worry about the cafeteria.

‘Only’ was an understatement, of course— It was the hardest part. But by now, Cata and Rae had gotten a pretty good hang of things— Simón hadn’t lied when he said to Ámbar that they learned things quickly— so he felt way more at ease. Actually, he hadn’t felt this relaxed while working since the days when Nico was still with them. Four people worked better than two, after all. He would miss the girls once they started working on their own on the weekends, and he was sure Pedro shared the sentiment, but in exchange for that, they’d finally get to have their weekends free like the rest of the world, so really, they couldn’t complain.

He brought two hamburgers over to table 4 and then there was a small lull in activity as all the customers enjoyed their food and joyful conversation. Simón took the opportunity to go to the lockers and see how Eric and Alex were doing. Just as a friendly visit, mostly, but if he was being honest, he did have another agenda.

He’d been thinking for the past few days how great it’d be if Alex happened to play an instrument and wanted to join the Roller Band. Simón didn’t want to get his hopes up, but they could finally be a band again! Alex seemed like a very nice guy from the interactions Simón’d had with him until now, and Eric felt comfortable around him, which said a lot because he was usually nervous around new people, so really, what was there to lose in asking?

Unfortunately, when the three of them got talking and Simón subtly brought the topic up, he came to find out that, while Alex loved music, he had absolutely no ability for it.

Simón hid the disappointment he felt. Of course finding a new member wasn’t going to be that easy. Looking at it objectively, it would have been an unbelievable stroke of luck if Alex turned out to be the solution to all their problems. Not because Simón got to the Roller and was a perfect fit for the band meant that everyone who arrived would be as well.

Maybe Eric could join if he weren’t so shy, Simón thought.He’d been great at Nico’s farewell party. But Simón wasn’t going to force him out of his shell just for his own gain.

The idea of the Christian Rock duo was starting to sound appealing.

They were still talking when someone else walked into the room. There was a minimal pause, almost imperceptible, as the three of them glanced to the side to check if it was someone in need of assistance, but it was just Emilia, who walked toward her locker without even looking at them.

Eric and Alex continued talking, but Simón didn’t. He stayed staring at Emilia, feeling a spark of anger flare inside of him as he remembered last night.

He simply couldn’t understand it. Ámbar was breaking her back organizing an event that everyone could enjoy, that she invited Emilia to participate in as an olive branch, and Emilia repaid that good faith by calling Ámbar just to mess with her? How could anyone be so ungrateful?

Simón couldn’t even be sure this was the first time something like this had happened. Ámbar had a tendency of wanting to deal with everything herself— The prime example of that being that she told Simón not to worry about it, that she could handle Emilia— So who knew how long this had been going on.

Emilia put her skates away and walked out of the lockers as quietly as she had come. Simón tightened his fists. Yes, Ámbar could deal with Emilia— Simón had no doubt that she could handle almost anything if she put her mind to it. But it wasn’t fair that this was happening, and Ámbar didn’t have todeal with everything alone— She had him now. And he sure as hell wasn’t going to allow something like this to keep happening without doing anything about it.

Simón said a quick bye to the guys and walked out right after her.

In the hallway, he threw a quick look around in search for Benicio, because wherever Emilia was, Benicio was always close by. Simón found him still at the rink, rollerskating by himself. Good. That way he wouldn’t have to deal with both at the same time.

Emilia was already crossing the front door by the time he brought his gaze back to her. Simón hurried after her, walked out of the Roller too, and stood in her path, causing her to stop.

“I need to speak with you.”

Emilia blinked, both in surprise and confusion. “With me? What, is there another event you want me to sing at?” She joked. “I’m very sorry but you’ll have to tell me all about it tomorrow—I gotta get to work.”

She tried to pass by him but Simón blocked her way.

“No, it’s not about that. And you know what? If we had known this is what your response would be, we never would’ve invited you,” he spat her way. “I mean, Ámbar wanted to invite you as a kind gesture, she was trying to put an ending to all the fighting so you could be a part of something nice for once, and this is how you repay her? Calling her up just to annoy her? It isn’t enough for you to be so unfriendly to everyone in their presence, you had to bother her during her free time too?”

Emilia wrinkled her face. “What are you talking about?”

“Last night, when you called Ámbar on her cellphone to harass her,” Simón stated in no uncertain terms.

Emilia’s eyes narrowed in a glare. “I haven’t called your little girlfriend since she sucked face with you. She became a loser by association.”

“Don’t lie, Emilia. Ámbar told me.”

“I’m not lying,” Emilia protested. “Here, you wanna see?” She pulled out her phone and offered it to him. “Check my phone’s call history. You won’t find Ámbar’s name anywhere.”

Simón hesitated for a moment. Something inside him rose in alarm, not allowing him to move. He took the phone and tried to quiet it. Emilia was just pretending to be offended, that was all.

She unlocked the phone right in front of his eyes, which again unnerved him due to the confidence of the gesture, but he carried on. He just had to prove she was lying. He tapped out of Instagram, the last app she’d been using, apparently, and went to the home page to find the Phone app. He went to the call history and started scrolling down.

He checked the names, the dates on the list, checked again.

Nothing. Ámbar’s name was nowhere to be found.

It must have shown on his face, the way his stomach started coiling into knots, because he heard Emilia’s annoyed vindication. “See? I told you. I don’t even remember when was the last time I called Ámbar. It should show up there somewhere. Has it been a month maybe?”

She was just thinking out loud, unpreoccupied now that she’d been proven right. Meanwhile, Simón was struggling to keep his nervous system under control.

It can’t be.

“You could’ve deleted it,” he told her, looking up from the treacherous list on that stupid device.

Emilia, arms crossed in front of her chest, seemed unamused by the accusation. “Yeah, because I see the future and I knew you were going to want to see it,” she said ironically. She rolled her eyes. “Please, Simón, don’t fool yourself. Ámbar lied to you. And, I mean, why are you even surprised? It’s Ámbar. Lying is what she does best.”

No.

It can’t be.

“Look,” Emilia deflated, uncrossing her arms and looking at him with something akin to pity, “from one Mexican to another, I think you should stay away from her. You’re too goody-goody, and Ámbar… well, there’s a reason why we used to be friends.”

A slight tremor was taking over Simón’s limbs. He couldn’t even look at Emilia. He couldn’t look at anyone.

“Now if you excuse me,” she took her phone from his hands, “I’m gonna go.” Emilia took a couple steps before stopping. “And tell your girlfriend that if she wants to do right by me or whatever then she shouldn’t go around sullying my name with false accusations.” She walked away. “See ya, Simón.”

Even after she was long gone, Simón remained unmoving. His heart was beating so hard he could feel it in his ears.

Ámbar lied to me.

He tried to slow down his breathing, swallow the pulse in his throat, but the pain in his chest didn’t go away.

This couldn’t be. There had to be some explanation. There had to be.

Calm down. He could hardly hear his thoughts through the blaring of his heartbeat. It’s just a phone call. It’s not a big deal. This isn’t like last year. It isn’t—

But if it’s not a big deal, then why did she—?

Simón breathed in and out, hard.

All around him, his world started crumbling down.

…

#simbar #simbar fic #simbar fanfic #soy luna fanfiction #soy luna #My Writing #roads that cross #at long last

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fluffypotatey · 11 months

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Summary:

Macaque, the Six Eared Macaque (which is his full name), has a problem. No, it's not the deal he made with LBD (he can figure that one out later), and no, it is not the fact that he's alive again. Rather, his issue is a simple one. It's the fact that he can't stop himself from seeing the red strings tied to the beings of both the mortal and celestial realms. So far, trying to burn them has failed, but he's open to other options. ~ AKA: Fluffy doing her best to articulate her love for shadowpeach

#this fic includes: bitter macaque; shadowpeach; soy sauce duo; sunburst duo #this bit is the prologue so expect more for this fic #yes I am ignoring my other wips #yes I will get back to them #lmk #lego monkie kid #shadowpeach #the sixed ear macaque #sun wukong #lmk sun wukong #lmk six eared macaque #my fic #my wip #fanfic #ao3

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skz-vla · 10 months

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Hoodies and Soy Sauce Stains

✦ Engaged Minsung, Established Relationship, Mutual Masturbation, Video Cam Sex, Multiple Orgasms, Dirty Talk, Dildos, Anal Fingering, Fluff and Smut ✦ For a fest on Twitter ✦ Finished, 6.4k ✦ Rated E

#minsung #minsung fics #minsung smut #stray kids fanfic #skz fic #god i didnt realize i have been writing so much e rated stuff #will be back to the regular T plot-driven stuff soon #I have a seungsungjin baseball au in the works wheeee #t: fic update #m: mine #m: my fics #Hoodies and Soy Sauce Stains

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kainamendozasolano · 7 months

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Esto se acabó.

Sólo paso por aquí para compartir este pequeño proyecto en el que estuve trabajando desde hace unas semanas.

Espero que lo disfruten.😘

#yo soy betty la fea #armando ysblf #Armetty #betty ysblf #beatrizpinzonsolano #armandoxbetty #fanfic

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rose-riot-johnson · 5 months

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Hey my Tumblr Peeps... I have decided to work on a female character x female reader, this time and I figured what other female character to write about other than, Bleach's very own Soi Fon🐝 I hope you enjoy my Tumblr Peeps🐝😁👍

🐝Does She Really Hate Me?🐝(Soi Fon x Female Reader)

Genres: Enemies to Lovers (Warning⚠️: Mentions of Attempted Murder (and Possible mentions of murder))

Eversince you became a member of squad 2 in the Gotei 13, your experience in squad 2 was far from pleasant. You understand what squad 2 is about and what squad 2 would have to be capable of, however you honestly weren't expecting your squad 2 captain Soi Fon to be as tough on you as she really is. It was just hell for you.

During your training sessions, things were fine, until Soi Fon trains with you, because everytime she trains with you, she nearly kills you. While she says that it's to help you with you combat skills for squad 2 and the rest of the Gotei 13, you just honestly felt like she was actually trying to kill you, because you truly believe that she just can't stand your guts, which you're not sure what you did to deserve the treatment of nearly getting killed by Soi Fon, everytime during her training with you. You have been contemplating on seeing about getting transferred to a different squad, instead of staying in squad 2.

One day you went inside of squad 2 barracks to have a talk with your squad 2 captain about the issues you were having, about why you feel your captain hated your guts to the bone, and about leaving squad 2 for a different squad. Soi Fon said, "I usually don't have any visitors... What's the occasion, (Female Reader Name)?", smiling at you, even tough you don't buy it. "Cut the crap, Soi Fon! I bet you're only smiling at me, so you can trick me into your trap! I even am sure you're planning on celebrating me going to a different squad, leaving the Gotei 13, or even you making your kill on me!", you shouted. She was shocked you talked to her the way you did, as she then asked, "What are you talking about? You actually think I'm that heartless? You believe this is why I'm smiling, at you?".

You snickered, then replied, "You actually think I'm naive, captain?! I'm tired of you trying to kill me! Well, you will get one of your wishes! And I will be going to a different squad, then I will spite you! I'm very sure you could never stand my guts from the very beginning, since we first met! I have looked up to you! And what do I get?! I'm the only one you tried to kill! You have me in a bloody pulp every time we train together and you never did that to your other subordinates, especially your lieutenant, FYI! I'm leaving your office now! I'm sure the other squads would be more than happy to take me in! You on the other hand would be more than thrilled to see me gone! I hope you're happy! And good riddance, Soi Fon!". As you were about to leave squad 2 barracks, Soi Fon panicked, as she grabbed one of your wrists, while begging you not to leave. You then yelled, "Are you only "begging" me not to leave, so you can trick me into letting you actually killing me?! Nice try! Not falling for that trick!", attempting to punch her, as she then grabbed your fist of the opposite side of the wrist she grabbed.

"Please don't leave my office yet... All I'm asking is for you to hear me out... After you hear what I need to say, then I will let you leave, if you still wish to...", Soi Fon pleaded. You reluctantly stayed and decided to hear her, hoping that she's not out to get you, as you believe she is. "You see, (Female Reader Name), killing you was never my intention, at all... I'm sorry I put you through what I did... I really don't blame you for being paranoid about me... I just really wanted to train you to be tougher than me, faster than me, you name it... I truly believe you have alot of potential for squad 2 and the entire Gotei 13, in general... You may not realize this, however I know you also have potential in surpassing me, as well... Don't get the idea of thinking that I hate you... It's actually quite the opposite, to be honest... I tried, so hard repressing my feelings for you, that I thought how I was training would keep others from talking and others have complained to me about over harming you... I ignored their complaints, not realizing you would leave me... I don't want to kill you... The truth is that... I don't just need you... I honestly want you... To be in my arms... If not be in your arms... I wouldn't have blame you, if you were to never forgive me for the mistreatment I put on you... I only hope you would atleast accept my apology, (Female Reader Name)...", she explained, while trying to hide the tears in her eyes. There's one part of you that's telling you that her expression(s) was only an act she's trying to pull, so she can poison you using her zanpakuto's shikai ability, however your mind, heart and soul tells you that she truly is sorry and she's not out to get you, like you thought she was in the first place... You began to realize you were wrong about her, despite of her actions towards you during your training with her.

As Soi Fon was trying to hide the fact she's sobbing, you hugged her and told her, "Now I understand, captain... I will say in squad 2 after all... So, needless to say, I forgive you, Captain Soi Fon...", as you proceeded to pet her head. She was surprised and relieved that you told her everything you have told her, as she looked at you and touched your face. "Just don't tell anyone what happened during our conversation...", Soi Fon said, as you then replied, "Ofcourse I won't tell anyone what happened with our conversation, captain... I know you're embarrassed for anyone else to see your soft side, so I will keep that between us...", before planting a kiss on her lips.

This kiss from yours definitely made Soi Fon blush, as she said, "Thank you for understanding (Female Reader)... Does this kiss mean we will be in a relationship together now?". You then answered, "Ofcourse this means we're in a relationship now, Soi Fon... If I didn't kiss you, then we wouldn't be dating, now would we...". The both you then kissed and held eachother, until it was almost time for training, as Soi Fon asked, "Considering I will be easier on you now, are you ready for some training time today, (Female Reader Name)?", before you replied, "Ofcourse I'm ready for sone training this time, Soi Fon... I feel better about training with you now...".

🐝The End🐝

I hope you enjoyed this Soi Fon fanfic, my Tumblr Peeps🐝😁👍It's 1 of the fanfics that took me months to complete... Anyways for anyone wondering why I wrote a female character x female reader type of fanfic, because I figured since I have written male character x male reader fanfics and I have written a female character x male reader, so I figured why not give a female character x female reader a try😃👍Why Soi Fon x female reader for the 1st time of writing female character x female reader? Well I figured since I've written about Bleach's very own Isane Kotetsu male Reader I really wanted to write a female character from Bleach x female reader and I figured I'd write a Soi Fon fanfic🐝😃👍I also wanted to write a "Enemies to Lovers" for a Soi Fon fanfic, which I figured it would be fun to write for the fanfic🐝😁👍

#soi fon #soi fon x reader #soi fon x female reader #bleach #enimes to lovers #rose riot johnson #rose riot writings #fanfic written by rose riot johnson #soi fon fanfiction #bleach soi fon #bleach fanfiction #soi fon imagines #bleach imagines

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putonmyfavoriteshow · 7 months

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putonmyfavoriteshow's master fic writing post on-going ~ Violetta the heart of pretending (future franletta/leonetta reverse fake-dating au dramedy; my passion project) Soy Luna ...and they were roommates (post show jazmilia/delfma; self-indulgent rom-com chaos for side-characters who deserved more) BIA the celestial goat & her cosmic fish (platonic-for-now chiarleste's great astrology debate; a dynamic exploration between my favorite kind of bickering sidekicks) finished multi-chaps ~ Violetta a perfectly perfect gift (luty ft. franletta - my first official dcla multi-chap!) luty month (daily prompts from @iristhedeadflower) franletta month (daily prompts from @weirdthoughtsandideas) finished one-shots/two-shots ~ Violetta no boys, no problems (right?) (franletta s2 alternate ending to italy arc) an unexpected evening (jadangie fix-it fic - dcla gift exchange 2022 + bonus dcla pride month chap) midnights (a ludmila pov luty fic + bonus luty month chap) playing murder (and all that jazz) (violetta gang halloween fic - canon pairings) go figure (a naty pov luty fic) the mistletoe experiment (a natila story based on a dcla advent calendar prompt from @countessofravenclaw) welcome to new york (christmas version) (violetta gang xmas fic - canon pairings) it is what it is (luty - angsty ficlet) the deadfast club (violetta gang horror two-shot - luty focus ft leonetta/camcesca)

Soy Luna elevator goes up, elevator come down (simbar s3 missing scene - tumblr soy luna fic week 2021) unlock my heart (when lutteo got locked in the dressing room, except it's jazmilia aka the best non-canon ship ever made by a random wheel) there's a great big beautiful tomorrow (lutteo/gastina tomorrowland adventure - dcla gift exchange 2023) BIA losin' sleep (thiana s2 missing scene inspired by @assim-eu-sou) dream date (romantic chiarleste debut to ao3) non dcla ~ my sorta friend's sister's funeral (victorious - jori - angst/fluff one-shot) even crows have wings (six of crows - kanej - sl/roller skating au one-shot) page 55 (the villains of valley view - hartmy - missing scene drabble) if we were a horror movie (the villains of valley view - hartmy - hartmy watch jennifer's body)

other fan content: my tumblr edits tag my tumblr gifs tag

#my masterlist #my masterpost #my fanfics #pinned post #dcla #this is crazy to see how much i've written in just this past year #a little emo about it 🥺#thanks for all the inspiration and support friends 🥰#violetta #soy luna #disney bia

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toyatominaga · 9 months

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Bleach: Rise of the Hornet

This is an excerpt from the fanfiction I’m writing taking place right after Yoruichi betrayed Soi Fon. Let me know what you think!

Theme song: Bow Down - I Prevail

You lied...

Was all she could muster, staring ahead at the empty chair her mentor once sat in. No one. Nothing was there. Her arms dropped weakly to her sides as she slowly began to step forward, staggering slightly. She took a few steps forward until she was a few feet away from the purple and green chair. She stared at it for a few moments, before she fell to her knees, sinking into the wooden floor. Frozen...no...numb is what she felt. It couldn’t be true. She couldn’t be gone. She wouldn’t just...leave her right?

No. It was true. Yoruichi Shihouin was gone and nowhere to be found. The young girl must have sat there for what seemed like forever. But, she wasn’t coming back. Her frozen expression suddenly shifted to one of disappointment.

“So it’s a promise?”

Yoruichi’s lies echoed throughout her brain. She was a liar. And she trusted her. And now she is gone...

Slow tear drops began to fall to the wood floor. They fell but she made no sound, a shaky hand coming to cover her mouth as tears welled in her gray eyes. Tears streamed her cheeks as she slowly came to face reality. She was gone. For good. And she wasn’t coming back for her.

“Why?” She thought, “Why couldn’t you take me with you?”

Soi Fon slowly crawled into the abandoned seat, curling up into the fetal position. She was gone. Yoruichi was gone. She held herself tighter. She was gone. She was all alone. Again...

Soi Fon began to sob deeply, hugging her knees as she buried her face against the back of the cold chair. The sobbing slowly turned into more painful, wailing as she let her betrayal pour out. Yoruichi was gone. She was all alone. No...this all had to be some sort of misunderstanding. Quickly hopping up, she went around the room, searching for something, anything that could give her some sort of clue. She clammered through Yoruichi’s desk, knocking some things down from the shelf, before giving up. No. This couldn’t be.

She suddenly ran out from Yoruichi’s quarters, looking down both ends of the corridor. Other subordinates from squad 2 were running up and down the halls in a panic. Everyone had been. As soon as it was announced that Yoruichi Shihouin and Kisuke Urahara had betrayed the Soul Society and were hereby wanted...everyone had resorted to panic. She ran, running past one member, and bumping slightly into another as she ran her way to the other place that she would find answers.

Turning a few corners quickly, her breaths were loud and heavy as tears fell in the air. She turned one last corner, sliding on her feet slightly to stop herself as she approached the front lawn of the lieutenant's quarters. She could already see that many other squad members began to huddle up outside his office, many concerned questions and qualms filled the air.

“Yoruichi is gone? She betrayed the Soul Society? She’s a traitor with Kisuke Urahara?” Many questions were going through their heads.

Soi Fon gritted her teeth upon hearing Urahara’s name. That absolute monster. She knew it. She knew there was something wrong with him, and now..Yoruichi had gone with him. She knew she couldn’t trust him and now, she left Yoruichi vulnerable to him. What if he took her against her will, she thought. Pushing her way past other squad members, Soi Fon came to the front steps of the building and looked up to see Marenoshin Omaeda, Yoruichi’s lieutenant and head of the Omaeda Family.

The large and tall man looked bewildered, sweat pouring down his face as he looked out as the gaggle of flustered squad 2 members. Poor guy seemed to have no clue what his next move was.

“Lieutenant Omaeda!” Soi Fon cried, approaching him as she clung to his robes, “Please tell me what happened to Lady Yoruichi!” She looked up at him innocently with tears welling in her eyes. The much taller man was taken aback, looking down to see the much shorter girl grabbing his robe. Marensoshin could only stare, until his face turned grim. He placed a comforting hand on the young girl’s shoulder and knelt to her level.

His eyes spoke volumes, and she knew right then and there that the news was all true.

“She...She’s not coming back Soi fon...” He suddenly told her wearily. Soi Fon’s eyes widened and began to twitch as she looked down at the ground. It couldn’t be. But no. It was true.

“W-We need to save her! It’s all Kisuke Urahara’s fault! She could have been taken against her will!” Soi Fon suddenly shouted, grabbing on tighter to his robes, “We must go after them to rescue Lady Yoruichi!”

Marensoshin let out a long, shaky breath. After what seemed like forever, he finally stood up and walked over so that he was facing the rest of his squad, he cleared his throat, nervously rubbing the sweat from his neck before speaking:

“T-The captain has willingly chosen to leave the Soul Society with Kisuke Urahara. ...No one understands her motives yet, but for now on...Yoruichi and Kisuke have been deemed traitors and are now wanted criminals of the Soul Society under the authority of Head Captain Shigekuni

Genryusai Yamamoto!” He seemed to be shaking nervously after announcing that, preparing for any pushback. The crowd was silent for a brief second, before erupting again into chaos. Soi Fon on the other hand, was once again in a frozen state of shock.

“...Willingly chose?...Traitors?...Wanted criminals?”

She needed to leave. She needed to get out of there, run away, never come back. Pushing her way back through the crowd, a heartbroken Soi Fon ran her way out of the barracks. Where she was running to, she didn’t know. For now...she just wanted to run and run and run.

The memories played back in her mind with each step. The memories of when the two first met, to when they trained together, to when Yoruichi will listen to all her concerns...

It all felt like some extremely horrible nightmare.

The young girl finally made it to that spot. The spot that they had trained at the night prior to all of this. The fact that they were just out here, training peacefully, and now just like that she had vanished without saying a goodbye. Amongst the cherry blossom, Soi Fon could have sworn she saw a figure moving within the trees. Lady Yoruichi? She thought, pushing her way through the brush.

Of course, it would turn out to be nothing at all, and instead, she came to a clearing that looked out over a cliff face. From there you could see a huge chunk of the Seireitei, the morning sun coming in through the clouds. That was when Soi Fon finally began to realize that Yoruichi was gone for good. The memories wouldn’t stop flooding her brain.

Suddenly, Soi Fon let out a long, pained scream into the air, dropping to knees as she sobbed. The large and looming Seireitei sat ahead as the sun began to rise. Nothing would be the same. Everything is going to be different from now on...

“Yoruichi Shihouin and Kisuke Urahara have been declared traitors and are now wanted criminals of the Soul Society under the authority of Head Captain Shigekuni Genryusai Yamamoto! Urahara has been reported using strange technology to turn Soul Reaper’s into hollows and as such, the following captains have been declared banished due to their involvement in the hollowfication process:

Captain of Squad 3, Rojuro Otoribashi

Captain of Squad 5, Shinji Hirako

Captain of Squad 7, Love Aikawa

Lieutenant of Squad 8, Lisa Yadomaru

Captain of Squad 9, Kensei Muguruma Lieutenant of Squad 9, Mashiro Kuna

Lieutenant of Squad 12, Hiyori Sarugak

Captain of the Kido Corps, Tessai Tsukabishi and Lieutenant of the Kido Corps, Hachigen Ushoda

From this point forward. All listed traitors are to be brought into custody of the Soul Society. If anyone knows any further information regarding what took place that night or where the traitors would have gone please do not hesitate to report it!”

Those were the instructions given to all Soul Reapers in the Seireitei. Yoruichi, Tessai, and Kisuke would be tried for their crimes and the others would be...destroyed.

It had been two days since that fateful night.

A young Soi Fon had been invited to stay the night in the Omaeda family manor the night before, and despite wanting to decline the offer, she reluctantly joined him. After the morning on the hill, Soi Fon was found by other members of squad 2. Concerned for her wellbeing, they called in Marenoshin Omaeda.

Since the girl was still young and inexperienced, the older man had a soft spot for her, and knowing how hurt she was upon Yoruichi’s departure, he felt obligated to step in.

Soi Fon hadn’t slept at all last night, and was sitting in her guest room with bags under her eyes. The bed she sat on was large and luxurious and the room appeared fit for royalty. It was comfortable, but she didn’t notice. Her brain was too impacted by Yoruichi’s departure. So she sat, her knees curled into her chest as she just stared out solemnly.

When Marenoshin had initially found her on that cliff, she had freaked out and began begging him to help her find Yoruichi, no matter the cost.

“What if it’s all a lie, what if she did get taken against her will? We can go find her, right now! Maybe she isn’t thinking clearly!” All the different scenarios seemed plausible in her head, “We need to go explain to the head captain that this is all just a big misunderstanding!”

Despite her efforts, the large man knew it was pointless. He had managed to reason with her for now that Yoruichi had made her choice, but still, Soi Fon felt it had to be farther from the truth.

Now, she sat in the bed, silent and numb, thinking through every moment over and over and over again.

Suddenly, the once silent room erupted with a booming voice as a young Marechiyo Omaeda peeked his head in the door.

“Oh, the weird scrawny girl is up. Come down and get your breakfast, you better hurry because food goes fast around here!” he called out. He was young, around her age, and just as large, obnoxious, and as money hungry as his father. He wore some dazzling gold jewelry around his neck and wrists and a fancy purple and gold yukata. The color made her think of Yoruichi.

Still silent, she ignored the boy, turning her head to face out the window. Feeling ignored, Omaeda cleared his throat, “Hello!? I’m talking to you kid!” Silene greeted him again.

Knowing it was a lost cause, Marechiyo snorted and rolled his eyes, “Fine don’t eat, not like you look like you do anyway...” he muttered, shutting the door behind him as he grossly picked his nose.

Soi Fon just ignored the rude comments, her eyebrows narrowing. Fat, little bastard...she thought. She had been sitting there for hours now, not moving and not saying anything. Hell ,what was she supposed to do? Everything she did she did with Yoruichi. To running errands, delivering paperwork, and accompanying her missions, Soi Fon was always by her side.

The silence was finally broken about an hour later when the door opened revealing Marenoshin Omaeda, a concerned look on his face. He had a plate in his hand and left it for her by her nightstand, “I managed to save you some if you decide to eat. When you get a moment...I think we should talk about some things...” He hesitated a minute before walking out of the room. Soi Fon listened but didn’t budge, legs still hugged close to her chest.

She wasn’t hungry and probably wouldn’t be for quite some time. She didn’t even want to eat. She didn’t want to do anything anymore. Sighing heavily, she looked out the window at the rising sun, just wishing at any moment Yoruichi would be back home. But she would never come.

“Lady Yoruichi....why?” she asked aloud. Why would you go with that man and not stay here to run your squad? Were things she kept thinking about. The squad needed a leader, and Soi Fon

needed her mentor. The girl couldn’t help but smile remembering the night before Yoruichi left...

#bleach #soifon #soi fon #bleach theory #sui feng #yoruichi shihouin #soi #fanfic

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whateversawesome · 10 months

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Chapters: 7/? Fandom: SPY x FAMILY (Manga), SPY x FAMILY (Anime) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Loid Forger | Twilight/Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess Characters: Loid Forger | Twilight, Yor Briar Forger | Thorn Princess, Anya Forger, Sylvia Sherwood | Handler, Fiona Frost | Nightfall, Franky Franklin Additional Tags: Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Kissing, Practice Kissing, So much kissing, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Verse, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Twilight's got it bad for his wife, Love hits Twilight like a truck, Pining, Mutual Pining, Twilight is a man desperately in love with his wife, Eventual Smut, Jealous Loid Forger | Twilight, Protective Loid Forger | Twilight, Identity Reveal, Cuddling & Snuggling, Touch-Starved Summary:

After a practicing a 'welcome home' kiss with Yor, Twilight develops symptoms he had never experienced before: a rush of energy, good mood (when near his family), voracious appetite for his wife's cooking, aggressive behavior towards other men (who dare to come near his wife) and a desperate need to kiss Yor again. This is the first rut of his life. How will Twilight deal with this?

CHAPTER 7 is up!

Chapter summary: Yuri orders Twilight to separate from his sister. What will Twilight do?

#spy x family #twiyor #Loidyor #spy family #Spy x family fic #Twiyor fic #Loidyor fic #spy x family fanfic #Twiyor fanfic #loidyor fanfic #soy x family fanfiction #agent twilight #thorn princess #loid forger #yor forger #anya forger #Writing #fanfiction

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armando-triplepapito · 2 months

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I think this is the first time I’ve came across a fanfic that mentions Betty’s dolls hanging over her bed 💀

My respects to authors who can mix angst and humor seamlessly! I was crying for Armando but once the dolls were mentioned I laughed like no tomorrow 🥴

#y’all are so creative I swear!!#it’s been hours and I’m still laughing #ysblf #betty la fea #yo soy betty la fea #armando mendoza #beatriz pinzón solano #fanfics

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isabel-peculier · 10 months

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“We’re being separated!” he yelled, watching the two heroes go to the right and far, far away from his own cart’s track. He heard their cries of worry echo through the cavern as his car carried on soaring forwards.

In fact, it soared forwards off the edge of the track and into the lava below.

He was quite surprised to find that he was still breathing.

New Shadow Of Israphel fic! KP and lore centric. Only a one-shot. Hope u enjoyyyyy

#yogscast #shadow of israphel #soi #knight peculier #minecraft #yogs #xephos #honeydew #fanfic #fic #writing #my writing

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hide-in-imagination · 9 months

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"Roads That Cross... even when you don't want them to"

You can read the previous chapters here: (1),(2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (16), (17), (18), (19), (20), (21), (22), (23), (24), (25), (26), (27), (28)

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“Don’t you think it’s suspicious that we always excuse ourselves from the dinner table at the same time?”

Ámbar’s voice didn’t sound at all worried while asking him that, merely curious, with a little tint of amused mischief. Then again, Simón thought to himself, her voice always had that ring to it.

Ámbar turn on the lights as they walked into her bedroom, and Simón shut the door behind them. “Everyone knows we’re together; I don’t think it looks weird.” He took some steps and wrapped his arms loosely around Ámbar’s waist. He smiled. “They probably think I just say goodnight to you and go to my room.”

“If they knew,” Ámbar said, and then tilted her head up to kiss him, cupping his jaw. “Do you think I’m a bad influence?” She asked next. “For making you break the rules?”

Simón held her hand against his cheek. “I would break them a thousand times over in order to see you,” he said with a fond smile. “But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I love how you make me feel.”

Ámbar gifted him with one of those rare smiles, the kind she only ever showed to him— Warm and sweet, softening all of her features into a face of adoration. “I love it too.”

She placed a soft kiss on his lips and then a short peck on the tip of his nose before pulling away.

“Would you help me?” She asked, crossing her room over to the closet. “I bought some new bedsheets and a bed cover online and they arrived today. I thought we could put them on now since we gotta make the bed anyway.”

“Yeah, of course.” Simón had already grown used to the mundane activity of making the bed with Ámbar. He started by grabbing the pillows and moving them out of the way. Then he pulled the current bed cover and tossed it to the floor too.

Ámbar came back from her closet with the new bed linen in her arms. Everything was almost completely white as far as Simón could see. The new bed cover was the only thing with a design, although it was very minimalistic, just some grey lines along the borders. This surprised him a little, not really because of the color but because it all looked very… plain, not a word he would associate with Ámbar.

“So… no more black bedsheets?” He commented. If she liked the new ones better, he had no issue with it, of course. Well, except one, maybe. “You looked good tangled in them. It contrasted with your skin.”

Ámbar looked at him, eyebrows slightly raised. “You’re in a good mood, huh?” She said amusedly, bumping him with her hip as she passed him to leave the linen on her center table. Simón laughed. “Does that mean it went well with Luna? You talked things out?”

Oh, right. Earlier, during pillow talk, Simón had mentioned to Ámbar that he was thinking about maybe having a talk with Luna. It all started with Ámbar telling him about her conversation with Emilia and how it saddened her a little because she could relate to her, and, although it hadn’t lasted very long, they used to be kind of friends. From there, Simón had told her about his own worries about his friendship with Luna, and Ámbar had supported his idea of talking to her to try and clear things up.

“Yeah, it went well,” he told her. “We talked about things that maybe we should’ve talked about a long time ago.” He reached over to the bed again and pulled out the blanket they had added to their arsenal once the weather started getting cold. “I think it was good for both of us. Actually,” he laughed a little to himself, “some things came up that I had no idea about. I wasn’t expecting that at all.”

Ámbar was working on taking all the bed linen out of their plastic bags. She looked at him curiously. “How so?”

Simón hesitated.

Could he tell her what Luna had told him? Should he? Would Luna get mad at him if he did? But it was just a past thing now, it didn’t matter anymore— Anyone with functioning eyes could see how Luna and Matteo looked at each other. And it didn’t sit right with Simón to hide things from Ámbar.

Plus, hadn’t Luna told Nina back in the day that he was in love with Ámbar? And then even Jazmín found out and made a video about it.

Ámbar was starting to look at him weird for taking so long to answer.

Alright, whatever, she owes me one.

“Okay, I’ll tell you, but don’t tell Luna I told you,” Simón asked of her. “Don’t tell anyone, actually.”

Ámbar’s lips quirked up. There was that mischief in her eyes again. “Oooh, I’m liking this already.”

“So,” Simón balled up the blanket and tossed it to the side, “basically, Luna told me she had feelings for me at some point.” He moved around the bed to pull out the old sheets and leave the mattress bare. “Weird, right? I had no idea. I guess things are kinda even between us now,” he said, amused.

Ámbar was standing perfectly still. If Simón hadn’t been busy with the bedsheets, he would’ve noticed the way her eyes zeroed in on him with the laser focus of a hunter.

“At some point when?” She asked.

“The beginning of this year—”

“I KNEW IT!”

Simón startled. He turned around to find Ámbar gesticulating wildly with her hands.

“I knew it! She was always all over you and staring at you longingly— I knew she was getting ideas! Ugh, how I hate being right sometimes.”

Simón blinked, wrinkling his brows a little. “Okay but, that’s over, she’s way past it now,” he tried to reason.

Ámbar whipped around in his direction. “Well, she better be! She had her chance and she didn’t appreciate it, so she better not start regretting it now because you are with me— With. Me. She can go cry me a river somewhere else.”

She stood with her arms crossed, looking away in the purest image of a tantrum Simón had ever seen. She must have felt his stare because she looked back at him after a while, her mouth pressed in a sulking way. “What?”

Simón couldn’t help it— He was smiling. “You’re adorable when you get jealous.”

Ámbar glared at him. “Don’t you dare start trying to make me jealous on purpose or things are going to get pretty ugly.”

Simón went to her and wrapped his arms around her. “I would never,” he said, dropping a small a kiss on her forehead.

“Mhm,” Ámbar acted skeptical, but the smile on the edge of her mouth was evident. She detached herself from him. “Just help me make the bed.”

They worked in relative silence for the next few minutes, only interrupted by little phrases like “You grab that side and I’ll grab this one” and “Do you think if I paid Maggie enough she’d make this bed again? Because I miss the days when I didn’t have to deal with these things.”

“Oh, come on, it’s not so bad. Look.” Simón put the pillows back against the headboard as the final touch. “Voilà. A total piece of art. We could even do this for a living.”

“My dream job,” Ámbar deadpanned.

“And you know what the best part is?” He said with a smile.

“What?”

“Not a single blanket fell on my head this time.” Ámbar’s face changed immediately. “I was a little worried at first, you know? I mean, I learned the hard way that you and blankets seriously don’t mix,” Ámbar rolled her eyes, “but I said to myself: Simón, you have to do this. You gotta face your fears. You can’t—”

Ámbar threw the old blanket on his head.

“…I guess I spoke too soon.”

Ámbar started laughing.

“Welp, nothing to do now,” Simón kept up the act, putting his hands on his hips. “Guess I’m stuck like this forever. Unless some very generous and very beautiful girl was willing to help me—” Ámbar pulled the blanket off him, allowing Simón to see her pretty smiling face. “Ah, here she is.”

Ámbar shook her head. “How can you be so silly and so cute at the same time?”

“I have a gift.”

His lips vibrated with Ámbar’s laughter when he kissed her. Simón pulled back and held her hands, interlocking their fingers, and they stayed just like that for a moment, staring into each other’s eyes.

Simón’s thumb ran over the back of her hand. “Do you remember that day when the whole blanket thing happened?” He asked her.

“Obviously,” she said, and it warmed his heart that that memory stuck with her as well after all these months.

It was the first time Simón saw her with her whole black getup and her ‘I don’t care about anything or anyone’ attitude. She’d been so determined to hide herself behind cynicism and hostility, swore that was all she had to offer to the world. Simón knew otherwise, but he also knew, from the scars he bore, that he had to stay away lest he got new ones. That day was a confirmation of his fears… and also of the fact that staying away from Ámbar was the last thing he wanted to do.

It was a contradiction and an internal battle, and it all started right then when that blanket fell on him, when Ámbar inched her face a breath from his own and taunted him to admit he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

Now here they were, months later. Being this close to Ámbar no longer brought a sense of danger, and knowing everything he knew now, he couldn’t help but wish they’d gotten here sooner.

He let go of her hands in order to hold her lower back. “You know what I wanted to do back then?”

Simón didn’t wait for her to answer— He knew that Ámbar could see it in his gaze. He pressed his lips against hers, with more feeling than before, with the craving of someone that finally got what they’d been needing. Ámbar curled her hand around his nape, wrapped her arms around him tightly as she returned every bit of passion he infused into her mouth. Simón slid one hand into her hair and pulled her closer, securing one arm around her frame. I can do this now, ran through his mind. I can kiss her now, as much as I want, and she loves me, and we’re together.

It was at moments like this that it hit him just how lucky he was.

They pulled apart slightly to catch their breaths. Ámbar’s eyes had darkened, and in them, Simón could see his own reflection. I wish it could always be like this, he thought. If he could engrave Ámbar into his retinas, he would.

She lowered her gaze to his lips. “You know what I wanted to do back then?”

Ámbar put both hands on his chest and pushed him onto the bed, promptly climbing on top of him. A bright laugh bubbled out of Simón. He responded to her enthusiastic kisses until his cheer melted into desire, for he could never not want this breathtaking girl.

Her hands delved under his t-shirt, feeling up his body as her lips left his to devour his neck.

Simón closed his eyes, stretching his neck and letting out a soft groan. “I wouldn’t have complained, you know?”

Ámbar stopped her ministrations and sat up, giving him a look with an eyebrow raised.

“…Fine, I would’ve,” he conceded. Damn his stupid moral compass.

Ámbar smiled and leaned down to kiss him again. Simón held the back of her head and wrapped an arm around her, keeping her against his body as he rolled and switched their positions, bringing her underneath him. Ámbar chuckled against his lips, and it was his turn to exchange these sounds for sighs and moans. Simón wondered if this euphoria would ever fade, if there would come a point in the relationship where they would stop wanting each other all the time. Most probably so. In the meantime, Simón would enjoy the moment.

He prided himself in the fact that Ámbar only seemed able to form a thought when both their torsos were bare.

“Wait,” her hands went to his shoulders, his own currently busy with the buttons of her pants, “the bed cover is new.”

“It’ll get dirty anyway,” Simón mumbled against her skin, not interrupting his kisses down to her navel.

“Simón…”

He groaned, dropping his face on her stomach. He knew separating from her for five seconds wasn’t an agony but sometimes it felt like it. “Fine.” He rose on his hands and pecked her lips. “I’ll bring a towel.”

The bed cover might end up getting soiled anyway if he did his job right, but at least she couldn’t say he didn’t try.

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

Afterglow was a luxury Ámbar had only really gotten to experience with Simón. Before, the handful of times she was with Matteo, they hugged a little after the deed was done, but he always wanted a shower immediately, or something to eat, and it wasn’t like Ámbar wanted to stay there covered in sweat either, so they usually parted ways relatively quickly and got dressed.

Ámbar was lying next to Simón now with her head on his chest, and she felt no desire to move any time soon. There was something so relaxing about listening to his heartbeat. She couldn’t explain it, but with him, she didn’t care about the sweat or about food or about anything really. Apart from the obvious clean up, that Simón always took care of because he was sweet like that, Ámbar was more than happy to stay under the sheets with him snuggling like this. To feel his arms around her, to bask in his body heat and his scent. Sometimes, one of his hands would slide up and play with her hair, just like now, and Ámbar would think— This is what total peace must look like.

“I think I’m gonna repaint my room,” she said after a while, not because she needed to fill the silence, just because she’d been toying with the idea for some time and she wanted to share it with him. Maybe it was her greedy nature that, not content with being physically connected with him from head to toe, wanted to connect with words as well.

“Really?” Simón said, curious. “I thought you were joking the other day.”

“I was, but now I really think a change is due here.”

“Mmm.” Ámbar felt the vibration of his voice against her cheek. “I was starting to get used to the punk rock.”

That made her smile. “I think I went too overboard with it all,” she lamented nonetheless. “Minor changes would’ve been better. Now there’s no way to take off all the black, so I’ll have to repaint the whole thing.”

“You’re going back to pink?”

“No, that’d just be the same as before.” She didn’t have a clear image of what she wanted exactly, but what she did know was that she didn’t want to go back to how it all was. “What about grey?” She said, tilting her head up to look at Simón. “That’d be like middle ground with the black.”

He made a face.

“Yeah, you’re right, grey’s too sad.” She laid her cheek on his chest again. “Maybe if it was silver—No, ugh, forget I ever said that. Red? No, orange with golden hues. Lime green?”

“You know, it’d probably be easier if you just paint each wall a different color. Otherwise, you’re gonna be deciding until next year,” he told her, earning a playful swat from her. His laugh shook her head.

“You’re terrible,” she complained fondly. “Also, in that case, I’d have to figure out how to make them all match and, trust me, that would be a hassle. So, stop teasing me and help me.” She sat up, holding the sheets over her chest. “Keep in mind that light colors make the room look bigger.”

Simón also sat up, leaning against the headrest, and thought it over. “Um… what about light blue?” He proposed. “It’d bring out your eyes,” he told her with a smile, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to tuck her to his side again. “But I’m biased because I like blue.”

“It would bring out my eyes…” Ámbar looked around assessingly, imagining it. “But I don’t know…”

“Orange sounded good.”

She gave him a look. “Let me guess, you also like orange?”

“Busted.” He laughed. “But it also looks good on you. Well, everything looks good on you.”

Ámbar smiled and started playing with his necklaces. She loved doing that, running her hands over his chest and curling her fingers around his guitar picks.

Suddenly an idea came to mind.

“What about purple?”

Simón looked down to where she was holding his purple guitar pick and back to her eyes.

“Purple?”

“Yeah, like a very light purple. Just like…” She turned the guitar pick between her fingers to make it shine, “just like this when it catches the light. It’d be different from the old pink but not too much. But also different enough that one could notice the difference.”

She looked up, curious to see what he thought. Simón’s eyes were already on her face, looking at her with that glistening mix of fondness and disbelief that Ámbar still couldn’t comprehend how it could be directed at her, as if she were so utterly wonderful he couldn’t believe she was real.

“I like purple,” he said softly, with a small smile, warm as the chocolate of his eyes.

It was her who couldn’t believe he was real. Who thanked God for being alive every time she saw him smile.

They kissed softly, reveling in the simplicity and marvel of the contact, and parted with a short peck, like a see you soon of their lips, the send button on an I love you text. They stayed closed together, eyelids shut, just feeling the warmth shared between their bodies and the serene little world that only existed right here, with them, for them, and no one else.

Ámbar ran her thumb over his cheekbone. A little bit of beard grazed her palm. She wondered if he would let her shave him someday, just because.

Delicately, Simón nuzzled her nose with his. “I love you with my life, you know that?”

Ámbar smiled big and inhibited like a little kid. “Me too. To the stars and back.”

Simón shifted and Ámbar instinctively knew to lay her head on his shoulder, where it belonged. They cuddled up together. Simón kissed the top of her head, right before letting his body sag comfortably against her, relaxing completely.

“Wanna take a bath with me?” Ámbar asked after a few breaths.

“Mmm tomorrow,” Simón mumbled.

“We won’t have enough time tomorrow; or do you want to get up at 6 am?” She joked.

Simón whined. “Okay.” He started getting up, every movement slow and heavy. “Wake me up if I fall asleep.”

Ámbar rose on her hands and leaned in to kiss him shortly. “Always.”

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

If Ámbar were to envision her perfect day, it would go something exactly like this.

She woke up next to Simón and they got ready for the day together, all while he tried to make it absolutely impossible for her, hugging her from behind at random intervals and smothering her with kisses.

They had breakfast together, talking about whatever came to mind— old stories they hadn't told each other yet, how they preferred their tea, their favorite foods to have breakfast with, opinions about a TV show Ámbar hadn’t watched but Simón seemed very passionate about, or a song Simón hadn’t heard yet she thought he might like.

On Ámbar’s perfect day, the sun was out even if it was June, and while it was still kind of cold, Simón's hand in hers kept it warm as they walked to the Roller.

Today really was shaping up to be that perfect day. The next box to check on her list would be to have lunch together with her boyfriend, but she told Simón she wasn’t sure when she'd be free for that.

"I have a meeting with the accountant today and I don't know how long it'll take."

Of course, Simón understood. “Oh, right, you told me about that.” He glanced at one of the tables where some customers were calling him over and lifted one hand in their direction, signaling he’d be there in a second. “Well, I’m gonna be around here, so just, let me know when you have the time.”

“You don’t have to wait for me, you know?” She said, feeling a little bad. “You can eat with the guys every now and then.”

“Sure,” Simón said, shrugging. Then he leaned forward with a smirk, placing his hands on the table between them. “But why would I do that when I can have much prettier company?”

“Hey!” Pedro exclaimed from the bar. “I resent that!”

The couple laughed and Simón parted from her table. “Good luck with everything today.”

“You too,” Ámbar told him. “If there’s any problem just let me know.”

Nothing of notice happened during the next few hours though, so morning turned into afternoon with tranquility and Ámbar managed to maintain her good mood, even despite the fact she’d been doing so much planning and math this day she feared she would see Excel spreadsheets in her sleep.

It was a fortunate thing she’d always been good with numbers. Throughout high school, she thought it would come in handy when she studied Business and followed her godmother’s footsteps until she inherited the Benson fortune and everything that came with it. Now though… she could explore other options. Luna would inherit everything anyway. Sure, she could still study Business and, hell, maybe even run the Roller one day while actually knowing what she was doing. But possibilities were endless. Maybe she could become a full-on event planner— She had some experience already and she enjoyed it. Or maybe she should go for a more traditional career, like medicine. She’d always been good at science too.

Then again, she was good at many things because she was smart and worked hard, but it didn’t particularly mean she liked them. She liked being good at something, but would that be enough motivation to build a whole career around?

Thankfully, she didn’t have to think about those things now. And her current job was going well, thanks to the invention of calculators, Microsoft Office, and soon, too, the help of Ana’s accountant friend. Having some of her guidance would make everything much easier.

Footsteps approached her from the left.

“Hello, Ámbar.”

Speaking of which— Right on time.

Ámbar smiled and rose from her seat to greet the woman.

Thump

Wait.

Thump Thump

This is not—

Thump Thump

Nono, she is—

Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump Thump

Surely, somewhere out there the will of the universe cackled.

She should've known there were no perfect days for someone like her.

“What are you doing here?”

It was really a testament to Ámbar’s lifelong experience in hiding her emotions that neither her mouth nor her voice trembled when she spoke.

“Ana called me,” Silvana said. “She said you needed help, so I came here to help you.”

She had a tentative smile on her face. Just like that day. Just like that day when she told her—

Ámbar blocked the memory. “You are the accountant?”

Her luck couldn’t be this bad. This had to be a mistake, or a joke, or a nightmare—

“Yes, that’s my profession,” Silvana replied simply, demurely, like a disgusting goody-two-shoes. “Actually, that’s how Ana and I met a couple of years back. I didn’t know her daughter went to your same school. I was so surprised when I found out.” She was holding her bag in front of her, her grip tight on the handle. She was nervous and trying to hide it. “She told me you’re the manager of this place now.” A smile. “I’m very proud of you, Ámbar.”

‘Proud’?

It took all of Ámbar’s self-control not to scrunch up her face.

Proud of what? You don’t know me. You didn’t want to know me!

This was sick. This was seriously, tremendously fucked up— She was going to barf.

‘I’m very proud of you, Ámbar.’

When was the last time her godmother told her that?

How dare she say this?

She didn’t know all that Ámbar had done, how hard she’d fought to get to hear those words from Sharon, all she’d suffered, cried, hidden, and destroyed, and now she wanted to come here and say that as if it was nothing?

Ámbar straightened her spine and looked her in the eye. “Yes, I am the manager,” she said, cold. “And as the manager, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

This woman’s words meant nothing. She was nothing, and Ámbar wanted her out of her sight.

Finally, the hopeful, calm mask of Silvana faltered. Her brows furrowed. Her smile died. “But Ana said you needed help with the finances. I can help you, let me—”

“I don’t want anything from you, I thought I had made that perfectly clear,” Ámbar said, short and sharply. This woman didn’t deserve to get a reaction out of her but she didn’t deserve her kindness either. “The only thing I want is for you to stay the hell out of my life. If I had known you were who Ana meant, rest assured that I would’ve never asked her to call you. I have enough problems already for you to come and give me more.”

A shadow of misery befell Silvana. Sadness, guilt— Both emotions covered her face, and Ámbar thought, good. She should feel bad, she should feel guilty. But it didn’t make Ámbar feel any better. Nothing about this woman would ever make her feel anything positive, that she was sure of.

Silvana’s pleading eyes looked into hers. “It was never my intention to cause you any trouble, Ámbar,” she said gently. “I know you’re angry. You’re hurt. I understand perfectly but, if you could just give me a chance— I just want to get to know you and for you to know me.”

She took a step forward, a minuscule one.

Alarm bells blasted through Ámbar. Composure abandoned her.

“I want nothing to do with you! Can’t you understand that?!”

“Hey.”

Simón’s voice.

Simón’s voice cut through the sirens and reached her ears as he came to stand by her side.

“What’s going on?” He asked with worry. His hand came around her waist, a gesture so familiar Ámbar wouldn’t have even noticed it normally, but she did now.

She noticed because all of her senses were on high alert. She noticed because, suddenly, that point of contact seemed to be an island in a sea of turmoil. More than that, she noticed because Silvana noticed.

The woman looked from Simón and back to Ámbar again with something brewing in her eyes— Something knowing. Understanding.

A lightning of rage struck Ámbar. This woman didn’t deserve to know about Simón. She didn’t deserve to meet him, didn’t deserve to even know he existed.

So when Simón looked at Silvana and asked, “Who is she?” Ámbar was quick to clarify.

“No one,” she spat out. “She’s leaving.”

Silvana’s face fell. “Would you at least take my number?” She begged desperately. “E-mail? I could help you from afar, you don’t have to see me.”

“No, thanks, I can handle it on my own,” Ámbar said flatly. “That’s how I learned to do things; I’m used to it.”

Silvana grabbed the strap of her purse harder. Her eyes were shining now, coated in unshed sadness, but she swallowed any more pleas and nodded, resigned.

“I understand,” she said, and Ámbar hated, hated, detested, how the devastation in her voice affected her even in the slightest. “I’ll be going then.” Her mouth opened as if she were going to say more, but she seemed to think better of it and caught the words before they could leave her. Silvana pressed her lips together. She turned to Simón instead.

“Take care of her, alright?” Her small, brittle voice asked him.

Ámbar saw red. A storm of rage and other indecipherable emotions broke out inside of her and her hands balled into fists as she tried to contain it, to not scream at the woman every insult she’d ever known. Her whole body was tense. It was a good thing that Silvana left immediately because she couldn’t take this anymore. Even after she could no longer see her Ámbar felt like she was shaking.

“Are you okay?”

It was Simón’s voice again, gentle as the hands he brought to her arms. He stood in front of her, searching her face with features contorted in worry, eyes trying to catch her gaze.

Ámbar had a hard time looking at him right now, or at anything, really. No, she wanted to say. No, I’m not okay. She wasn’t even sure what she felt. She didn’t know if she wanted to scream or break down crying.

She parted from him and sat back at her table. Simón followed, grabbing a chair to sit in front of her. “Who was that woman? Why did you kick her out like that?”

Ámbar breathed deeply. A weird numbness was taking over her body. She couldn’t tell him it was her biological mother. Her mind felt mixed up but whatever part of her brain was in charge of avoiding danger was working in overdrive because she knew that if she told him, then he’d ask how she knew, and if she said Silvana had approached her last year the day of the Vidia competition finals, then he’d know she learned back then that she wasn’t Sol Benson.

Of course, she could lie and make up some other situation in which they had met, but if she lied to Simón now after lying to him what felt like every single day lately, she was going to suffocate and be seriously ill all over the Roller’s floor.

She joined her hands on top of the table, trying to center herself. “She’s an old associate of Sharon,” she said— a half-truth. “They go way back but I only met her last year.”

Simón’s concern only seemed to grow upon hearing Sharon’s name. “And what was she doing here? Did she come on Sharon’s behalf? Did Sharon send her to talk to you?”

“No.” She doesn’t need to send anyone to talk to me, she does it directly. “It turns out that she is Ana’s accountant friend.” Ámbar could spare a brief humorless smile for the irony. “If I had known, I would’ve never told her to contact her.”

Simón frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand— Is she that bad?” He asked, confused. “She looked… very sad. Maybe she regrets working with Sharon. I mean, you say she was associated with her but, what exactly did she do for her? ‘Cause if she was just her consulting accountant, maybe she didn’t even know what Sharon was doi—”

“I just don’t want her near me, okay?!” Ámbar snapped. Out of all things in this world, the last one she wanted right now was to listen to arguments about that woman’s presumed innocence. “I have reasons to want her far away from my life, so if you ever see her around here again, I want you to get her out. I say that as your boss,” she ordered curtly.

Simón looked taken aback, either by her outburst or the content of it. It could’ve been both or neither, Ámbar didn’t much care right now. She maintained her fiery stare on him until he recovered and uttered a reply. “Okay,” he said in a quiet voice. “Okay, I’ll do that.”

Ámbar nodded. “Good.” She brought her laptop closer to herself and focused on the screen. “You can go back to work now, I’ll get back to this.”

Different tabs filled her vision again, but she was too aware of Simón’s presence still in front of her. There was a tentative air upon the table. Ámbar could feel his eyes on her and it rubbed her the wrong way.

She looked up sharply. “Work, Simón,” she kicked him away. “I don’t pay you to sit here with me, I pay you to work.”

Whatever had been on Simón’s face turned sour, harsher. “You don’t need to talk to me like that.”

“And how do you want me to talk to you?” Ámbar responded.

Simón stared at her. Ámbar got ready for a counter, a rightful reproach at her tone of voice, an offended complaint. She wanted to fight. She wanted to break something.

Simón’s flare of indignation extinguished in front of her eyes, leaving him with an exhale.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said tiredly.

He got off the chair and walked away.

Ámbar was left a little disoriented, recalibrating.

It took a moment for the guilt to hit.

She cradled the feeling with sick satisfaction. Dug every cutting edge of it into her palms and then added the bloody fragments to her ever-growing collection.

Ámbar drowned herself in her work. She forced her foggy brain to read, calculate, organize, until her head started pounding, and she was relieved, because the physical pain was distracting enough to almost forget the last hour of her life.

She told Pedro she wasn’t feeling well and took her work home.

She didn’t have lunch with Simón that day.

…

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

So. That happened.

Some of you might not know this, but back when season 3 was airing, many people in the fandom were theorizing that Silvana could be Ana’s accountant friend, because we were Delusional™, and in the end she wasn’t and we never saw her again, which I believe is horrendous. So, one of the things I decided early on while writing this fic was that I would make that fandom theory come true and bring Silvana back a bit because I feel like that storyline deserved a little more development, at least.

(Don’t except to see her much though.)

With that being said, I’m happy to announce we’ve officially reached the ‘decline’ part of this story— the ‘everything goes to hell’ arc, if you will. But there’ll be good moments sprinkled in between to balance it out, don’t worry.

Fun fact: the original title of this was “With an accountant” but I figured that made it too obvious what was going to happen so I changed it.

Another fun fact: The only time Simón has seen Ámbar in orange was this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14GYSCGOu-w )

Finally, I noticed something very funny happens here that I wanted to clarify. Simón says “I thought you were joking the other day” while talking about Ámbar’s room, because for them it’s only been a few days, but chronologically, in the time that has taken me to write this fic, it’s been 3 years since that happened SKDJNFKS 🤣😂 So, if any of you RIGHTFULLY don’t remember, he’s referring to chapter 15, the last conversation they have in there.

As always, thank you all so much for your patience, I can’t believe it’s been five years! I’ll try to finish this in no longer than 2 more years because 7 is my favorite and lucky number. See ya around and thank you for reading <3

#simbar #simbar fic #simbar fanfic #soy luna #soy luna fanfiction #My Writing #roads that cross

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