#he did his work while my mom just watched his videos and made unnecessary comments as if I she can’t see me struggling to wake him up

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Rumor Has It {17}*

Chris Evans x Famous Reader Uriah “Riah” Tyler

Warning: Plot, Heavy cursing, HEAVY, HEAVY ANGST, Mild Time Jumps, MILD NSFW, LOTS OF WORDS, Triggering Sexual Assault Content

DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE EASILY STRESSED!!

DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY TEXTBOOK SEXUAL ASSAULT CONTENT BY DUBIOUS MEANS ON A MENTALLY INCAPACITATED INDIVIDUAL!!

Word Count: 6K

Summary: You and Chris have been married for four years after a whirlwind romance. You are both happy and trying to navigate marriage in the public eye while balancing your successful careers. In the entertainment industry, not everything is as it seems, the flash of a camera lens impairs vision. As scandal and flashing lights put a strain on your once fairytale marriage is it possible your Hollywood marriage can stand the test of the rumor mill? 

**Inspired by a video seen of Chris and his co-star Ana De Armas on their press tour for Knives Out at TIFF where she kept touching his chest and face standing about five inches apart.

NOTE: DO NOT COME FOR ME.

**Loosely Edited/Proofread**

**Interactive**

Thank you guys for reading!!!! If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG. 😊❤️❤️

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

-Chris-

In the last two weeks, he’d become a shell of himself. His life drastically changed. What was him working and traveling almost nonstop turned into him having a lot of time on his hands. Instead of traveling and having no time to be the husband he needed to be, he now had all the time in the world. He found it ironic now. Every time he stepped into your shared bedroom, he saw you everywhere. You were in the décor, the scents that still lingered around, and your items strewn around the room.

Every time he looked behind him or around a corner, he expected to see your smiling face. When he closed his eyes, he expected to feel your soft caress against his jaw or your full lips pressed onto his skin. He expected it, but the expectation was not reality. His reality was far different. His days now consisted of doing his best to keep on top of work obligations even though mostly everyone understood his need to take a step back from anything work-related. If he wasn’t distracting himself with work, he roamed around the house, being haunted by happier times. If he wasn’t glued to the bed staring out at your side of the bed, he was beating himself up over the fact that he’d caused his current reality and wishing he’d done so many things differently.

His mother stayed in town to be his moral support and moved in with Scott. They said it was just to be there for him, but he knew they didn’t think he was in any state to take care of himself. They were right. He barely ate, didn’t sleep, kept to himself, and found the sustenance he needed in beer and Whiskey. He didn’t care if they had no nutritional value; it was all he cared to ingest to his mother’s dismay. She cooked all his favorites from childhood, but none of it enticed him. What was the point, he wondered. He didn’t want lasagna or beef stew or meatballs marinara. He only wanted you.

When he pulled himself out of his internal turmoil, he was sitting outside of Christiano’s house and twisting the knife in his heart deeper. He wondered what was going on inside, wondered if you were laughing with him, or letting him hold you at nights. He couldn’t get the image of you kissing him in your hospital room or the elevator out of his head. Every time he closed his eyes, it was what he saw, and from there, his imagination went rampant until he was filled with fear that turned to rage.

He’d stay in front of Christiano’s house for hours just staring at it. He didn’t trust Christiano as far as he could spit. He knew he was up to something, and he felt that somehow if he kept an eye on things, he couldn’t pull anything. At least six times, he found himself speaking to a police officer who was given an anonymous tip that he was sitting outside the house. He knew it was Christiano who’d called them to report it, and he did it to fuck with him. The first two times, he was given leeway, but the others he was told to move or else they’d fine him. He now had more than eight violation tickets because he refused to move.

If it wasn’t the cops that told him to leave or threatened fines, it was Christiano’s security who always seemed to come out like clockwork every hour threatening him to leave or else. He wasn’t afraid, and his refusal to move showed it. He knew the asshole was somewhere inside either peeping through a window or watching on the video feed like the Lord Farquaad he really was. Every chance he got, he made sure to give the house a middle finger.

Every time he called you, the majority of the time, you didn’t answer. Instead, it was Christiano who did. He always sounded like the cocky fuck he was. Every chance he got, he goaded him into losing his temper, and when he was irate and fired up, he’d end the call. When he called, and Christiano didn’t answer, it rang endlessly. On a few occasions, you answered, but he was so surprised by it that he never found the right thing to say. What did you say to your wife that didn’t remember you in any shape or form? He could say he loved you or missed you. He couldn’t apologize. He couldn’t talk to you like you were old friends. All he could do was sit in silence with the knife twisting deeper until you hung up.

The doorbell snapped him out of another hour of aimless staring into space. He was alone tonight. Scott and his mom were at Scott’s house after he blew up at them, telling them to leave him alone. It wasn’t his finest moment. Slowly, he trudged to the door with a bottle in his hand; it was his normal accessory now. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Ana’s smiling face. He couldn’t help but sigh out. He’d hoped it was you.

“Hi, Ana.”

She gave him a once over then frowned. “You look horrible.”

“Gee, thanks,” he said before he turned to walk away. The clink of her heels on the marble was the indication she was following him. A few moments later, he dropped onto the couch and brought the bottle back to his lips.

“How many of these have you had?”

“Lost count. What’re you doing here? I’ve told you that you don’t have to keep coming here.”

“I know I don’t have to, but I thought we were friends.”

He didn’t answer; he just studied her trying to access her motives.

“Friends don’t let friends go through a tough time alone. I come bearing a home-cooked meal and company.”

He sighed again while taking another swig.

“I have plenty of food, and I don’t need the company.” It was rude, but it was honest.

Ana frowned before she sat beside him on the couch. “Look, I know you’re going through something really tough. I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but I don’t think you should lock away and—wallow. You have to keep going.”

“Ana, I appreciate you coming by these last two weeks with food and checking on me. You’re kind to do it, but it’s unnecessary. I wish everyone would just give me some space. Everyone hovers and tiptoes, not wanting to say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing as if them avoiding the huge elephant in the room makes it so I don’t see it. I see the fucking elephant. My fucking wife is not here! My wife has no fucking memory of me. As far as she’s concerned, I’m some stranger from the street!” His frustrations were bubbling to the surface.

She didn’t speak for several moments after that. He was glad for it. Lately, he’d been looking at her with a new suspicious eye. He had all the time in the world to see things that either didn’t add up or just came off strange. He never thought Ana’s behavior was suspicious before, but now everything had a hint of awkwardness. He’d begun to wonder if you’d been right all along, and she was harboring some crush on him. Before, he saw her friendliness and willingness to help and be around him as a kindred spirit situation, but now, it was possible he might have had been wrong.

“Chris–,” Ana began before he cut her off.

“It’s not a good idea for you to here like this. The paps are camped out a block down and have constant eyes on the house. The last thing either of us needs is for you to be snapped coming in or out of here. Honestly, I think it’s best that we stay clear of each other by giving each other some space.”

Her jaw dropped for a split second, and along with it, he saw the anger flash through her eyes. As quickly as it happened, it disappeared. She took a deep breath and brushed her slick ponytail back as if there was a hair that was misplaced from the perfectly done style.

“Chris, we’ve done nothing wrong.”

“That’s not what it looks like to the public and the fans. Twitter is on fire over this. My name, your name, and Uriah’s name has been trending for two weeks. This is all anyone can talk about. They all think we’re having an affair.”

“It’s not true, though. We’re not fucking each other, so who cares!”

Her shout was loud and shrill. This was the first time he’d seen her lose her temper, the first time he’d seen a crack in the perfect demeanor she always displayed. Again, Ana brushed her hair back as she cleared her throat. In seconds that perfect façade was back.

“I’m sorry. This is stressful for all of us,” Ana offered.

“Then, space is definitely needed. I’ll walk you out.” With that, he stood and walked out of the family room toward the door. Ana didn’t immediately follow; several moments passed before she even entered the hallway. As she approached, he could see her disappointment and annoyance.

“Chris–,” she began.

“I know Ana. I just—I’m angry and frustrated and honestly at my wit’s end. I don’t want to live in this reality anymore.”

She must have sensed there was nothing else to say, so she nodded. He opened the door for her to walk through, and once she did, he promptly closed it. It hadn’t even been a month, and he was already falling apart at the seams. He had no idea how much longer he could go on in this new reality.

The alert for his phone sounded in the eerily quiet house. As he approached it, he expected it to be another update from the private investigator he was paying to look into everything or even his mother or Scott checking in for the umpteenth time today. When he saw the ID as “Jackass,” his eyes nearly got stuck in the back of his head from how hard he rolled them. As he opened the message, his heart dropped.

MSG Jackass: I thought it was a good idea to get Uriah out of town so she could properly heal.

“Son of a bitch!”

He was in his car in seconds though he knew he’d been drinking that day. As he sped to Christiano’s house, he didn’t feel impaired. That text sobered his ass up in record time. He was in such a sobering mind-frame that he obeyed every light and traffic sigh though his instincts said to run every light he came across. As he drove, he used the audio recognition in his car to call Christiano back to back. Each call he placed was ignored, and he knew it was him ignoring it rather than missing the call.

When he pulled up outside of his palatial home, he pounded on the gate.

“Christiano! Open this fucking gate!”

He didn’t feel the wrought iron underneath his hand, or much of anything besides anger and fear.

“Open the gate! Uriah!”

He saw two burly security guards approaching the gate as if they had all the time in the world.

“Where is my wife!?”

“You again? Look, man, we’ve told you that you’re not welcome here,” the one with the goatee croaked.

“I don’t give a fuck if I’m welcomed or not. My wife is in there! Do you hear me? She’s my wife. Where is Christiano? Tell him to bring his pathetic ass out here!”

“If you don’t stop banging on the gate, we’re going to have to call the police again.”

“Call the police! Where is the son of a bitch!”

“He’s not here.”

The two guards looked back, revealing a slender woman dropping in designer everything. Her strawberry blonde locks were framing her face that looked sad.

“What do you mean he’s not here? Where is my wife?!”

She approached the gate nodding to the guards silently telling them to back off.

“I’m Christina. I’m a friend to Uriah.”

“Christina—White?”

She nodded.

“Where is my wife?”

“She’s not here. Her and Christiano left an hour ago,” Christina informed.

“What! Where did they go?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. Look, I told him it was a bad idea. I told him that he should keep her here because, at the end of the day, she’s your wife. He didn’t listen. He never listens. He’s always been a fool when it comes to her,” Christina divulged.

“So you’re telling me he has my wife somewhere in this world, and no one knows where she is or going?”

His panic quickly raised. He’d never felt this out of control in his life. The pounding of his heart echoed in his ears as he turned his back to the house.

“He won’t hurt her if you’re worried about that. He loves her too much for that.”

“Son of a bitch!”

~~~~~~~~

-Uriah-

 You walked through the airport toward the gate to board the waiting private jet with your hand planted in Christiano’s and your shades on. You could feel the eyes on you, and you even felt as if those who watched you were whispering about you. It shouldn’t have been anything alarming you’d been in the public eye for a few years and knew how this felt. The only thing was this felt different somehow.

“Is it me, or is it like they’re whispering more than usual?”

Christiano quickly looked around before he shrugged and squeezed your hand.

“Nah, they’re just blown away by the most beautiful woman in the world.”

You smiled widely and allowed him to press a kiss to your forehead. Once you got to the gate, Christiano greeted his flight crew and did all the talking. You liked how he always took control of a situation. It meant you didn’t have to worry about a thing when you were with him. Over the last two weeks, the two of you had been wrapped in a bubble at his house. You didn’t go out or even make an attempt to do anything but spend time with him. For some reason, you felt as if you hadn’t been together in months. Almost immediately from your release from the hospital, you began to feel sick as if something was off with you.

On a whim, you had a security guard bring you a pregnancy test which came out positive. You had no idea what to think or how to feel. You knew you’d always wanted kids, and the thought of kids with Christiano was something you’d thought about over the years you’d been together. You knew you and the baby would be well taken care of. When you told Christiano, he looked speechless, and for a few minutes, you feared he didn’t want the baby, but he assured you he did. From there, you were in this elated bubble at the thought of impending parenthood with the man you loved.

It had become apparent to you that you were missing some time in your memory. The therapy sessions that Dr. Diallo suggested was more than therapy for people involved in traumatic accidents. You’d pieced together that there were holes in your memory. When you asked Christiano about it, he filled in what he could, always stressing how much he loved you and how happy you were together. You didn’t doubt it. You knew he loved you. You remembered that there were a few times you’d suggested a break from each other because of the intensity of that love. It was always ion the back of your mind, but he was the perfect man toward you.

“Ready beautiful?” Christiano spun you to him, pressing his palms against your ass, pulling you flush against him. The touch felt familiar but also foreign as if somehow it wasn’t right.

“Of course.”

“I can’t wait to get you on that beach.” You smiled and allowed him to kiss you. This kiss wasn’t quick or timid as the once from the last two weeks. Christiano’s tongue delved into your mouth, tangling with yours unexpectedly. Though it felt strange, it also felt normal. You couldn’t wrap your head around the competing feelings and senses.

When he pulled back, he retook your hand and led you through the gate to board the jet. In a few short minutes, you were rolling down the tarmac and wheels up, gliding through the air to some surprise tropical island. You allowed yourself to mellow out drift to sleep. As you slept, your dreams were strange. You were in places you’d never been before, seeing faces you’d never seen before and having conversations you had no recollection of until you were sucked into a black hole. The darkness clung to you, but your hearing was that much more in tune. As you began to panic, the sound of a familiar but unfamiliar voice comforted you and spoke the sweetest words.

“I love you, Riah.”

 “I don’t think anything could have stopped me from marrying her. It was inevitable.”

Whose voice was it, you didn’t know. The only thing you knew was you liked it.

When the jet landed, and the chauffeured car pulled up outside a beach house, you were exhausted and in need of a bath and a nap. Your nap on the jet wasn’t enough, especially since it left you highly on edge and confused. Christiano’s beach house was gorgeous. According to him, it was a new addition to his collection of properties, one he said he didn’t visit much but knew you’d like. He gave you a quick house tour before you finally got to take your bath.

As you sat in the tub, the sound of the breeze rustling the palm trees, and the chips of the birds mixed with the soft crash of the waves onto the sand outside lulled your senses into a mellow state that had your mind completely blank. This was a first. Since you woke up from your accident, your head always felt as if it was reaching for something. You didn’t know what it was, but it never stopped, not even when you slept. When you slept, it only seemed to intensify its search. This usually meant you awoke feeling as if you’d never slept.

With your brain quiet and your muscles melting inside the water, you finally felt yourself beginning to enjoy your surroundings. Time stood still but flew at the same time. Before you knew it, Christiano was standing over you holding a towel.

“You’ve been in here for a while. Are you okay?”

“I’m great. I think I dozed off.”

“Are you ready to come out?”

You nodded and stood in the tub. Christiano’s eyes widened as they slowly roamed over your naked, dripping body. He didn’t move, and the look on his face was one you didn’t recognize. You worried you’d already gained weight from the pregnancy, and he didn’t like it.

“I know I look—different—the baby–,” you began before Christiano quickly wrapped the towel around your body, holding you against him.

“You’ve always been the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met in my life, and you will always be that woman,” he whispered while staring in your eyes before he pressed his lips to yours to scoop you into his arms.

Christiano intensified the kiss as he carried you through the house. When he placed you to sit on the bed, your heart lurched, and it felt like panic or fear. Christiano pulled back, but before he could speak again, a phone rang. He sighed out and assured you he’d be back before he walked out. Relief filled you, and that was strange to you. You didn’t understand why you felt relieved the moment had been interrupted or felt panic or fear once he put you on the bed.

Pushing it to the side, you went through your after-shower routine and dressed. When you reemerged from the bedroom, Christiano was placing plates on the table on the balcony that overlooked the beach. The two of you had a quiet dinner.

As the days ticked by, the two of you enjoyed everything the island had to offer. You went sailing, snorkeling, sunbathed on the beach, ate, and enjoyed each other’s company. There were several times you caught Christiano’s eyes on your body and even a few times where you placed his hand on your belly that was beginning to make its appearance. When he touched your belly, his eyes always looked sad, but it was a look that was quickly gone to be replaced with his smile. When you brought it up, he assured you he was just worried he wouldn’t be a good father. His admission made melt. He always came off so self-assured and confident in everything he did. It was your turn to assure him he would be an amazing dad because of how he took care of you.

Every morning he prepared your breakfast. A breakfast that always consisted of a part of the food groups from the food pyramid and four pills he identified as a prenatal vitamin, Iron, Vitamin E, and Vitamin C.  You found it sweet that he wanted to take such good care of you. It was a side you’d loved about him since meeting him. Every time you kissed, they got longer and longer and more intense than the last. No matter who initiated the kiss, you were always the one to pull away from it.

Something always felt off. Something inside of you wouldn’t let you get there with him, and you didn’t understand it. He’d been nothing but good to you. He hadn’t mistreated you or done anything hurtful that would give you right for the pause. Still, every time Christiano’s lips touched yours, your psyche fought back. Excruciating pain usually always followed with an echoing scream in your head. By the time a week had passed on the island, you could tell Christiano was beginning to get frustrated with the constant back and forth though he swore he was fine and wanted you to move at your pace.

You found your hands always on your burgeoning stomach, just tracing along it, envisioning the baby inside of you. You’d thought about kids in passing, but never as if it would actually happen. You felt as if you should have been terrified, but you didn’t feel any fear. You felt content, ready. You now loved to spend mornings just lying in bed, feeling your stomach, and envisioning life as a mom. You couldn’t believe this was life now, but you wanted it more than anything.

“Ready for bed?”

You turned around from the vanity you sat and saw Christiano toward you. He wore no shirt and sweat shorts that were low on his hips. He looked good.

“Yeah.”

Christiano took your hand, kissed it, and led you out of the vanity room to the bedroom. Once inside, the two of you slinked underneath the covers. When Christiano slid to your side and wrapped his arm around your shoulder, you hesitated but only for a few seconds. With your hesitation, Christiano brought his lips to your temple to trail kisses down the side of your face to your jaw and down to your neck. Once there, he capitalized on knowing your spot and teased it with soft kisses. As he continued, you both remained frozen, unable to move. Nothing was preventing you from moving, but you felt as if you couldn’t.

When Christiano’s lips dropped to your cleavage at the swell of your breast, you clutched the sheets in your hand for dear life.

“Are you okay?”

Nodding vigorously, you did your best to keep the panic out of your eyes. Cristiano kissed you gently, coxing your tongue to play with his. When you allowed him in, Christiano’s tongue wrapped around yours as he sucked it. In a matter of seconds, he was on top of you using his hands to caress your exposed thigh. The hand you envisioned was not his, though. In your mind’s eye, you saw a large hand gripping your thigh before it pushed along your skin up to your hip to pull down your underwear.

As quickly as you envisioned it, it disappeared, and you were underneath a hardening Christiano. That fact was what had you pulling away from him. When he looked at your face, he must have seen everything you felt. The disappointment in his eyes couldn’t be hidden. Christiano sighed, dropped his head, then nodded as he rolled off of you to lie on his back while staring at the ceiling. Neither of you spoke. You didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sorry.” Your voice was small, a whisper.

Christiano didn’t respond right away. You weren’t sure he would. A full minute ticked by before he spoke.

“It’s okay, little dove.”

You sighed, hearing his nickname for you. Relief flooded you.

“Let’s get some rest,” Christiano suggested ending any conversation.

You knew he was frustrated with you. How could he not be? Glancing over to him, you saw he still laid there on his back, staring up at the ceiling. The look on his face was unreadable. Slowly you rubbed your belly and closed your eyes. It was quickly becoming a comforting mechanism for you, one you found yourself doing more and more since your arrival on the island.

The next morning you woke up alone with Christiano nowhere to be found. You didn’t know what to think, but you didn’t feel any panic. You felt relief. It was yet another thing that you didn’t understand. Why did you feel relief knowing he wasn’t there but panic when he was close? As you ate breakfast, your thoughts drifted. You thought about life before waking up in the hospital, this new life you found yourself in, and the one that was waiting in the future. While you felt as if you were getting back to normal, you always felt like none of this was normal. You didn’t feel normal. The ringing of a phone brought you back to reality and sent you on the hunt for where it came from.

You found the phone in Christiano’s bedside table.

“Hello?

The line was silent, but you just knew someone was there. You repeated your greeting, but your voice was lower than before.

“Riah.”

You didn’t know if it was the name or the way the voice sounded, but your heart raced, and your belly fluttered. You felt something familiar but unfamiliar at the same time. Somewhere deep inside of you, you knew you’d heard it before. You knew this was not the first time you’d had this reaction.

“Who is this?” Your voice was even shakier.

“Me,” he whispered.

Everything in you was fighting, but you didn’t know what it was fighting for? Was it against something or for something? His name was at the tip of your tongue.

“Ch—Chris?”

“You know me?” He sounded as if he were on the verge of tears. For some reason, you wanted to ease his pain, but you didn’t know how.

“No.”

He sighed out and sniffled. The realization he was crying weighed heavily on you, so heavy you had to drop to the bed to sit.

“I miss you so much.”

The words meant something to you, but what? The words made you feel, but what? As you were opening your mouth to speak, you heard a door close.

“Little dove?”

Quickly you ended the car and put the phone back into the nightstand then hurried out to greet Christiano, hoping he didn’t suspect anything. You felt as if you were a cheating wife.

Christiano made all your favorites for dinner that night, and the two of you ate surrounded by a sea of candlelight and flowers. You worked hard to keep your head in the present and not on the way Chris’s voice sounded or the effect it had on you. You were curious, but you also knew that curiosity was like opening Pandora’s Box. What if you’d cheated on Christiano and he didn’t know? That was your biggest worry right now. You wanted to bring it up to him, but the ramifications were what stopped you.

After dinner, you sat on the beach watching a movie from the projector and sipping apple cider. Without warning, Christiano stood, allowing your feet that were in his lap to drop to the sand. He turned to you and held his hands out for you.

“What’re you doing?”

“Take my hand.” Slowly you slipped your hands into his. Christiano lowered his head to your hands and kissed the backs then dropped to one knee in front of you.

“Oh my god,” you began. You wanted to leap out of your skin and run down the beach. That was your true first instinct.

“I love you, little dove. I’ve loved you from the minute I laid eyes on you. We’ve been through so much together. There was a time that we didn’t know what was next, a time both of us went through a lot. I’ve never loved anyone more than I love you. You’re my everything, Uriah. I want to spend the rest of my life with you—with our—baby.”

Your tears rolled down your cheek, and you couldn’t help but slide closer to him.

“I don’t want to know what it’s like to live a day without you. I don’t want to do it. Will you marry me and spend the rest of your life with me?”

You remembered a time where you wanted him to ask you more than anything. You remembered a time where you’d even planned the kind of wedding you’d want and imagined your name with his last name. Though you knew all of that for a fact, you hesitated with your response. You also remembered another voice asking the same question. A voice you’d heard before. Both voices echoed in your head one over the other until you heard nothing but the words. It was deafening. After a minute the silence returned and you were finally able to breath. You saw Christiano’s panic, and from his panic you tried to calm your own. 

“Yes.”

It took him a few moments to move, but when he did, he threw his arms around you and hugged you so tightly. The two of you giggled together like lovestruck idiots who’d just taken the biggest leap for mankind.

“I love you so much.”

His lips were soft and tasted like the Bourbon he’d been drinking. This kiss wasn’t a timid one, it was one that spoke of his love and passion for you, but you also felt his possessiveness. It was stronger than usual. When he pulled his lips back, he sat you down and held out papers.

“What’s this?”

“Remember when we began dating, and you found out that Christina and I would have a prenup for any future spouses?”

You nodded.

“That’s where I was today. I wanted to get them taken care of. This is my love for you. I want to forgo the prenup. I want us to move forward with nothing between us. All you have to do is sign this, and what’s mine is yours.”

You studied him half in disbelief he’d do this and the other half in awe that he’d go against his family and do this. You took the papers, opened them, and began to read them. Almost instantly, Christiano dropped onto his knees again and kissed you.

“I can’t wait to make you my wife—Mrs. White.”

Hearing the name, you giggled on his lips and returned his kisses as fervently as he gave them. The two of you got lost in kisses for a few minutes.

“Hurry up and sign them so we can be the three little Whites.”

You smiled widely and took the pen he offered. Without reading the documents any further, you signed your name without even looking. Instead, you stared into his eyes. Once you’d finished, you threw your arms around his neck. Christiano lifted you and spun you around, making you giggle like a little girl. You walked along the beach hand in hand, admiring the colossal diamond ring he’d planted on you and just imagining the life you had before you.

A few hours later, once you returned to the house to shower and climb into bed with Christiano beside you with his arms wrapped around you. You don’t know why you woke, but when you did, you were alone in the bed. You looked around and found the room empty. Slowly you walked through the house looking for Christiano. You were sure he wouldn’t leave you alone this late at night, especially since he’d already taken care of the business of couriering the paperwork off the island.

When you turned the corner leading to the living room, the lights were off, but you heard whispers. Your footsteps slowed, and you pressed your back to the wall and listened.

“That wasn’t part of the plan. You’re fucking crazy. you could have—still, it was not the plan.” He sounded angry and spoke as if he wanted to yell but was keeping it down. “It’s been handled. I sent him a little surprise or a present. It is your move.”

You had no idea who he was talking to or what he was talking about. You stepped out of the shadows and into the glow of the moonlight.

“Tino?”

Christiano quickly spun around with his hands behind his back.

“What’re you doing up, little dove?

“You weren’t beside me, and I heard voices. Is everything okay?”

Christiano scoffed and smiled as he approached you.

“Yes, perfect. I was just making plans to start our beautiful life together. You and me.” He kissed the tip of your nose.

“You, me, and the baby,” you corrected. Christiano’s jaw clenched, but it was a quick movement before he smiled again.

“Of course. The three of us. Everything I’ve ever wanted in life.”

You smiled and let him lead you to the bedroom. Once inside, you slipped under the covers again and allowed him to kiss you. as he kissed you, you felt the urgency of his kisses and the need coursing through him. His moans echoed in the room as your fingers danced across his bare back. When he rolled onto you, you didn’t freeze this time, and you didn’t hesitate when you felt his need.

From there, Christiano’s movements were deliberate. He kissed where he knew you liked, but it didn’t feel quite right. As he sucked your skin and undressed you, you ignored the strange feeling you had. It was a feeling you assumed cheaters felt. You felt like you were somehow cheating. It made no sense. The man you loved was above you kissing you, licking your skin, and pleasing you the way he knew how. This was the man you were going to marry, the man you were going to make a father. Because it made no sense, you pressed forward.

After a while, both of you were naked. Christiano kissed your temple, then went to your ear.

“I love you, Uriah. I’ll love you until my last breath.”

You smiled and caressed his jaw and brought his face to yours. You wanted to stare into his eyes. They were filled with so much emotion, but there were things there that you didn’t recognize. Christiano dropped his lips to yours and kissed you passionately before he thrust his hips forward, joining your bodies.

You clung to him and shook as you heard your name panted in your ear, only it wasn’t Christiano’s voice you heard. As he moved inside of you, your moans and pants melded together, but your head was fogged with images of things that couldn’t have happened. The faster Christiano plunged in and out of your heat, the quicker the images flashed in your head. The louder his grunts got, the louder your moans became. Soon you felt as if you were close, but no matter how close you were, something was holding you back. This felt right but oh so wrong. He felt like yours, but you didn’t feel like his.

“Chris,” you panted without a thought. You said it again and again like it was the only thing you knew how to say.

Christiano’s thrusts became sloppier, and his grunts rougher.

“Yes, Uriah, you’re mine. Yes!”

“Chrissss!”

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

Lee’s Afternote: Yikes. Are you guys okay? It’s okay to be pissed at me. I understand. 

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

***If you want to be tagged please SEND AN ASK SO IT WILL BE EASIER FOR ME TO KEEP TRACK OF. Thank you for reading!!!  

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

Tag List:

@chaneajoyyy @sonjashuterbugjohnson @caramara3 @cyntgefel01 @vannahvannahhh @lorainnebabyy @patzammit @yourwonderbelle @pennywisesmistress @theblulife @kelbabyblue @bugngiz @kikimiyazaki @toniilaney @areubeingserved @thinkxlovexloud @cocothewriter @periodtcevans @southerngracela @bellaamor88 @mack-jay @titty-teetee @pananegra @wellthirsted @sup3rn0va13 @nova3312 @ hello-therree @valkyriesnymph @squeackygee @niyashell @allmonstersxarehuman @zsuzstyina @peggy-potts @amelatonin @lvlyab @sullyosully @renesmeeharelds @capslut2014 @ilovehatembj @thelittlemoistcarrot @sarcastic-sunshines @a-dizzle777 @taylorveebee @90sinspiredgirl @allnamesicouldthinkofweretaken @choices97 @chrisgalore @rynabarnesrogers  @ab-baybay @motivation-idontknowher @lo-cheu​ @momobaby227​ @drsunshine97 @cleothegoldfish @builtalongthewaysid @thatrandomhetaliachick @missdeerstalker15 @queenbetter @jesseswartzwelder @briellableu @zaddysqueen7 @melaninhawtie @simplyyamberr @airis-paris14 @ashanti-notthesinger @chezdricks @euh-say-what-now @afraiddreamingandloving @ajspencer1892 @wakanda-inspired @chillavesss @theunsweetenedtruth @geeksareunique @aykanna @hanasamara @profilia @ollieveracity @autumn242 @missyperle @forbeautyandlife @kreolemami @designerwriterchic @firedolphin04 @academic-glowup @periodtcevans @nova3312 @hello-therree @naturalthrone22 @squeackygeecapslut2014 @ilovehatembj @taylorveebee @actorinfluence @chaos-crusader 

@unknownmystery22 @thatcrazymarvelfan  @mizcaptainwidow @angrybirdcr @cherrystainedlipsbaby @marvelfansworld @fanfictionaffair​ @kittykatlow   @blowmymbackout @almostpurelysmut​ @blackgurlkillinit @simply-heaven @impossiblegiantrebelbasketball @choices97 @phreshouttherunwaaayy @heladoom @alyxkbrl @evemej @queensevansackles @rosey1981 @laketaj24 @munteanhore @minton131 @trillistb @night-of-the-living-shred @chrisevansfanfic @purplehairgawdess @ollieveracity @maddeningmayhem @what-is-your-plan-today @evermcfearless @richonne4life @dumbchick @toni9 @briellableu​ @amennariee @brwnsugababe @sadishdelray @jd-now-jq @kemkem101 @browskinafro @queenshikongo3 @surmya1907 @islanddgal @scoop93535 @miss-jackson500 @rynabarnesrogers-reading @queenoftheworldisdead @wonderlandfandomkingdom @starlite-starbrite​ @partypoison00 @thejeneralvicinity @doublesidedscoobysnacks @what-is-your-plan-today @thefuckingluxury @naturalthrone22 @queen-audsalena @maeleeme @tantricevans @renfrewscorner @songtoyou @offrostandstarlight​ @coolbakeryprunetoad @chrissbabybunny @zeedaye @littlepreciousangel 

@imthatbitchsworld @soul–notforsale @toni9 @someone-really-bored @venustrap04 @laketaj24 @chrisevansdaddycap @kittykatlow @live-laugh-love-ki @asiaaisa77 @melanicia @what-is-your-plan-today @fistmetonystark @livinglifeformemyselfandi @livinglifeformemyselfandi @crowngold @allnamesicouldthinkofweretaken @lost- ssoull @give-me-a-million-dollars-pls @southerngracela @shar74nett @cltex84 @badbitchhtown @petty-bitch-akira @unknownmystery22 @raveviolet @madixii @almosttherebutnot @smediumsmeatbae @bernie-k @nervousninjatheorist @lo-cheu @creole-mami @acciolove724 @shipatheart @captainchrisstan @brownskinafro​ @jhayes6984 @badbo1-evans @jovanaprime @marvelatthis30 @littlepreciousangel @alookintohersoul 

***There are a few that are bold that I tried to tag but your @ wasn’t coming up. I’m not sure why. I’m sorry.***

#rumor has it fic #chris evans #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #chris evans x black reader #chris evans x ofc uriah #chris evans x uriah #angst fanfic #black fanfiction #chris evans smut

[welcometoherdomain]

Chapter  2.

"Waahhh!" looking around as her brown eyes wandered around her room, holding his chest, checking her breathing, her vision, and especially her heartbeat.

Then Kenma barged into her room almost half-asleep with his headphones on his neck and his hair was messy from his bun 'wait did he sleep?' she thought. "Breakfast, mom said." he said shortly then got out making a loud bang on her door.

"Asshole.' she mumbled. Yet after that, she smiled and made a flying kiss. "Still I love you," she said smiling, she now stands up and kneeled, putting her hands together, closed her eyes, and screamed. "Thank you Kamisama~!" she prayed a little more and stand up already, she fixed her hair and her big t-shirt as she ready herself for breakfast. Before she got out, she marked her little calendar an x, reminding herself she only has 96 days. She smiled yet sadness was hidden in that smile, she shrugged and walk happily as she got out of her room.

"Goodmorning everyone!" she greeted her stepmother and hug her from the back while Kenma sits on his chair eating cereal with his PSP on. "Good morning dear!" she smiled and patted her head, making her heart fluttered and smiled even more.

She is now seated on the opposite chair from Kenma and so is her s-mother in the middle. They all say 'thank you for the food and now started eating. "So Y/N, you have plans for the weekend?" she asked while she eats, Y/N wipes her lips with a napkin. "No oka-san, still working I guess? or maybe watched cinema with my friends?" y/n said as she thinks what things to do on the weekend.

"Cancel it," she said formally yet smiling at me, I looked at her question. "Why?" she asked while half of the onigiri is in her mouth.

"Chew it properly," Kozume said while looking at her disgusted, while his PSP was on the table. Y/N just rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Then she handed her an envelope, she looked at it, wiped her hands first and mouth then slowly opened it, her eyes widened. A ticket to a show, a musical show, a rare live performance will be held here in Tokyo and she finally got a ticket. She smiled happily and jumped almost fall down from her chair.

"O  my gosh! You didn't have to do this," she said almost teary-eyed but her mother smiled and patted her head once again. "Another gift before you left," she said. She stops, nervously smiled at her. "Before you went to another country. I see your calendar dear." she was relieved, Y/N doesn't want her family to know that she's going to die and spend their money to treat her that's why she makes an excuse, leaving Japan. This is why also she's working for her own treatment and medicines. And do not forget to give gifts to them.

"You don't have to leave honey, we're happy you're here," she said.  "I'm not." Kenma blurted still looking at his PSP, Y/N snorted and make a 'bleh' face at him. "Kenma!" His mom said, he just ignored him." I do to Oka-san." she smiled.

"But it is already planned and it must happen for me. For us." she smiled genuinely, hiding the hurt inside her, lying is all she can do to prevent her new family from being hurt. They don't deserve it.

"Why don't you just go now?" Kenma again said, making his Mom looked at him and flicked his forehead with irritation. "Be nice! Ughh!" Mom yelled and Y/N feel some pain in her chest, enduring it she smiled and laughed, holding her new mom's arm pulling her away from Kenma that continuously hitting his arms.

"Oka-sa! It's okay!" She laughed and now looking at Kenma, "Don't worry Kenma! my brother 96days left and I leave you alone..." she stopped and laughed again. "forever." she laughed yet Kenma looked at her intently while she pulls her mother to finish eating. 'forever' he thought and he feels happy yet uneasy for the first time, her words are different this time

---

Kenma is now in his main office as he scanned through his documents, Y/N words brushed through his mind. "I can't wait.' he blurted yet gives him regret or he actually meant him. He just shrugged off his thought and open his computer, looking at some comments from his last stream.  Then again all of sudden, Y/N's moves from her last stream make his cheeks blushed, the feeling of her breathing to his nose, and how she plays with her hair while she teased him. His eyes widened and slapped himself.

"not a chance," he mumbled. "Not a fucking chance." he stands up and went out to get a cup of coffee, as she walked past by, other employees greeted him because the he's 'THE CEO', his secretary went near him and advised him his meeting this coming week. "you also have a meeting and it's from Mr. Kuroo." she added and he nodded. "When will be the distribution of equipment from the sports markets?" he asked while losing his tight tie,  "25th" she answered and he nodded.  She discusses more of his meetings and presentations while getting his coffee, he continue listening while holding his hot coffee until they pass by the 'advertising department'. He looked inside and scanning the room, people walked in and out greeting him while his secretary still discusses some things until he saw  'her'.

She worked under him, his parents don't want to actually and rather give her a small company that she loved but turned them down emphasizing that it is unnecessary because 'she was leaving'. She just wants a job and an income, she even worked in a cafe on Friday, her new family lives in luxury yet she doesn't accept any large money from them and she is more focused on giving back to them.

Focused on her screen, eyes pierced and fixated, her lips forming a thin line, Kenma looked at her, he never gets to look at her long because of how he hated her for liking him plus annoying him, yet here he is looking at her, admiring? no?

Y/N let a loud sigh and lean tiredly on her swivel chair. "Finally.' she said now closing her eyes, Kenma leans on the glass door frame of the department, still making sure she doesn't see him. "Sir?" her secretary said. "Do I need to call Ms. L/N?" she asked but Kenma waved his hand into a  'no'. "You can go now," he said and his secretary nodded and left.

"Y/n, y/n!" one of her officemates said, one girl and boy went behind her poked her cheeks. "Stop it," she whined making a pout, Kenma smiled.

"Now you're done let's date!' the guy said massaging her shoulder, Y/N groans and slapped his hands.

"Stop, told you I only laid eyes on someone," she said now looking at them. The guy pouted cutely, Y/n  laughed, Kenma feels something jealousy? he doesn't know but he wants her laughter too.

"Sorry I'm taken," she said jokingly as she makes a heartbreak on her own hands.

"You know that I love."- "The CEO! your brother." one of the staff said seating now looking at them.

"Correction, step-brother, were not related!" she said and crossed her arms.

"yeah yeah." they teased. "I love you Kozume, my prince, my love, make me yours ahh~" her friends imitate her as like she was drunk, Kenma feels his cheeks burned as he remembers the video of her drunk telling things for him.

"Yah! STOP!" Y/N yelled making her embarrassed and red.

Kenma now makes a step out of the department, smiling and cheeks red. Little did he know, Y/N saw him passing by making her even shyer and embarassed.

#haikyuu #haikyu x reader #kenma fluff #kenma imagine

[nemesisadraste]

Movie night (a Code Lyoko fan-fin by NemesisAdraste for @that-g3-obsessive in the @codesecretsanta gift exchange.)

This story happens somewhere during season 2. Don't mind the year of the story and the movies please. I know they don't all fit, but let just say that in the CL-verse they do.

It was a normal autumn night for all the parisian inhabitants. 

All of them?... No!

In the streets of la ville lumière there was a group of young teens with bags on their back that, if you'd ask any grumpy neighbors, were definitely up to something. This group made of 3 boys and a pink haired girl, all about the same age, were heading to a specific house that wasn't theirs and no one could have guessed what they were ganging up for…

Ulrich : Oh my god would you cut it Odd?! We're just going to have a movie night at Yumi's house and her parents and Hiroki will be there so stop the drama!

Odd : What? Can't I have a little fun?!

Aelita : Yeah Ulrich, don't be a party pooper, that was funny.

Ulrich : Maybe but he does this all the time and I'm getting sick of it.

Odd : Come on buddy, a little laugh never killed nobody.

Ulrich : No, but people had died for being too annoying.

Jérémie : Ok kids stop it we arrived.

They had indeed arrived and Aelita knocked on the door. Yumi answered, already in pyjamas (a comfy Tortoro one) for the night and with a big smile.

Yumi : Hi! Come in! 

The warriors entered the house and Hiroki immediately welcomed Ulrich and showed him his room before letting him change into his pyjamas. The other warriors did the same after greeting Yumi's family. Once they were all set, the Geisha's parents prepared some popcorn while the kids were discussing which movie to watch.

Odd : What about "Singularity"? It is about a self-aware AI that we programmed to find the world's biggest problem and to solve it, but once we connected it to the internet, it didn't take a second for it to find out it was humanity the problem. I saw it and it is really good!

Aelita : Yeah I'll pass.

Jérémie : Me too.

Odd : Ok… oh what about "I robot"?! You can't go wrong with Will Smith!

Yumi : I love Will Smith too, but "I robot" really?

Odd : what's the problem?

Yumi : This is a fun movie night Odd. It is meant to get us out of our daily trouble so I think it is better to choose a movie that is NOT about an evil AI.

Odd : I see… but I still want an action movie…

Hiroki comes in the room in this very moment

Hiroki : I want an action movie too!

Yumi : I'm fine with an action movie, just not an AI movie ok.

Hiroki : Yeah she never liked those, it gave her nightmares. It's weird because she watches horror movies sometimes that are way worse and she is just fine!

Yumi : Enough Hiroki or you won't watch the movie with us!

Hiroki : Well mom and dad said I can so…

Yumi : Hiroki!

Hiroki : Ok fine I'll stop. So what do we watch?

Odd : What about "Pacific Rim" No AI, just big human controlled robots fighting aliens coming from the center of the earth. 

Yumi's mom coming from the kitchen with the popcorn : Isn't it a bit too violent for Hiroki?

Hiroki : Mom I'm not a baby I can take it! 

Yumi's mom : Ok then. It is a special night after all. But don't come into our bed if you have nightmares tonight! Have fun!

Odd : Ok let's do this! You'll see this is a great movie you're gonna love it! Especially you Ulrich and Yumi! 

Ulrich : How so?

Odd : You'll see! 😜

And so they started the movie and watched it. Just like Odd has predicted they all loved it and Ulrich and Yumi knew why Odd had said it was especially for them when they came to the "four hits" stick fight game scene. It was awesome and they promised to try it someday. Aelita was amazed by the special effects and was especially receptive to the traumas scenes. Jérémie took mental notes about all the scientific stuff surrounding the Jaegers and its neural interface. Hiroki just had a blast watching the fight scenes and Odd was equally impressed by the work in front and behind the camera like everytime he sees it.

Odd : See I told you it was great! Say Einstein, do you think you can program some Jaegers on Lyoko?

Hiroki : Lyoko? What is that?

Jérémie : Nothing… just a video game I program for fun in my free times.

Hiroki : Cool! Can I see it?!

Jérémie : Not until it is finished. But when I do you'll be the first to know promise.

Hiroko : COOL! Thanks! What is the game about?

Yumi : Hiroki, it's way past your bedtime now.

Hiroki : You're not fun

Yumi : Hiroki!

Hiroki : Ok I'll go to my room… leave you alone with your boyfriend.

Yumi : For the 1000000 times Ulrich is not my boyfriend!

Hiroki : Yeah sure. (He goes up to his room.)

Jérémie : Way to go Odd now I have a video game to eventually present to Hiroki.

Odd : Hey you came up with this cover story! Besides, he will probably forget it by next week.

Jérémie : Hope you're right.

Odd : You didn't answer my question though, could you program Jaegers on Lyoko?

Jérémie : No.

Odd : Why?

Jérémie : First of all, I have enough with the anti-virus as it is to start thinking about programming new stuff, second of all, didn't you see in the movie all the side-effects it had? It's too much an unnecessary risk to add. Beside all monsters are relatively small so how would a giant robot be of any use?

Odd : The monsters we know are tiny, but what if X.A.N.A. make a new real big one?! Bigger than the schyphozoa I mean! Bigger than the towers even!

Ulrich : Stop it Odd. Since we found the 5th sector I'm sure we have encountered all the monsters in X.A.N.A army.

Odd : Ok, Ok no Jaegers. But don't complain to me when we'll be in front of this future colossal monster and we will be the tiny one.

Yumi : I promise we won't. Ok, now I can't sleep on big action scenes because they are way too exciting, so how about a light comedie before we go to bed?

Aelita : Yeah I'd love too! How about an Astérix? I heard good stuff about those animated movies and how they are a classic here.

Ulrich : Yeah they are fun even if they are for kids.

Odd : Don't listen to him princess, cartoons are for everyone and the Astérixs are the best! My fave is "Les 12 travaux d'Astérix." Let's see this one. They even introduce all the characters at the beginning so it's a good one to start with.

Yumi : Ok let's watch this!

And they watched and enjoyed it all together, and then went to sleep. Those moments were rare and precious so when they arrived, they didn't let a second of it split. They all continued this wonderful night in their dreams hoping that someday this will be their routine instead of fighting.

THE END.

I hope you enjoyed it 😅

Happy holidays to you and all your loved one! Please give me your appreciation in the comments!

P.s. in case you wondered , this is the famous Pacific Rim stick fight scene!

#code lyoko #fanfiction #codesecretsanta2020 #odd della robbia #yumi ishiyama #Ulrich Stern #aelita stones #Jérémie Belpois

[chimswae]

BTS Caretaker CH15

Summary: She may think she has Bangtan Sonyeondan wrapped around her fingers. She may think it is easy to love the members equally without hurting any soul. She may think the boys wont fall head over heels for her. She assumes it is okay to show a little love and affection towards the boys, what if she gets it all wrong? What if it only brings more complication to her already complicated life? Can she survive their charms? Will she be able to resist them? What if they just wont let her go?

- Pairing: BTS x Oc ( Yoongi x OC, Jungkook x OC)

- Genre: Fluff, Slight Angst, Romance, Idol!au

- Word Count: 3,873

- Author Note:Late update again hmm i was a little busy these days with work ;(  i appreciate your feedback and comment, just drop in my ASK BOX :)

Previous | Next

Chapter 15

“The filming is delayed so stay in bed” Jin sunk beside sick Hoseok, giving the younger guy a stern look. A look that killed any of the members whenever they disobeyed him. Hoseok sat up with Jin’s help, resting his back against the headboard “ I don’t think this is a big deal, I still can make it out through the filming” he murmured groggily.

“Bang PD is the one who gives the order. If you happen to have any complain, direct it to Bang PD” Yoongi walked in with a tray of chicken porridge and a glass of water.

Hoseok pursed his lips in disapproval not liking this at all “I don’t want to become the reason that everyone has to put their job at halt. I can film our music video today” his brows pinched together showing his protest.

Annoyed, Yoongi handed the food to Jin with an unknowingly scary glare rendered them speechless “And isn’t it selfish to say you are healthy when you are not? It was not a big deal; the filming can be pushed forward but not your health. Think of how to heal faster first then only you complain. Eat up and stop sulking” clicking his tongue, he left the room leaving Jin and Hoseok dumbfounded.

There was a moment of silence before Jin spoke up “You do realize, Yoongi is saying the right thing, aren’t you? Do not overthink Hobi. Today’s filming is meant to be pushed forward anyways, fret not there were problems with the locations. So, they had to make an amendment on that” he assured.

“Fine..” the sick boy grumbled in annoyance. Jin fed the younger guy patiently with affection and great attention. Whenever one of the boys’ fall sick, they would sometimes turn into an adorable baby. Even the I-don’t-give-a-damn Min Suga will be the cutest out of all them. Hoseok finished the porridge without much trouble, though most of time Jin had to force the food down his throat but he was able to eat all of it.

“Hyung.. Is it true the caretaker lady took care of me?”

“Yes, Seul was here when you passed out. But she left before I could thank her properly. I have no idea why she was in rush” Jin’s lips were pressed together into thin line. To be frank, yesterday he hoped to see Seul even for a little while. Upon his arrival, he was welcomed by an empty house and small note from Seul.

She was obeying the contract that her mother had with the company a little too serious.

Hoseok hummed softly “I remember a woman’s voice though I could not have a good look of her face that time. I wish to meet her and thank her one day. I thought you have her number? Can’t you request her to come here?”

“I did try, but she refused to meet us. She is obeying the terms in the contract. We are not supposed to have any kind of contact with our caretaker, but I eventually broke one of the terms by contacting her through messages”

“She doesn’t cause any harm well at first we though she was a sasaeng. Since her story matched with the original caretaker ahjumma, I trust her” Hoseok’s eyes glimmered with hope. How can this guy have trusted a stranger so easily? Come to think about it, he had not met Seul face-to-face.

The older guy had a small smile at the corner of his lips “I trust Seul too..” his heart hopped slightly at the mere mention of her name. Oh, why was that?

Jin fixed the pillow under him, and laid Hoseok down with a satisfied now “Now, rest. I will wake you up in few hours, so you can eat your medicine” he pressed the back of his palm against Hoseok’s hot forehead.

“Stop pampering me like a baby” he whined weakly accompanied by a soft cough at the end.

Smirking, Jin glared at his way “Arent you one?” Hoseok snuggled under the blanket to find warmth as he nodded weakly without complaint. He felt too weak to even open his eyes, for some reason his eyelids felt super heavy. It must be the food and unnecessary nagging from Min Yoongi.

“Call me if you need anything, sleep Hobi” he patted the top of his head before exiting Hope’s room with the empty bowl.

 ------------------

Pacing back and forth in front of Bangtan’s place, Seul growled in disapproval thinking of what she had gotten herself into. Her mother made her skip her job today just because she was concerned of Jhope’s condition. She was not supposed to open her loud mouth and spilled everything to her mother just now. Now, she had to be the delivery girl for the day, running errands for her mother.

 “Deliver this to the boys” placing a bag full of variety containers come from different sizes in front of clueless Seul, she shot her mother a questionable look.

Seul puffed her cheeks “Mom, I have work. I will be late, can’t you make Hoon do the job?” she suggested, rejecting the request.

“He will not be back until tonight. Can you do me a favour and deliver this food to the boys. Drop everything that you do, I am sure you friend can cover it up for you. Plus, poor Hobi is sick, at this time he needs a comfort food for that dry throat” she sighed.

She gawked at her mom’s reply trying to decipher this absurdity “Mom, you do realize Hoseok has six boys to look after him, right? And, Jin knows how to cook that so called comfort food. Leave him do the job”

“That is totally different! Jin’s cook is alright but it is not enough for Hobi’s body. What he needs right now is a healthy food. I cooked chicken ginseng and porridge for him to savour. And others can share it together in this cold weather”

“You are unbelievable mother! What happen with the so called ‘the caretaker is not allowed to have any contacts with the boys’. This is a breach of contract!” she grew defensive.

Her mother shook her head with a soft huff “The term was breached long ago when you got caught by Yoongi-ah, so we might as well use this chance to meet them nonetheless. Besides, Jinnie contacted me last time to get me your number, so since we all have come to this..There is nothing we can do” Seul looked baffle, and out of sudden she felt victimized. Not that, she exposed herself voluntarily to the boys until she was caught by Min Yoongi. Things just turned out to be this way.

“I am not doing this”

“You are left with no choice”

“MOM WHY” she flailed her arms in disagreement almost too childish, but Seul did it anyway.

Her mother chuckled “Because I am your mother, now go wash up and deliver this before it gets cold! Don’t forget to hand this to them by hand, do not place it in front of their doorstep. I am warning you Ji Seul” Seul cringed when her mother voiced out the plan that she had in her mind out loud. She really should not underestimate her mother.

 “Should I press the button or just leave it here” she mumbled under her sharp breath. After struggling for few more minutes, Seul had finally decided to just leave the food at the doorstep, pressed the bell and quickly escaped before anyone saw her. Yes, that sounded legit.

Carefully, Seul set down the purple bag one the ground not wanting to garner any attention. Taking a deep breath, she pressed the small button softly until she heard a loud ding “Okay run” she chewed her lower lips nervously.

Just when Seul thought the plan the she executed was a success, her body flew backwards crashing onto a hard yet soft surface. She hissed softly at the sudden impact behind her, “What in the world…” someone was grabbing her ponytail.

“Where do you think you are going” again that familiar voice whom caused enough mess to her heart is back. His other hand was holding onto her hoodie, making it hard for her to turn around and glare at the culprit.

Yoongi smug watching Seul struggled in his strong grip “Nice to meet you again Seul-ssi, it is not nice to leave before you can even say hi” with that, he dragged the poor girl inside by her ponytail. Despite using that kind of approach in forcing the girl inside, Yoongi made sure not to use force on her hair, afraid that it might hurt her. Not to forget, he used his free hand to grab the bag full of food left by Seul earlier and locked the door behind him with a mischievous smirk plastered across his face.

“MIN FRIGGIN YOONGI. LET MY HAIR GO YOU FOOLISH MAN”

“Did you just call me Min Yoongi?”

“Then should I call you Min Foolish?” Seul said sarcastically. His grip loosening around her ponytail and without wasting any time, Seul turned her heels facing the devil in the mask. She was fuming with anger, as her nose scrunched up cutely following her heavy breathing.

Amused, Yoongi tilted his head, stared boringly at Seul’s direction with a playful smirk “Cute..” he blurted out of nowhere.

“Excuse me?” She frowned.

“I said you are cute” he stated one more time without any hint of embarrassment. Seul was creeped out by Yoongi bipolar attitude. One second he was acting like a dictator, and another second he’s blabbering some nonsense like right now. Compliment and Min Yoongi did not sound like a good combination to her.

Seul cleared her throat trying to not be affected by his empty words “Whatever. I am leaving. My mother wanted me to deliver those food for Hoseok-ssi. I am done with my task, so please excuse me” Seul was ready to leave. This was not supposed to happen, meeting Min Yoongi and being in the same room as his was the biggest sin ever.

Yoongi caught her wrist before she could pursue her intention in leaving him “We have a lot to talk about” he eyed the girl painfully deep, melting her bones like a fragile vanilla ice cream. Oh no, she vowed to herself to not fall for his gaze. Now her heart is acting up again because of him.

“Like wh-at” she squeaked shyly under his strong gaze.

“First thing first…When will you stop excluding me from the meals that you prepared for us?” he questioned.

“I don’t know”

“I am an impatient man”

“I know”

“So you know. What else you know about me?” Yoongi straightforwardness took Seul off guard. Every time she was confronted by him, her body seemed like to have a mind of its own. Seul would either embarrass herself in front of him or spilling out the truth which she didn’t intend to.

“………..”

“Again, I am impatient, Seul-ssi” he took the chance to take a few steps closer to stiff Seul who showed no sign of wanting to escape. Yoongi ran his finger over her wrist softly, stroking it painfully slow in a teasing manner causing her to shudder under his touch.

“We will get back to that later then”

Stood super close and handsomely in front of Seul was Min Yoongi, he leaned down to whisper those word in her ears. Her breath hitched at the slight contact of his lips against her skin “Secondly, the kisses. Why you kissed me that day and why were you kissing me back?” his thumb grazed her wrist and inched further along her cold arm.

The kisses that the shared previously had been haunting her and so did Yoongi. “Who else know about that” she tried to not let her squeaky voice sounded too weak in his ears.

“No one but us… How is it important to you that no one knows about this?”

“You are an idol, I don’t want to ruin your image. The kisses were a mistake. I was not myself” Seul retorted with a heavy sigh. She feared if anyone knew about this, they might use it to spread some malicious rumours.

Yoongi moved his hand to encircle it around Seul’s waist, “But, I was myself that day” he hummed lowly. Her knees weakened, heart pumping loudly and her heart had been spinning round and round due to this closeness. Anything that came out from Yoongi’s mouth bounced out from her messy brain. The adrenaline rush inside her was so real.  

On the other hand, Yoongi loved the smell of her shampoo, her perfume and her soft skin against him. Everything about Seul was intoxicating, like his mind reacted to its own with her presence around him.

He squished her waist closer, brushing his lips at the side of her neck which frustrated her further “I am excited to see you again Seul. It was sooner than I thought” she clenched her fist as her mind was having a battle. A battle that she could never win, a battle that could change everything in her life.

“I..have to g…o” she palmed Yoongi chest to push him away and she found herself blushing at her own boldness.

He mentally complimented Yeoul again careful this time not to sound too obvious. In some situation it could not be helped especially when it was related to Seul. Yoongi let out a low chuckle, his voice alone could cause pointless uproar inside her heart “What if I want you to stay..” he teased.

Again, it rendered her speechless. Why most of the time she turned into a clueless and dumb girl in front of Bangtan, Yoongi was the major problem here.

Gathering her courage to answer Yoongi and left for good, Seul looked up only to be welcomed by Yoongi small yet alluring lips near her eye level. She tore her eyes from staring too long at that one particular part “I don’t think-“ her sentence was cut off by Jin’s voice.

“Who are you talking to Yoong” the sound if his footsteps were approaching them closer, and like a flash Yoongi quickly settled down, releasing Seul from his grasp. He missed the warmth of Seul’s body already.

Yoongi coughed a little easing the heavy lump on his throat “It is Seul” he said.

“OH? SEUL IS HERE” Jin eyes glimmered in happiness and Yoongi found it was sore to his sight. Why would Jin felt extremely happy to see Seul around? How close they were with each other?

Giving no time to flustered Seul recovered from Yoongi’s weird antic, she bowed politely at Jin with a nervous smile “Jin..i am here to deliver food from my mother. She was worried when she found out Hoseok-ssi fall sick. Can you pass the food to him?” Jin nodded.

“Ahjumma cooked for Hobi? That is nice of her, thank you Seul-ah” Yoongi cringed at their informality making him wonder how things escalated fast between both of them but not him and Seul.

Seul smiled genuinely “There is enough food for everyone and this time Yoongi-ssi is included” Jin’s sense the tense in her voice as she watched them both exchanged a weird signal. A sharp tug of jealousy pulled at Jin. Odd, yet he really felt that way.

“Thank you again Seul-ah for taking care of Hobi yesterday. We are sorry he is troubling you. Anyway, he really wanted to thank you personally, but he is fast asleep. I will let him know that you come with food” his handsome face lit up as is he in love. Again, Min Yoongi was sharp enough to notice the difference in the way Jin reacted around Seul.

“Ah it is nothing. I hope he gets better. I need to go now, I will just urm.. see you around I guess, since we ended up meeting each other now and then” she tucked the strand of hair behind her ear like a shy fangirl.

Does she act that way with every man! Yoongi yowled in his head, looking extremely pissed at the other side. Jin walked passed Yoongi and led Seul to the door “See you around Seul-ah, get back safely!” he chuckled.

“Urm.. yes.. good bye” she left without turning back most likely she feared herself. The feelings that she had for the two men were undeniably disturbing. Now, that she met almost everyone in Bangtan, what else could happen.

 --------------

On her forehead a frown which had taken the shape of a deep horizontal line as her hand was moving in straight line wiping the glass window mindlessly. The frown stayed constantly in place ever since she left Bangtan’s place few hours ago. It was an evident of her discomfort. Seul tended to overthink and it was seriously an illness if she prolonged it.

At the corner, Wongeun and Hwasa were watching the girl closely with a wary look. Not that they wanted to be nosy, however Seul seemed a little off for the whole day. Being a concern friend, they were, Wongeun decided to inquire her after they were done with their work later on.

Seul emitted a soft sigh, finally gathering her sense back ‘Okay get your head together Ji Seul. It is just stupid tingly feeling that tries to mess up with your brain, you are doing fine’ she coaxed her heart. With that last heave, she averted her attention to the already sparkly glass in front of her. She must have spent at least ten minutes there wiping the same area all over again.

She straightened her body and rose from the chair, allowing her gaze drift slowly from the scene in front of her. The corner of her eyes caught a figure beyond the glass holding an expensive camera at her way. To her utter astonishment, the man was snapping a photo of her that caused her to feel displeased at the scene before her.

What is he doing. She placed the old rag on the table and squinted her eyes to get a better look. Indeed, the man in that grey hoodie was too engrossed in his photo taking and he snapped a photo of her. Seul did not want to sound delusional but he was being too obvious.

Inhaling a deep breath, Seul exited the store leaving Wongeun and Hwasa clueless. The man stood not far from the shop she was working and immediately kept his camera down with his eyes wide upon realizing Seul few feet from him.

“Excuse me, did you just take a photo of me?”

The man was panicking as he didn’t expect he got caught this sooner, his free hand was clutching onto a small sketchbook that he used to bring whenever he’s out along with his precious camera. He gulped, “I am sorry” he apologized timidly.

“I understand you are into photography, but I want you to respect people’s privacy. I don’t like my photos being taken by strangers” Seul crossed her arms eyeing the fully covered man before her. Even though she thought his eyes reminded her of someone, but she thought it was just her eyes messing up with her.

The man hung his head lowly in embarrassment “I just thought you are beautiful. I am sorry if it makes you feel uncomfortable” he sighed deeply.

His compliment flattered her, however it wouldn’t change the fact that this man just invaded her personal space “Thank you but can you please erase my photo?”

“Can i.. urm keep one at least?” he negotiated.

“For?”

“For my personal collections. It is nothing just for my collection”

“That sounds so wrong and creepy, Mister”

The man in front of her flustered again as reality hit him hard. He really had a wrong choice of word sometimes, which cause people to feel uncomfortable around him “I apologize, I mean..as my photo collection. It is an art thing. I promise I wont release it anywhere” he rubbed the back of his neck slowly.

“No..” she could not see his expression due to the black mask covering half of his face, but Seul was able to sense his disappointment. She tried to harbour his attention again “Unless you tell me your name. A man like you must have name right, at least I know you are not a creep” he looked reluctant at first.

He went mute for a moment before decided to give in to Seul’s request, not that she expected him to comply to the request. She didn’t think the photos of her could mean that much to him in exchange of his precious name. Guess, people with passion has different point of view.

“It is Vante..” he murmured.

“Van who?”

“Vante..So let me keep your photo”

“Vante..Are you a foreigner? You name sounds unique” Seul was impressed by the name.

Taehyung shook his head to keep this conversation as minimal as possible, no one should know who he was especially this girl that happened to catch his attention. He mindlessly took her photos just because the view in front of him was a piece of art. She looked effortlessly beautiful with the frown evident on her forehead, the photos of her depicted thousand stories behind it.

“Then Vante-ssi, i will let you keep one of it and erase the rest alright. I will just go now. And good luck with urmm taking photos I guess” she felt the awkwardness built between them. Was it because the guy in front of him or was it the situation that they were in?

Taehyung called out Seul once again putting her step at halt “Wait!” he went to her side, tearing one page from his sketchbook “Take this as my apology” he handed a piece of paper with a drawing. Seul scrutinized the drawing closely, “I..am sorry, I sketched a little and this is you.” he explained.

Feeling lightheaded, her lips were formed into an ‘o’ shape “Thank you..urmm Vante-ssi” she smiled brightly. The drawing a little unique to her just as peculiar as his name but the drawing warmth her heart. She could feel the sincerity in that piece of art.

“I just learned how to draw and sorry if it doesn’t appear like it supposes to be” he looked at Seul sheepishly. It was his first time to show his drawing to anyone, not even his members could peek at his drawing. The fact he gave his drawing to Seul, it was something unusual.

A small chuckle escaped from her “It is beautiful. An art is something unexplainable and only few people could understand it. That is why it is called art. Thank you again. It is nice meeting you, goodbye” a small bow from Seul and she disappeared in the shop again to tend her work.

“I FORGOT TO ASK HER NAME AGAIN!” Taehyung slapped his forehead and frowned at his foolishness. He glanced at the tea shop in front of him with a small smile “She works here, maybe next time” he turns to head back with a gleeful smile on his face.

His evening rendezvous turned out fruitful after all.

This work belongs to  Chimswae © 2020. All Rights Reserved.

#bts fic #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #bts series #bts idol au #bts romance #bts fluff #bts x oc #yoongi x oc #jungkook x oc #yoongi fluff #bts idolau #btscaretaker

[gale-gentlepenguin]

ML Fic: Soulmate Survey Part 4

(Original idea here)

(Master post)

_______________________________________________________________________

The rest of the school day was a blur for Marinette. She felt like she was practically floating through her classes. Sure her notes might have suffered, but thankfully Alya was more then willing to share hers.

Marinette practically skipped home as she greeted her parents at the entrance.

“Hello my little macaroon, How was school?” Her papa asked as he pulled out a  tray of freshly baked bread.

“It was wonderful.” Marinette singsonged.

Her father put the tray down. Hugging his daughter and handing her a macaroon. Marinette smiled at her baker dad and thanked him before running up to her room.

Marinette went up to her room and jumped for joy. Her red Kwami companion flew out of her jacket.

“Can you believe it Tikki? Adrien said he was happy that we were compatible! He does see me as more then a friend.” Marinette swooned.

“It appears that one little app has a way of changing one’s perspective on things. I am happy for you Marinette.” The red kwami spoke as she flew to hug Marinette’s cheek.

“Life is full of surprises and small things can make big changes, you are a prime example of that Tikki. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be able to be ladybug.”

Tikki smiled at the comparison.

“You flatter me.” Tikki giggled.

Marinette pulled out her phone and opened the app. Smiling as she looked at her compatibility list. Adrien’s picture right beside the number 1 and the ‘100%’ compatibility. It was such a beautiful sight.

Marinette knew it was a bit early to be super excited but she couldn't help but feel a little excited as she felt her mind filled up with possible future scenarios of what it would be like dating Adrien. 

Walking through the park and getting ice cream, playing video games, having Adrien model some of my in progress designs, us having dinner with mama and papa, kissing in a movie theater. Oh and i would need to tell chat noir that I was in a relationship and he would need to cut out the flirting.

Marinette found that thought snap her back to the real world. Tikki noticed her change in expression.

“Marinette?” 

The designer moved to her bed and sat down. Her mind replaying that thought.

She would have to tell chat noir.

She doesn't want to string him along, and she has been saying that she had feelings for another guy. This shouldn't be bothering her as much as it was. She wasn't a fan of his constant flirting especially during an akuma battle ... but there were also those moments, when he dropped the flirty attitude, when he was genuine and sweet, the moments when he would do anything for her, the moments where he showed why she and him made such a good team. It was in those moments that seemed to pop up more and more that made her... question her feelings about him.

 But she knew that she was still in love with Adrien however, she still didn't want to break his heart. The cat was a good guy and a good partner. She would need to tell him the truth if things did happen between her and Adrien, it was only right.

“What I am gonna tell Chat noir?” Marinette asked more to herself then to her Kwami.

Tikki paused. Of course that was a factor. Marinette wasn't aware of the truth. But it wasn't like she could tell Marinette that Adrien was Chat noir, even though she really wanted to.

“I am sure that when the time comes, everything that needs to happen will happen. Who knows, maybe chat noir is using the app and ends up finding someone he is compatible with. There is still plenty of time before anything needs to be said.”

Marinette smiled a bit, Tikki did have a point. Maybe the cat would find someone. She would want that person to treat him well, so when they do reveal their identities, she will make sure that girl will be a good person. Maybe she and Adrien can go on double dates with chat noir. Of course Marinette realized she was getting ahead of herself again.

“You’re right Tikki. I am getting a head of myself. It might also be too early to assume that Adrien and I do remain 100% compatible or even at the top of the other’s list. I guess I was just happy there was a chance.” The ladybug Kwami nuzzled her chosen’s cheek.

“Regardless of outcome, app or not, wherever your heart goes will be somewhere wonderful.” Tikki promised.

_______________________________________________________________________

“You know looking at that screen for too long is bad for your eyes.” a black cat Kwami commented. 

Adrien was laying on his couch as the news played in the background. he wasn't really paying much attention to the world around him.

Adrien hardly even remembered getting home, the day was pretty much a blur after his talk with Marinette. His conversation with her replaying in his mind. His eyes looking at the open app at his compatibility list. Marinette’s picture right beside the number 1 and the ‘100%’ compatibility. The more he looked at it, the more he kept finding himself thinking it fit.

“Adrien? Earth to Adrien?” Plagg flailed his arms as he tried to get Adrien’s attention.

The model smiled as he started to think about all of the things that could happen if she and him started dating.

Double dates with Nino and alya, Going out for ice cream in the park, going to those charity events that father funds but never attends, Marinette cheering me on in my fencing matches. maybe she could even join in on learning Chinese with me. Marinette did say she wanted to learn more and having someone learn with me would be pretty great. Going to the movies together and kissing... But what about ladybug.

Adrien felt his thoughts snap back to the real world where he noticed Plagg trying to get his attention.

“Hello? Earth to Mr. oblivious! Can you hear me.”

“Plagg, what am I gonna tell Ladybug?” Adrien questioned as his smile began fading.

Plagg stopped his attention seeking.

“Oh, so when you want to talk now you want to listen.” Plagg rolled his eyes.

“Sorry Plagg, what were you going to say.” Adrien apologized. Adrien sat up to listen to his Kwami companion.

“Can you get more of that cheese with the orange rind? That one is Delicious.” Plagg inquired.

Adrien sighed.

“Sure, I will put an order in this weekend.”

Plagg smiled.

“Okay, now what were you saying about Ladybug? Weren't you convinced she Marinette was Ladybug because of that whole soulmate bit?” Plagg commented, but then realized he might be implying Marinette is ladybug and quickly spoke up again. “Which is not to say that I am saying it is or is not her.”

“I know Plagg. It would be amazing if Ladybug and Marinette were the same person, but with my luck, it is likely not the case. It is already beyond my normal luck that someone I know is 100% compatible with me, and its someone as wonderful as Marinette.” Adrien answered.

“I have been chasing Ladybug for so long. I want to hold out hope that maybe she would come to fall in love with me. But I think I can't ignore the possibility that Ladybug is stuck on that other guy. I am gonna need to tell her I am giving up my pursuit.”

“Wow, don't you think thats unnecessary? Why not just not mention it while you date Marinette in case things don't work out with Marinette?” Plagg points out.

“Plagg, its Marinette were talking about, she is an amazing person and I doubt I would ever want to not date her. The only way it wouldn't work out is if I messed up badly, like not giving up on Ladybug. It wouldn't be fair to Marinette that I am leaving a part of my heart for Ladybug. Thats why what happened with Kagami in the Ice rink went so shaky, I didn't let go like I thought I did. So I need to let Ladybug know the truth.” Adrien explained.

Plagg nodded. He understood how Adrien had this mindset of being 100% into something or was not interested at all. He rarely half-assed things if ever. Fencing? 100% invested. Piano? 0% only plays because his mother did and his father wants him to continue. Adrien was someone that when he can be emotional, he was all for it. It was part of what made him a great chat noir.

“Alright, but you do still have time before then. So you don't need to worry so much yet. Just relax and let things happen how they happen.”

“I think you are right Plagg, I will let things happen as they happen. No need to push yet.” Adrien said relieved.

“Yup, the best option is usually the one that requires no effort.” Plagg advised.

“I don't think thats always true.” Adrien disagreed.

“Things would be less complicated if you just relaxed more.”

Adrien was about to respond, but his phone buzzed. He looked to see a text from Nino.

‘Dude, did you get the Soulmate searcher App? Alya mentioned you would try it out’

Adrien responded

‘Yea’

‘Nice dude! so who did you get on da list? Can you snap a pic?’

Adrien Paused. It was a private list, He really shouldn't be sending it out. But it was Nino and Nino can keep it a secret.

‘Promise not to share it with anyone?’

‘Alya too?’

‘Alya can know but no one else? Promise’

‘Bros honor’

Adrien hesitated for a moment. But he trusted Nino. He took a screenshot and sent Nino the pics.

Plagg looked at Adrien.

“You might want to wrap up that conversation.” Plagg answered as he pointed to the tv.

Adrien looked to see the news was reporting an Akuma attack.

“Plagg Claws out!”

_______________________________________________________________________

“Thanks for watching Chris for me on such short notice. I really wanted to check out that sale on new headphones and Chris isn't exactly feeling so great. I don't want to drag him out of bed when he is feeling like this. You are really clutch right now Lila.” The Dj praised 

“Its no problem at all. Thanks for letting me borrow your phone to message my mom. Mine really needs to charge right now.” Lila replied

“You are really doing me a solid. Just let me know when your mom responds.” Nino assured. “I am gonna let Chris know you will be watching him for a bit.”

“Of course. Take your time.” Lila assures.

She was was watching the phone closely. Waiting for Adrien’s response.

A minute passes and the picture shows up.

The brunette smiles as she forwards the 2 photos to her phone from Nino’s phone and then deleting the exchange between her and Nino. She covers her tracks. Deleting the messages between Adrien and him after sending a.

‘Nice, we can talk about it tomorrow.’

She smiles as she closes the phone.

“I am all done.” Lila calls out. 

Nino walks back in and happily takes his phone, unaware of the events that just transpired.

“Hope you get a good deal.” Lila exclaimed as she waved Nino off. The door closes and Lila smiles.

She goes to her phone that had been charging.

“Now lets see where Marinette is on this list.”

Lila clicked the photo and started at the bottom of the list. The first photo was the bottom half of the list.

“She isn't below the top 5, this might be a bit of a pain.” Lila groaned.

Lila still felt confident, 

So what if Marinette ranked in the top five. I just need to find the number one person and copy their answers and beating that annoying pigtailed pest will be easy.

Lila clicked on the other photo to look to see who was on it.

“Kagami is number two? Ugh! Another pain to deal with later. But wait, Marinette isn't anywhere below the second spot... No...”

Lila looked at the first place spot and her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. Marinette was at the TOP. She was ranked number one? And just when Lila thought it couldn't get any worse, she saw the compatibility percentage.

“No way...” Lila dropped her phone.

“You have to be Fucking kidding me!!” Lila screamed loud enough to be heard from outside. But Nino had put his headphones in as he was heading out and just missed hearing the girls anguish.

______________________________________________________________________

Part 4 is finished (And the streak of Over 1000 notes for each part is still alive. I am amazed thank you all.)

If you want part 5, please let me know. I love hearing feedback and it feeds my impulsive need to write. And I am just gonna say it. (But I will say that getting to this one might take a bit more time since its a weekday tomorrow.)

#ml #ml fanfic #miraculous fanficiton #ml fic #soulmate survey #soul mate survey #soulmate searcher #adrienette #adrien agreste #Plagg #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #tikki #marinette #nino lahiffe #ml drama #Part 5 is gonna be fun #How about upping the goal. #1111 notes sounds like a fun new goal to reach #Oh and if someone could draw fan art of Lila's reaction that would be amazing and beautiful #but that one isn't a requirement #just something that would be awesome #next part has ladybug and chat noir #that will be fun

[ofbardsandmonsters]

Does anyone else have a longtime friend(s) who, if you met them today, you know you would want nothing to do with them? But your lives are so intertwined that the idea of separating seems impossible and terrifying?

I’ve been friends with one of my best friends since I was 16, he was 15 (we’re about 6 months apart). I’m now 32, and he’s 31. So we’ve been friends for over half of our lives. His wife and I are super super SUPER close. My husband is close with them too. We’re at their house at least once a week. We’re the godparents to all 3 of their kids. I address her dad as dad. I refer to her sister as my sister. We’ve lived 5 minutes apart and thousands of miles apart. And we’ve remained close friends.

Now, I’ve known for a couple of years that we’re on the opposite ends of the political spectrum. They’re (relatively) quiet conservatives while I’m an extremely vocal liberal. We’re all aware of this, and we try to keep politics out of our discussions. And when we can’t, we’re all really good at staying level headed and having mature debates. He’s even almost aggressively jumped to my defense when his brother-in-law tried to call me a “bleeding heart liberal sheep.” They’re both extremely and unapologetically pro 2A, and he often has a pistol on his hip whenever I see him outside of their house. He knows that larger caliber guns like the AR make me uncomfortable, and he does a good job of keeping any out of sight when I’m around.

Up until last week, none of this was ever an issue in our friendship. We actually agree on a number of super important issues (abortion rights, LGBTQ+ rights, equal pay, just to name a couple). And I’ve always been extremely non-confrontational, especially with the people closest to me. I was always afraid to rock the boat and make anyone upset with me. But after watching millions of people all around the country and around the world rise up and uses their voices to make change, I’m done being silent. And an incident in town on Monday has forced me to come face to face with an uncomfortable reality.

Some of you may have seen a video circulating around twitter of a protest in Indiana Monday afternoon, where a bunch of armed men lined up along a protest route as an unnecessary show of force to try and intimidate protesters while claiming they were just trying to “protect their neighborhood.” They looked like this:

Those are my neighbors. That’s my neighborhood behind that fence. Those guns are in houses next to mine and down the street from mine. Hearing that my mom had to drive past these guys to get home and seeing these pictures (long before the video ended up on twitter) put me on the edge of an anxiety attack at work, and that tense, anxious feeling continued long after I got home. 

So what did I do? The same thing I always do when I’m upset or anxious. I texted my friend. And she called me, basically giving me a lecture that these guys are just “exercising their rights, just like the protesters” and showing little to no sympathy for my fear. 

This morning, more people from our circle were posting an article from the local paper about it on facebook. They, and other people commenting on their posts, were all in support of these men, cheering them on for “protecting our town” and “exercising their rights.” And it made me realize just how out numbered I am in my own circle of friends. It made me realize that I don’t really have any friends in “real life” who share my views, who I can go to protests with and march with and lift my voice up with. It’s just me and my sister. It made me sick and sad and heartbroken. My stomach is still churning from it.

And I have no idea where to go from here. I just feel lost.

#tw: guns

[kaitlynpcallmebeepme]

Food and Wine Festival

Food and Wine Festival

Tom Holland x Reader 

Warnings: Fluff and Food

Summary: A trip to Disney World, but seeing it in a new light. 

A/N: This is my first of two works I have for @peeterparkr and @marvelousxtsh (now @lovestrucktom) for their Rom Coms writing challenge. Both of them are separate from one another. I am VERY LATE on this, but I had to get my college readings annotated before band camp starts because I know I will have no time then to work at all.

#mandnchickflicksummer

I’ve only been to Epcot once on a band trip and I realized why I don’t like it (or maybe it’s just my family). I tried to do some research before writing this. Comments and feedback are always appreciated. Requests are open and Messages are open if you want to chat. I’m trying to make these shorter because I’m behind on some of my writing. Also, sorry for not really putting the events in order by where they are in the park. I haven’t been there in years and forget how it’s set up. P.P.S. As I was googling stuff, the question came up on what phd does Dr. Doofenshmirtz have on reddit? The person who asked had a username of u/SEND_ME_YOUR_D1CK and that made me laugh at 5 a.m. I’m going to link the two videos that helped me out. One is from Disney Food Blog which gives great coverage on disney snacks in all parks and one is a vlog from one of my favorite youtubers, Syndicate (on his Life of Tom vlog channel)

Disney Food Blog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNk550AeBuY

Life of Tom vlog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG1-M-EqdLo

P.S. Ok, I’ve now seen Far From Home because I won a bet and my mom said she’d take me to see my first Marvel movie in theaters. I’m going to write something else about what happened that day. ♡

Tag list: Send me an ask if you want to be added. 

@trashinaglass and @peter-pan-hoe ( @definitely-not-black-cat and @nnatasha you two seemed to like my stuff so I added you, tell me if you want me to take you off) 

Song Prompt:

1. I see the light – Tangled

Word count: 1,383

This ended up being so much longer than I intended.

"Tom. Please. I've been to Disney World a million times. I can probably make it around Magic Kingdom without a map that's how well I know it." It was late summer, before the hussle of school and work swept everyone away, Tom wanted to get away for a mini vacation with you.

“Please come with me. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy it. And you know how much Disneyland freaks out when there's a celebrity there. Also, you can go on different things that you wouldn't normally go on.” You don’t like to admit when he’s right. Your family can be a little controlling when it comes to vacations. Like why does a baseball game need to be involved in every one.

“You know that won’t stop people from coming up to you.”

“We’ll just wear our matching bucket hats and be that couple. Please.” You couldn’t resist his puppy pout anymore, and you both needed a break.

“Ok, as long as we don't go on roller coasters if I get sick from one.” 

“I won't make you go through that. Especially the amount of stories you tell me about someone being sick on vacation.”

After a long plane ride and a good night's rest, you two are ready for a trip. You got your backpack with the old school Disney World logo ready to get your weekly tickets. You got the tickets while Tom was spending time with a couple people who noticed him. You both never minded it as long as they were respectful. You thank the lady as Tom heads back to where you’re standing. 

“Ok, you want to head to Epcot first?” 

That five letter word made you choke on your own spit.  You followed Tom up the railway to the monorail. As you waited in line, you felt the need to tell Tom what's been eating at your mind. “Tom, you know I don't really like Epcot that much.”  

“What! Why?”  

“Well, the only other time I've been here was with my family once we went on the band field trip here. You know my dad never keeps his opinion to himself about how he thinks all of this ozone layer and eco saving thing is bullshit and how he hates culture. He just kinda complained that whole day, so I've never liked the park. Also, there's more food than rides here and you know I’m not a big food guru.” 

“Is your dad coming with us?” 

“What?”

“Is your dad coming on our vacation with us?” 

“No. But what does that-.” 

“Then his opinion and voice should not affect our judgement.” To be fair, Tom has changed your opinion on a lot of things, football (English kind) being one of them. You just didn't know if you could shut up that annoying tick in the back of your head that repeats all the things your Dad would say about this place, but you were willing to give it a shot. You grabbed a food passport and map in front of the golf ball and off you two went.

Before entering the park, you booked fastpasses for the one thing you knew you loved at Epcot, and that was Sorin’. It felt like you had wings and earth with its gravity could never take hold of you again. Even with the fastpasses the line wasn’t too long because people wanted to be the first to get the food in all the countries. It reminded you how Harry would have his drones to get the cinematic videos of the ocean washing up on the beach that look gorgeous. But alas, you had to touch ground again and continue. 

You two went to have a good time eating stuff. Like you wanted to order everything from the Irish stand, except the alcohol which Tom took so you could keep the decorative cup (best boyfriend ever), so you settled on chocolate pudding with custard and the two of you split the Irish sausage with potatoes and gravy. You two weren’t worried about overfilling yourselves because 1) everyone does that at the food and wine festival and 2) there weren’t many rides that could make you throw up afterwards. 

You grab a Light Lab Phosphorescent Phreeze (you secretly wanted to collect all the cups you could) and signed up to do a Perry the Platypus adventure in the UK (just to see if Tom liked their stereotyping). “Okay, well this is from and American Disney Show Phineas and Ferb where they do a bunch of crazy stuff during the summer, and the subplot is their pet platypus is a secret agent that stops this not-so-good supervillain every episode. Dr. Dofesnberg-something was his name. You basically have to go to different shops within the country, follow the story video on our phone, and some objects will move as you interact with stuff. Basically stopping this guy from carrying out his completely elaborate and unnecessary evil scheme to rule the world.” 

“Okay, and of course it’s about golf. How can you get more British than that.” Apparently the adventure included tea once you told the cashier a secret word phrase, so yes, it got more British than golf. 

You guys stopped by Canada and you could not stop doing impressions of Ryan Renolds as you stopped for a quick snack as the Perry the Platypus mission took an hour. You ordered a Canadian Cheddar Cheese and Bacon soup with pretzel rolls to split (of which you only at the pretzels because even Tom doesn’t know why you don’t like bacon).

After the Frozen ride and a couple more snacks along the way you settled in China and watched some acrobatics and get out of the heat. You couldn’t do everything in Mexico, but the San Angel Inn would be a place you save for a different trip. You got your faces painted to be half skulls with decorative details. It definitely helped you get recognized less. 

Last stop of the night before the fireworks/water show you traveled to Japan. The architecture was realistic and you just thought of the time it took for someone to design and construct that. You both waited in line to try to see if you could get a pearl out of an oyster. You both end up getting one with the lady being very excited for you two. “Mine was 7 ¾ mm, and what was your Tom?”

“7 ½ mm. But you know size doesn’t matter.”

It wasn’t long before the fireworks and lights danced on the water’s surface and you two were heading back from a long day. Tom wanted to take the ferry boat back complaining that the line for the monorail was too long. It always is but the boat was very slow. You gave into his wishes because he was the one who made you enjoy the park today. You stood over the bow of the ship looking at your reflection upon the water until Tom broke you from your thoughts.

“So, didn't I say you would have a good time?”

 “Yes you did. My dad's opinion did not affect my judgement as much as I thought it would. It’s still hard to see things with my own opinion, but I’m getting better at it. Thank you Tom.” 

“My pleasure princess. Maybe next time we can crack some oysters and keep the pearl” You two share a sweet kiss and the fireworks in Magic Kingdom across the water started going off. Nothing could make this moment more romantic. “But there's still one more thing to do tonight.” 

“Thomas Stanley Holland. Do NOT follow that statement with ‘when we get back to the hotel’.” 

He laughed so much that he leaned back and his eyes crinkled in the corners. “Not what I was going to say darling.” You’re still confused at his intentions, until he starts playing music from his phone and holds your arms out while you two are on the tip of the boat; keeping his hands on your hips.

“Only you could turn this into a Titanic moment. “I'm flying Jack. I'm flying.”

The moment had gotten better once you realized Tom had asked a crew member to take your picture, and now you have a new phone background and a new perspective.

#mandnchickflicksummer #epcotdisney #epcot #disneyworld #food and wine festival #tom holland x you #vacation #tom holland x reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland imagine #tom holland fic #tom holland fluff #tom holland #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fanfic #tom holland reader insert #tom holland reader #tom holland story #tom holland blurb #tom holland boyfriend #tom holland one shot #tom reader #tom holland one-shot

[westcoastbroadway1443]

Be More Notes: my very long ramblings on BMC as I finally listen to the whole thing

Ok!  I’m finally doing it!  Now that the cast album is out I’m going to really give all of Be More Chill a listen, try to put the things that annoy me about the show aside, and give it a fair chance.  And have decided to do running commentary here for the nobody who gives a shit lol.  Going in I wanna say I’ve heard 4 full songs and random bits of other songs from the original soundtrack.  And I’ll be listening now to the OBC album plus watching a b**tlg, I’m not totally sure when it took place I just know Will Roland is in it so at the very least New York.  Keep in mind whatever I think of this show, if I end up hating it, if you like it you’re right.  My opinion in no way invalidated anybody else’s or is above anyone else’s in my eyes, frankly I don’t enjoy not liking things, it just means I don’t get to come to the party and that’s not fun.  So I might be poking fun at the show sometimes but if this speaks to you, that is fucking awesome!  Also I’m old now and I guess no longer the target audience for stuff like this.  

Spoilers for those who haven’t watched the show and don’t want to know stage stuff because I’ll be commenting on that.  This ended up being really long, eh.  

More Than Survive -ok this song I’ve heard before, and it both turned me off the show and also made me respect the hell out of it, because much like I give a salute to Black Mirror having the balls to make pig sex their pilot, I salute a musical that starts with jerking off -So far like Roland a little more than the previous guy.  From what I’ve gathered from clips, while that dude is hella talented and cute as a button I kind of buy Roland as a terrified, desperate, frustrated high school kid more   -Man I really do dig the hell out of the score and there is no denying this is catchy but some of these lyrics are so cringe -WHY IS A TEEN IN 2019 REFERENCING JOE PESCI?! -Ok I love the idea of a short bully calling somebody “tall ass” -I do like Jeremy’s body language better in this one. Also does he vocally remind anyone else of Max from Goofy Movie?  Maybe this song just reminds me  of “After Today” for no reason. -“super pimp” “mac daddy game”....OK!  I’m going to try not to list every time I cringe.  I just have questions -You don’t  want to be Clooney...high school child in 2019 is Clooney really your reference for cool?  Sorry I just struggle with this stuff because I keep hearing how this show is so in touch with kids these days but I just see:

-lol Michael came on and people went apseshit in the audience.  All my nitpicks aside I bet this room probably has some great energy. -..Michael the clerk at 7/11 doesn’t pour your slushie, it’s self serve.  Are you trying to seem cool to Jeremy right now? -Aah the boyfriend backpacks.  I know of this ship -Yeah Christine brings the flutes!!!  I was a flute player, we never get love -HAHA when Christine is doing her weird ass dance, in the recording I’m watching somebody right in front of the person recording just went “I don’t get this show”.  Like me too darlin, but you got 2 hours left so suck it up -Oh but sir, check the playbill.  The story is indeed about you -in summation this song kind of encapsulates everything I feel about this show, good performances and catchy as fuck and musically interesting and a lot of me asking “why”.

Play Rehearsal   -Well Christine is adorable -wow wait what?  wtf was that weird self harm comment???  Are we just gonna skip that??? -Ok I was a band kid in HS so I guess I don’t get this level of extra.  Band rehearsal is just tuning and then fucking around until somebody makes you play Bach -...is Christine ok??? -Ok I think at least for now I may hate her.  But I like that Jeremy likes her, likes her passion and such.  I approve of her conceptually!  I just don’t wanna be around her -I thought play rehearsal was gay, Rich?!  WHAT YOU DOIN AT PLAY REHEARSAL RICH?! -...I mean I’ve seen Romeo and Juliet as a zombie wasteland movie, I would watch Midsummer zombies

More Than Survive Reprise -”least I didn’t have a breakdown and have to go the nurse” Ok fair, I can relate to that high school experience -this set is kind of working for me, basic but fun and the floor is neat -I know high school bullies are a thing I guess? But I always just saw them in movies?  Now Middle School bullies were legit and terrible and I got the shit kicked out of me, but by HS I feel like everybody was too into their own shit to care much about anyone else??  Maybe that was just my school -Will Roland’s body language is real good in this show

The Squip Song -Oh!  Surprise Rich lisp. Creative way to show how this thing alters you -..ok now we know about Rich’s dick size.  I mean hon your short, maybe your penis is just proportionate?   -DO I DETECT SOME THEREMIN IN THIS ORCHESTRATION?!   Gimme all the theremin!   -Ok so the squip made him be an asshole?  Does he secretly want to be buddies with Jeremy? -Ok what the fuck are the people in the background doing here?!? -I know people ship Michael and Jeremy but I feel like Rich kinda wants to jump that tall ass??

Two Player Game -Ok the little sign for the game that came up was cute -These guys are kinda cute, even if I wish they’d tone down Michael’s “I’M QUIRKY!!  YOU GET IT?!?” shtick -That is accurate!  Y’all will be cool in college and I don’t see that brought up often -This is the first time I’ve found the choreography fun   -...why is this dad allergic to pants?? -ah.  Depression=no pants.  And now I get why Jeremy’s so desperate not to stay as he is.  Well points for making it not just about the girl -awww Michael is his bae -bro I’ve heard Loser Geek Whatever, you’re tellin lies right now to your buddy -LOL!  WTF IS THIS WINDOWS SCREENSAVER OF A VIDEO GAME?!? -oh wow dancin went off the rails here at the end

Squip Enters -Mountain Dew?  Well, better than Surge I guess.   -Ok the Ecto Cooler line legit made me laugh.  And I guess I could come down on the show for making Michael psyched about a drink that came out before he was born, but I have a pretty intense Crystal Pepsi obsession and that shit came out when I was maybe 4?  So I get it Michael, you go enjoy your liquid ghosts -well that squip thing doesn’t look fun -Oooooh Ok Keanu is like factory setting, alright I’ll accept this.  Though I will say this show would be 35% better if he was dressed like Keanu from Bill and Ted

Be More Chill Prt 1 -Hey stop shitting on Jeremy.  I think I kinda like him -wow Keanu, I didn’t think you’d be so mean -I mean everyone chanting “everything about you sucks” is just how peeps with anxiety feel constantly.  Eminem shirt ain’t gonna fix that -”Jerry-me” ok Will Roland is kind of making this work for me.   -Him repeating everything the squip said is a fun little sequence.  Like I dig this conceptually, scifi musicals are rare and can be neat - Lol the hate who they hate thing is pretty accurate

Do You Wanna Ride? -hey Jeremy what about Christiiiiine

Be More Chill Part 2 -the beginning of this song broke me a little.  Hey!  I’m feelin a thing! -this song is pretty fun!  It works!   -though the cast of like 10 people that just keep putting on different wigs make it feel like a high school play or a starkid production

Sync Up -ok so now I know I’m watching previews?  Because sync up isn’t here -I do think this song is a really good addition.  I mean it’s not like a stand out fantastic song but it does a good job getting across the themes and drives home the whole “everybody has problems” thing too which I like -Ok..dairy line was weird.  

A Guy I Could Kinda Be Into -Ok the weird girl fighting stuff about Jake is unpleasant and sort of unnecessary -a squip gives you a deep voice and the ability to kinda do accents.  Cool -ooo this is catchy, this is gonna make the spotify playlist -the goofy background hearts are cute.  I still don’t know why she’s into Jake or why she’s friends with Jeremy or if they should be together since legit the only thing she thinks they have in common is theater which he doesn’t care about..but this song is still cute -lol squips understand friend zone

Upgrade -DID THIS SHOW JUST KILL EMINEM?! -How did the squip know that?!  Does Eminem have a squip??  I mean it kinda makes sense.. -Don’t you see Jerbear?! The key to popularity is in this girl’s vagina!  Happy they cut the “I’ll tenderly guide you just take me inside you” thing, little creepy -Why did Jake make a kicking motion to illustrate cricket?  I’m like 85% sure Jake doesn’t know what cricket is... -the “feel all the feels” like is a little goofy but I really like the rewrite for this song, showing some depth of character.  Good job, show!  And I’m seeing some chemistry between these two, but I don’t know if I’m meant to? -Oh no!  The whole “you looked at me” thing from Brooke was so sweet and sad.  And the player two thing.  Yeah this OG version of this song can go fuck off, the rewrite is a really good tune.  I’ll admit the original maybe built up the horror a little, the squip sounds more threatening coming in at the end but I like where there going making this about everyone and not just Jeremy

Loser Geek Whatever -Squip blocked Michael??  You’re a dick, Keanu Reeves -I didn’t love this song when I first heard the single but hearing the version on the album and the stripped down piano version, I really really like it.  Gives me some of those old geek feels from back in the day -sort of surprise by how little is happening on stage though?  I sort of assumed something was happening as the song built?  But nope, just Will rocking his wee heart out -LOL!  What is Squip’s new outfit???

Halloween -Ah, it’s this show Big Fun.  This is a lot catchier than Big Fun though -I went to exactly one of these kinds of parties in HS, just replace Halloween with punks after a rock show and add a lot more drugs.  I didn’t hide in a bathroom but I did hide next to the stairs until my mom came and got me.  Memories!!  You know what this show is succeeding I suppose, it’s making me have HS feels -...is Jake dressed as Thomas Jefferson? -Jenna you’re too cute for that costume.  You should get to wear something sexy too!  Unless you just dig clowns in which case enjoy yourself hon -Ooooooh Prince, I get it -this is not this show’s fault at all but I struggle with dancing in shows.  I mean the title of my blog is The Girl Who Used to Hate Musicals because I did, and while I love them now extended dancing sequences still take me out of a show real fast.  I know I’m in the minority here -...what the fuck is that weird fuzzy thing with the big teeth -Hot damn!  Go Rich!  Dancin fool

Do You Wanna Hang? -I don’t like any part of this plot line... -Ok!  Didn’t realized she was dressed like a “sexy baby” so the diaper line sort of horrified me.  I mean it still does!  I just understand it now

Michael in the Bathroom -hey the bathtub!  Ok I know enough to know what happens now -Jeremy why you gotta be so mean -I mean what is there to say, great song.  I wondered if they’d change anything for the new recording and I dig the arrangement, especially the stripped down acoustic guitar and piano parts!! Also as a lady who maybe once or twice since discovering this song has gotten tipsy and sung it karaoke-like, appreciate the slower and the higher.  It’s not a lot, just a bit, but makes it less of a struggle to match.  Thanks bro!

A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into (Reprise) -Finally!  They’re both giant doofs but I see some connection!  And I mean my roommate and I have noises we always make at each other like a call and response, so I gets it -He asked it!  So proud.  Rejected but proud of the boy, and rejected for good reasons

The Smartphone Hour -Heard part of this song before.  Really like this Jenna more than original Jenna, her performance was a little much for me -This is one of those songs where I really do feel like I’m watching a HS original production..but a good one?  Maybe cause I haven’t seen something like this on Broadway, but that’s a good thing.  Always good to see new kinds of things on Broadway -lol what is the middle of this song?!  I feel like I’m suddenly watching a cheer squad or like a John Waters inspired musical, which from what little I know of Joe Iconis I think he’d be cool with that comparison

The Pants Song -Jeremy don’t be mean to your dad! -Yipes is this the Break in a Glove or Dead Gay Son of BMC?? -....yeah it totally is -”Do you love him??” Has Jeremy’s dad finally given up on finding a girl in Jeremy’s room? -Ok ok I’m gettin the ship

The Pitiful Children -So squip just looks like this now, I thought maybe he was just being fancy for Halloween -Hot damn Jenna!  Why were we savin that voice?! -I feel like I’m missing something with these weird hand motions the squip is always, do they actually mean something? -goosestepping...alright.  Oh no Jeremy did the hand motions, I think that means a thing

The Play -Jeremy is being so creepy but he means well?  I guess?   -lol using the play to spread the squips is pretty clever -wtf red mountain dew?  Really?  You know what fuck it, discontinued drinks for the win.  Maybe my saved bottles of Crystal Pepsi will stop an apocalypse one day! -Michael’s entrance was cute, and hey he just happens to have code red.  I wish ecto cooler was what shut it off. -The glitching voice is crazy when Jeremy is fighting Michael and I love the way Jeremy is sort of bobbing up and down in fighting stance like a video game character,  Fun touch -squip is making Jeremy go all Idle Hands! -I prefer the recording version of the guys making up, the whole “I just wanted to be liked” “I just wanted to be seen” thing -the squip has to be so extra even in death

Voices in My Head -hey lispy Rich is back!  And bi now I guess? -Oh is that why people think Michael/Jeremy are a thing?  The squip blocked Rich’s bi thoughts from him and it blocked Michael from Jeremy’s vision?  I mean it would be an interesting story, I’d take it. -This might be my favorite song and I don’t really know why, I don’t super love that Jeremy still gets Christine in the end but I just love how this song sounds -I’ve never heard a character wearing pants get an applause? -improved lyrics in the Broadway version, and since it got more into the popular kids as people you can kinda see why they’d still stay friend with Jeremy -”I’ll throw you a rope home slice if you need some dope advice” like is this parody?  What is this??  Well..still my fav song despite this line.  A line they liked so much it’s the one original popular kid line they kept in the new version??? -don’t know if I see much future for these two, but Jeremy’s reaction to the kiss was cute -”Of the voices in my head the loudest one is mine” is my favorite line of the show -lol Rich’s little sneak hug.  I feel like Rich always wanted to be friends with Jeremy?  Or had a crush on him and that’s why his squip made him beat Jeremy up?  Is this pairing a thing?

Final thoughts:  This was so stupid long, nobody read this but that’s ok!  It was fun to take notes anyway.  Listening to it all, I liked it more than I thought I would, especially with the lyric changes.  I don’t know if I would like it as much if it wasn’t Will Roland, the dude just really made this character likable when he could very easily not be.  Some of the lines still bug me, there’s still a lot of cringe here but there’s also a lot of good stuff.  This show introduced me to Joe Iconis and I’m slowly falling in love with him from his other work and CANNOT WAIT for Broadway Bounty Hunter because that sounds so like my jam.  Overall I do get why people like this show, especially younger people because you can relate to the characters but maybe you want something a little peppier than DEH.   I don’t think this is a soundtrack I’m going to ever listen to all the way through, but I’m for sure grabbing a handful of songs and sticking them on my musical play list.  And when this thing goes on tour and ends up in LA, I think it would probably be worth checking out if I can, looks like a fun watch.  Though with all the young fans and internet fans if they’re smart they’re gonna record this bitch.

#Be More Chill #BMC #joe iconis #Will Roland #musicals #musical review #jess babbles about a thing

[mill3nniumforc3]

200: My crush’s name is: Russell :) 199: I was born in: April 1994 198: I am really: energetic 197: My cellphone company is: Verizon 196: My eye color is: hazel 195: My shoe size is: 7.5-8.5, depending on the shoe 194: My ring size is: 7.5 193: My height is: 5′5″ 192: I am allergic to: penicillin, cats, pollen, and strong scents 191: My 1st car was: I’ve never owned my own car. 190: My 1st job was: babysitting. First real job was a desk job at my university 189: Last book you read: I don’t remember. I don’t have time to read for leisure. 188: My bed is: comfy 187: My pet: Seamus the miniature schnauzer and Sugar the Aussie-mo 186: My best friend: Ashlyn 185: My favorite shampoo is: Dove 184: Xbox or ps3: neither 183: Piggy banks are: for kids and rainy days 182: In my pockets: nothing 181: On my calendar: going river tubing on Saturday, party next Saturday, trip for T’s birthday weekend, and possibly going to Kennywood and Kings Island sometime in August. 180: Marriage is: something for my future self 179: Spongebob can: do anything 178: My mom: is the bestest 177: The last three songs I bought were?: who buys music anymore? 176: Last YouTube video watched: probably an ASMR video 175: How many cousins do you have?: too many to count 174: Do you have any siblings?: three sisters 173: Are your parents divorced?: no 172: Are you taller than your mom?: yep 171: Do you play an instrument?: piano, drums, bells, and I know three chords of the guitar 170: What did you do yesterday?: sleep [ I Believe In ] 169: Love at first sight: sure 168: Luck: yes 167: Fate: maybe? 166: Yourself: depends on the day 165: Aliens: not really... 164: Heaven: yes 163: Hell: Do I believe in it? Yes, because God is just. Do I believe people are damned there? No, because God is loving. 162: God: yes 161: Horoscopes: no. It’s funny to see “horoscope” posts and see if they apply to me, but it’s a bunch of b.s. A bunch of Aries aren’t going to have the same day/month/year. That’s ridiculous. 160: Soul mates: I’m not sure if I do or don’t, but I do believe in love. 159: Ghosts: no 158: Gay Marriage: of course! 157: War: it’s an unfortunate and unnecessary part of life 156: Orbs: no 155: Magic: yes [ This or That ] 154: Hugs or Kisses: both 153: Drunk or High: drunk 152: Phone or Online: online 151: Red heads or Black haired: no comment 150: Blondes or Brunettes: brunettes 149: Hot or cold: hot 148: Summer or winter: summer 147: Autumn or Spring: spring 146: Chocolate or vanilla: chocolate 145: Night or Day: night 144: Oranges or Apples: apples 143: Curly or Straight hair: straight 142: McDonalds or Burger King: McD’s (though I’m probably biased because I work there) 141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: both 140: Mac or PC: PC 139: Flip flops or high heals: flip flops 138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: sweet and poor 137: Coke or Pepsi: neither 136: Hillary or Obama: Obama 135: Burried or cremated: I want to be cremated and have my ashes buried with a seed and grow into a tree 134: Singing or Dancing: dancing 133: Coach or Chanel: neither 132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: Kat 131: Small town or Big city: small town 130: Wal-Mart or Target: Target 129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: Ben 128: Manicure or Pedicure: mani 127: East Coast or West Coast: east coast 126: Your Birthday or Christmas: Christmas. My birthday stopped being special after I turned 19. I get good food every year on Christmas. 125: Chocolate or Flowers: chocolate 124: Disney or Six Flags: Six Flags 123: Yankees or Red Sox: Indians [ Here’s What I Think About ] 122: War: What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. 121: George Bush: he had some good policies. Better than Trump, that’s for damn sure. 120: Gay Marriage: should never be illegal again. 119: The presidential election: #FuckTrump #VoteBlueNoMatterWho #ImpeachTheMF 118: Abortion: all my life, I was told to be pro-life. These days, I don’t know anymore, but I think my beliefs are closer to pro-choice than pro-life. 117: MySpace: it’s not 2008 anymore. 116: Reality TV: glad it’s not my life 115: Parents: they’re doing their best. I’m not looking to be one anytime soon though. 114: Back stabbers: bye! 113: Ebay: Amazon is better. 112: Facebook: these days, I use it to get laughs and memes. I don’t interact with people I know IRL much. 111: Work: good for the money. Not good for my mental health. 110: My Neighbors: they’re ok. 109: Gas Prices: #ThanksTrump 108: Designer Clothes: I can get good clothes at Target. The only “splurge” I do for clothes is at Spencer’s or Kohl’s. 107: College: I plan to go back soon. 106: Sports: entertaining. 105: My family: family is life. 104: The future: anything can happen [ Last time I ] 103: Hugged someone: Tuesday. 102: Last time you ate: a couple hours ago (chik’n patties and cheese) 101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: last week. I saw a manager I hadn’t worked with in like a month. 100: Cried in front of someone: Monday 99: Went to a movie theater: July 2nd 98: Took a vacation: June 97: Swam in a pool: back in February 96: Changed a diaper: I don’t remember 95: Got my nails done: way too long ago 94: Went to a wedding: in April 93: Broke a bone: 2017 (broke my toe) 92: Got a piercing: 2006 91: Broke the law: never. I’m a good person. 90: Texted: three hours ago [ MISC ] 89: Who makes you laugh the most: Russell 88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: my dog 87: The last movie I saw: in theatres, Toy Story 4. At home, Adventures in Babysitting. 86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: being off on Saturday 85: The thing im not looking forward to: working tomorrow 84: People call me: Vonnie, Vonn, Bonbon, Sophia, and “the girl” 83: The most difficult thing to do is: not cry while watching Grey’s Anatomy 82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: never 81: My zodiac sign is: Aries 80: The first person i talked to today was: my sister 79: First time you had a crush: kindergarten. His name was Wally, and we were “boyfriend and girlfriend” til about third grade, and we remained friends til we graduated 8th grade. Haven’t talked to him much since. 78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: Russell 77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: Sunday 76: Right now I am talking to: nobody because it’s 3:30am 75: What are you going to do when you grow up: I hope to be teaching English education 74: I have/will get a job: I currently work at McDonald’s, but within the next 6-12 months, I’ll be moving out of state, so who knows where I’ll work.  73: Tomorrow: work 72: Today: work 71: Next Summer: I’ll be in a whole new state, so that means new amusement parks to visit and rollies to ride. 70: Next Weekend: party. Oh, and next Saturday makes officially 18 months with me and Russell, so go us! 69: I have these pets: two dogs 68: The worst sound in the world: the beeping in the headset when I work back cash. It haunts my nightmares 67: The person that makes me cry the most is: Heather because she sends me to back cash all the time 66: People that make you happy: Russell, my mom, my dogs, Ashlyn, and Aunt Dolly because she sends me lives on Candy Crush 65: Last time I cried: Monday 64: My friends are: Ashlyn, Mikayla, Jon, Rilee, Lamar, Tae, Alexus, Clare, Katie, Mario, and Kel 63: My computer is: all mine because I bought it with my own money 62: My School: not in school  61: My Car: don’t have one 60: I lose all respect for people who: lie 59: The movie I cried at was: Avengers: Endgame 58: Your hair color is: natural 57: TV shows you watch: Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon a Time, House, The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, and... I don’t really watch TV because I don’t have cable. 56: Favorite web site: YouTube 55: Your dream vacation: Just a big coaster trip 54: The worst pain I was ever in was: my period this month. I had cramps for days leading up to my period that were so bad that, the day my period actually came, I couldn’t stand straight. 53: How do you like your steak cooked: I don’t eat steak 52: My room is: a mess, like my life 51: My favorite celebrity is: NPH 50: Where would you like to be: with my boyfriend 49: Do you want children: someday, but not today 48: Ever been in love: ohhh yes. 47: Who’s your best friend: not answering again 46: More guy friends or girl friends: i think i have a fair amount of both 45: One thing that makes you feel great is: this is tmi, but sex with my bf. 44: One person that you wish you could see right now: Russell 43: Do you have a 5 year plan: no 42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: yes 41: Have you pre-named your children: I don’t have any definitive names, but I’m thinking MaryGrace Linda for a girl, and James Sebastian for a boy 40: Last person I got mad at: Anna because she put me on back cash 39: I would like to move to: someplace south 38: I wish I was a professional: dancer.... no, writer.... no, why not both? [ My Favorites ] 37: Candy: peanut butter cups 36: Vehicle: Jeep 35: President: FDR 34: State visited: North Carolina (not just saying that because I lived there for two months) 33: Cellphone provider: Verizon 32: Athlete: Trevor Bauer 31: Actor: Justin Chambers 30: Actress: Amy Poehler 29: Singer: Chester Bennington 28: Band: Linkin Park 27: Clothing store: Kohl’s 26: Grocery store: Marc’s 25: TV show: Grey’s Anatomy 24: Movie: 13 Going on 30 23: Website: Pogo 22: Animal: seal 21: Theme park: Cedar Point 20: Holiday: Christmas 19: Sport to watch: baseball 18: Sport to play: softball 17: Magazine: I only read magazines at the dentist office, and I’ll read whichever has an interesting cover story 16: Book: A Series of Unfortunate Events 15: Day of the week: Saturday, as long as I’m not at work. If I’m working, then Mondays, I guess... 14: Beach: Huntington 13: Concert attended: Winter Jam, because I got to see Skillet play, and I met Matthew West. 12: Thing to cook: desserts 11: Food: eggplant parm 10: Restaurant: Olive Garden 9: Radio station: Star 102 8: Yankee candle scent: vanilla 7: Perfume: I don’t wear perfume 6: Flower: Daisies 5: Color: pink 4: Talk show host: Ellen DeGeneres 3: Comedian: Steve Rannazzisi 2: Dog breed: I really like terriers lol 1: did you answer all these truthfully ?: For me to know and you to find out :)

#about me #bored #lol

[abdicatedarchive]

dinner disaster || cody and bella

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: summers house // late march.

𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: cody x bella ft. charlie, nathaniel, mr. and mrs. summers, mr. and mrs. langston.

𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒: discomfort.

𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐒: cody and bella are forced into a joint family dinner, and they devise a plan that might be stupid. 

Cody arrived at Bella's room and knocked on the door. Begrudgingly, he was dressed for the occasion. He had chosen to not wear a tie, even though his mother asked him to. Cody rested his arm against the door frame while he waited for the girl to open it, god, how he didn't want to be here at all. This whole dinner was weird, and honestly he felt like it was really out of the blue. The fact that Charlie was going to be there too? And Nathaniel? Just so unnecessary, not to mention both sets of parents. They had done dinners like this before, but it was when they were younger. Like when it was a dinner party for the parents and all the kids would get to sit in the kitchen and eat different food. Now they all had to sit at the dining room table and make small talk. It was going to be insufferable. "You ready?" he asked when she opened the door.

Bella looked at her reflection in the mirror, trying to convince herself that her dress was pretty. But it wasn't. Her mother sent it over to her because she didn't trust her daughter's fashion choices. It didn't send the right message. Her mother wanted class, and Bella's clothes were just a little too much. She got startled by the sound of the knock and ran over to the door, "Hello Cody Summers." she said, not thinking too hard on that fact that she called him by his full name. It made her think about if he had a middle name. Should she know that for this occasion? Would she be tested? She didn't want to embarrass her family. "What's your middle name?" she blurted out. "I am also ready. See? The dress is sort of weird, isn't it. You look nice." she spoke quickly, trying her best to be friendly with him. "Do you want candy before we go? I always keep some with me."

Cody wasn't ... really one for small talk, especially not with quirky girls. He liked playful banter, but if he wasn't in the mood (like the current reality) then it was just like talking to a wall. "Beckham" he responded as he took a deep breath. The dress she was wearing was ... well, to put it nicely: she looked uncomfortable to be wearing it and it showed. She looked a little alien in the territory. There wasn't anything wrong with it, and on another girl ... he would probably be into it. "Thanks" he replied to the compliment, ignoring her voicing her insecurities. If his mom was here she would have nudged him to compliment her, but she wasn't here. "What kind?" Cody asked, he wasn't sure what kind of strange candy this girl might be into. He always liked to know what he was getting into before he said yes to her.

"Oh that's fun. Are your parents a fan of Bend It Like Beckham?" Bella smiled to herself as she asked the question. It was some kind of an attempt at joking around, but she hoped it didn't make her sound stupid. "I'm just kidding. I'm fully aware of David Beckham. Posh Spice's husband. But if you were named specifically because of the movie, that's very fun. Mine is Jane." Bella made a mental note to try and get to know Cody more. He wasn't exactly someone she ever thought she'd talk to, but she was sure there would be something they could relate to. "You know those Arcor strawberry candies? They're my favorite." she walked over to her night stand and opened up the drawer to retrieve the candy. "Here you go. I'll bring extra just in case. Now I am ready to go. Do you need a minute to mentally prepare, because I understand. I found that the sound of ocean waves helps me relax, so I found a 10 hour video on Youtube of waves crashing on the shore. It helped a lot."

He let her ramble for a bit, "family name" Cody clarified. He was well aware that her middle name was Jane, back in middle school his friends had taken an enjoyment of calling her BJ after she received a few initialed things for Christmas. Not only had he definitely not stopped them, but he had joined in on the fun. "I'll take one" he said casually, they were one of his favorites too. They were something grandmother Summers always had in her purse, and when he was young she had taken to giving him special attention because he was the fourth. She was a fourth child too, so she felt especially called to Cody. "I think I'm good on the ocean noises" Cody replied with a laugh as he popped the candy in his mouth. Why the hell would you listen to ocean noises when you could just .. go to the beach? He took his keys out of his pocket as they left her room and headed out. Unlocking the car, he knew that he should probably open her car door for her but instead he just got into his side of the Hummer and started the car up. 

This dinner was going to be a pain, but he knew on some level she also did not want to be here at all. If she had wanted to come she would have fought harder on the clothing thing, he assumed. When they arrived at the house, Charlie was getting out of his car. "Charlie" said Cody, "Cody" said Charlie before he turned his attention to Bella. "Bella it is great to see you, that dress looks lovely" said Charlie giving her a friendly hug, "Alice says hello, I think she didn't want to hear me and Nate talk about work. She also had a mild allergy to my parents, understandably" he added with a laugh. He wasn't sure why he had said yes to this dinner, mostly out of respect for Nate ... and to watch Cody squirm. Charlie had his suspicions about what this dinner actually was.

Bella was no stranger to family dinners, but that didn’t mean she particularly enjoyed them. There was too much pressure on her to be perfect. She felt like she tried so hard every time, but by the end of the night, her parents always seemed disappointed with her. “Hello Charles. Thank you.” She instantly felt her heart drop the moment she realized what she called him. Bella had known of Charlie long enough to realize that he preferred being called Charlie. She wasn’t a fan of being called Arabella, so she should have known better. It felt incredibly hypocritical. Even the tiniest mess ups made her panic. “Hello to Alice too then, wherever she is. Also, congratulations on the engagement.” Pretty much everyone in their hometown knew about the couple’s relationship status, and she honestly thought this dinner was some kind of celebration towards that. “My brother speaks very highly of you.” she decided to say as they headed into the house, thinking that the dinner was about Nate and Charlie’s job since it clearly was not about his engagement.

Charlie smiled, "Thank you, honestly I feel like Alice should get down on one knee and give me a ring too, that way I have something to show people when they congratulate me" he replied with a laugh as they headed up towards the house. Her comment about Nathaniel liking him made him feel a lot better about where he was at with work. Nathaniel working at the office had been a nice surprise, but he was really uptight. Charlie felt like he was never doing a good enough job. "Gives me a wave of relief, you know how he is" said the boy with a smile. Cody just stayed quiet, at least the two of them had someone to talk to. When they got to the door Cody rang the doorbell before stepping back among the three of them. Mrs. Summers answered the door, "Goodie, you're all here. Derek, Irene, and Nathaniel are already here" she said before she gave both her boys a kiss on the cheek and a quick hug. "For you" said Charlie as he handed her a bottle of port, "from Alice with her regrets." Mrs. Summers nodded, sad that the girl had not come with Charlie. She wanted to fawn over the ring again, but with Alice came the possibility of older Altmans being invited. That was no good. "Arabella, you look so darling in that dress" said Mrs. Summers as she gave the girl a hug. "Don't you think she looks nice, Cody?" she prompted. "You look nice" said Cody to appease his mother. They were basically like small children at this point in the conversation. The three were let in and joined everyone in the sitting room. "Charles, whiskey or a g&t?" said Mr. Summers as he was standing at the bar cart. "g&t sounds great, thanks Dad" said the boy as he sat down. "Sodas or La Croix for you two?" he asked Bella and Cody. "Whatever is cold" said Cody with a shrug as he went to go shake the Langston's hands.

"Yes, he's... very serious. About work especially. He means well, it just takes a bit for him to open up." Bella tried explaining, her siblings were pretty similar to their parents. A lot cooler, but still had that uptight attitude. Once Mrs. Summers opened the front door, she forced a small smile on her face. Her expression softened a bit when the woman didn't mention her sister, Fiona. She didn't exactly talk to her siblings about this dinner, but she assumed they'd both be here. Her sister always had great luck with just about everything, if only Bella could relate. She made sure not to show any change in emotion when Mrs. Summers called her Arabella. Then she was saying her dress was pretty. Was she just being polite? Was everyone's taste here terrible? Was Bella the one with terrible taste? Seemed likely. "Oh thank you." she said to both Cody and his mother. She was curious to know if Cody was in the same position she was in with her parents. When they'd force her to act and talk a certain way around others. Bella went to Mr. Summers and said her hellos before being asked about drinks, "Soda please. Thank you." she spoke softly. Nathaniel walked up with his parents, giving everyone a kind smile, "Always nice to see you Charlie, you too Cody. Of course. I'm sure this dinner will be, lovely." he said, still a bit confused by the whole dinner. It seemed very sudden. Mrs. Langston walked up to Bella with an approving smile on her face, "You look beautiful, Arabella. I knew the dress would suit you, and very nice shoes." Her mother always had to bring up Bella's height and how she was the second tallest in the family, behind Nathanial. She grew very insecure about it, but she would never bring that up to her mother. "We're so happy you could all make it. We thought it would be nice to catch up, see how you all are doing." Mr. Langston told the children. "Shall we head to the dining room?"

Charlie pulled Nathaniel to the side, "I have strong suspicions that this is a set up" said the boy as he took a sip of his drink, "my Mom asked me a few weeks ago if Cody was seeing anyone, and Bella's name was slid into the conversation." Cody wasn't usually one for gossip outside of his usual gang of friends, but Nathaniel might have some information on why this was happening in general. Or why the two of them had been brought along. "No one is taller than my Cody" said Mrs. Summers with a friendly laugh between the two moms, "I have no idea how he got so tall. When he passed Charles we were all wondering when it would stop." The two families headed to the table, and Cody and Bella were seated next to each other across from the Langston parents. They had Nathaniel on their side, and Cody had Charlie on his other side. There were little name cards and everything: very planned. The cook brought out their first course and Mr. Summers got down to business, "So, Bella. I'm sure you have your major all sorted out? Sophomore year, time for some decisions. This one can't seem to stay in a major" he said with a friendly laugh, but it was absolutely a dig at Cody. "Dad, Channing didn't pick her major until Junior year. In due time" said Charlie, keeping things a little better off. He had applied for the business school, so technically speaking Charlie had picked his major before even applying to school. He assumed Nathaniel was the same way, Nathaniel didn't really leave things to chance. That man consistently had a plan ... for everything. Though the comment was added by Charlie, it didn't make Cody feel any better about his family standing right now. He had really rested on his laurels when it came to Channing being the family disappointment.

"You think so too? I'm glad we're on the same page." Nathaniel spoke quietly to Charlie as he looked around the room. It was nice to know that Charlie was just as observant. "My mom kept bringing up the founders day ball and how she hoped we'd all have dates for it." he referred to the big event that took place in their town. People like their parents took that night very seriously. Once everyone was seated, Bella and Nathaniel gave each other the same smile. Nathaniel was pretty used to these dinners, but he knew his sister found them to be rather difficult. Bella almost felt guilty for having some kind of plan when it came to school, while Cody was still figuring things out. She didn't want to make him look bad. "I'm an art major right now. Once I get all my general courses finished up, I was going to see which direction I'll go in. But ... I know a lot of people who still aren't sure. It's so tough sometimes." Bella tried her best to defend Cody. "Of course it is, especially in a major like that. Being a full time artist is a very ... ambitious goal, but we could tell you're confident in your abilities. We trust you'll succeed." Mr. Langston said to his daughter with a smile. They weren't too fond of her going to school for art, they thought it was a waste of time and money. If it weren't for her grandparents being by her side, Bella probably would have caved and went into something else. "She is really talented, always has been." Nathaniel chimed in, knowing his sister was her worst critic. "I'm sure she'll be able to show you some of her work if she hasn't already." Mrs. Langston told Cody. "You both have known each other for so long, do you see each other often?" Bella hid her confusion as she ate. Sure she knew Cody, but it's not like they were ever friends. There wasn’t much of a reason for them to constantly cross paths.

Charlie nodded, "Founders day, yeah. Mom's probably freaking out about which girl will be in our photos this time. Last year was a mess" he recalled. The two boys went to join everyone else at the table for the grilling. Cody had most recently decided on exercise science, but he wasn't going to make a big deal about it. Last time he did, he started to hate the classes as soon as he mentioned it to his parents. "I haven't seen anything since the AP art exhibit senior year, I went for extra credit" said Cody as he took a bite of food. He was confused at the topic, why was he being asked how often he saw Bella. The two ran in completely different circles, "we don't run into each other often. Same dorm though" said the boy. He liked the Astoria dorms, and he wasn't ready to live in a house with friends yet. Most of his friends were just as shitty as him, and he liked having some space from all the chaos. "Well I'm sure you two can find time to see some of Bella's art" said Mrs. Summers, "whens the next showcase?" she asked. Charlie looked over to Nathaniel and nodded, their suspicions were right. "I hope it's before Founder's Day Weekend" Mr. Summers added, "not enough events going on because the historical society is overrun with plans. I heard this year was going to be bigger than ever."

Nathaniel immediately looked over at Charlie and nodded back before looking over to see Bella's reaction. Her facade was starting to crack, and at least he could tell that she was starting to look visibly uncomfortable. She couldn't stop shaking her leg underneath the table. "In a couple weeks. After everyone's received their critiques for their midterm project." she answered calmly. Bella's eyes travelled back and forth between her family members once Founder's Day Weekend was mentioned. Her parents always looked forward to that, but they somehow managed to make it more stressful than it needed to be, especially when it came to finding a partner to go with. Fiona usually found a date pretty quick, and always got someone with a solid reputation. Nathaniel didn't have too much of an issue with that either, but Bella? Her dates seemed to get worse and worse every year. Then it hit her, she could feel her stomach flip. Surely her parents wouldn't be putting her on the spot like this. "The Hastings haven't stopped talking about it, that's how you know it'll turn out good." Mrs. Langston said with excitement. "Fiona was just telling me about her date, they seem like such a lovely person. So respectful. I can't wait to see who you'll bring, Nathaniel, and it's always nice to see you and Alice, Charles. She always looks stunning." Bella's mother turned her attention to her daughter and Cody, "What about you two, are you both excited? Bringing anyone special?"

Founders Day. Of course this is what this was about. Fucking hell, his mother had been upset when he went stag ... and even more upset when he did bring a girl and she wasn't up to par for the family. "Katie was just inducted into the historical society" said Charlie before he took a sip of his drink, just to try and distract from whatever his parents were planning. "Alice and I wouldn't imagine missing it" he added with a soft smile at the compliment to his fiance. He knew how deeply uncomfortable everyone at the table seemed to be, so he was happy to be distracted thinking about Alice. Cody was blindsided by all of this. He still couldn't believe this whole dinner was orchestrated around him and Bella going to Founder's Day together. First of all: how was she less embarrassing than any other girl he ever brought? Sure, she could clean up well ... but it was Bella. She was one of the weirdest girls he had ever met. Second of all, why would they chose the two of them to bind the families together? Surely Nathaniel and Claire could go to Founder's Day together. "Uh no, not yet" said Cody just to respond, he was a man of very few words ... especially when he was uncomfortable, "but I'm sure there's a nice guy on the team that I could set Bella up with." He knew how to read a room, and if he played just dumb enough he might be able to get out of this. It didn't help that this girl was bouncing her fucking leg under the table, it was driving him absolutely up the wall. Fidgety people were so distracting, and it was taking all his attention and focus to hear anything anyone was saying to him. He had half a mind to put his hand on her knee to stop her, but he didn't want to give her any ideas.

Bella knew her parents were upset with her from last year's Founder's Day. Her date ditched halfway through,  but it wasn't her fault, she was even shocked and hurt by it. But to think her parents were setting her up? With Cody of all people? She always looked for the good in people. Unfortunately she hadn't found that yet in him. She was hopeful though, not as hopeful as usual ... but still hopeful. It didn't mean she wanted to go with him to this. Sometimes he came off a little too intimidating for her liking. She could never get a read on him and what he was thinking. "Oh no thank you, I'm sure I'll find someone." Bella completely shut Cody's offer down without realizing what he was trying to do. She was just so nervous. Her mind was racing, so she wasn't thinking straight. "There's still time for both of us to figure it out." she tried to stay as positive as possible in hopes that her parents would have a change of heart. "Well we wouldn't want you to stress about that for too long. This ball is supposed to be a happy time for everyone." Mr. Langston wasn't budging. "Besides, if you already figured out your date now, you'll have time to get to know them better before the event." Bella was starting to pick at her dress under the table now. She wanted to shut down any possibility of having to go with Cody, but the words weren't coming out. She couldn't imagine her parents' disappointment if she flat out said no to them in front of a family like the Summers.

God, this girl could not take a fucking hint. He was trying to get them both out of this. He nodded when she said she could find her own date, and Cody knew it was absolutely time for a scheme. Suddenly, Mr. Langston was doubling down on things. Clearly they were about to ask for something. So he went into panic mode. Cody knocked over Bella's cup while reaching for the salt, "Oh my god, I am so sorry Bella" he said as he moved his napkin over to start cleaning up the spill. Thankfully it had gotten all over her, "Here, let me take you upstairs and you can borrow something of Claire's or Channings" said Cody as he looked to his mom. She nodded, "Of course, anything up there is yours for the time being" said Mrs. Summers. Cody quickly ushered her out of the dining room but before they got out of ear shot he put his finger to his mouth to tell her to stay quiet. Cody quietly listened to the conversation, "see, they're already friendly. It was only a matter of time" he could hear Mrs. Summers prattling on. "Those two will be the most darling couple at the event, and their heights? Marvelous." Cody wanted to slam his head against the wall, but he quickly motioned for her to follow him as they headed up the stairs to Claire's room and he shut the door behind them, "I couldn't find another way out of that" said the boy, actively not apologizing but he didn't really notice how callous he was being, "you hated the dress anyways."

Bella instantly jumped in her seat as her drink got all over her. This couldn't get any worse. She grabbed her napkin and tried to clean her dress as best as possible. "No no, it's okay. I shouldn't have place my drink so close to the edge of the table." she said frantically, already putting some kind of blame on herself. She couldn't even look at her parents, so she simply nodded her head and gave Mr. and Mrs. Summers a shy smile, "Thank you." As she followed Cody out of the room, she kept quiet, listening in on what was going on at the table. She bit down on her bottom lip as they talked about them. There was no need for any of this, she just wanted to run out of the house. Instead of course, she headed to Claire's room, looking up at Cody with furrowed brows as he spoke, "You did that on purpose?" she asked, clearly shocked. "Now I'm all wet and sticky..." she mumbled to herself. Bella did hate the dress, and it deserved that. But she didn't. "Don't we have to go back down there anyways? Or are we making a run for it? I don't know if I could do that. I don't have great stamina, and I don't think I'm mentally prepared for that. Can I still change?" she started to ramble, her nerves were out of control. Bella reached into her bra and pulled out one of her strawberry candies and unwrapped it before popping it in her mouth quickly in hopes that it would calm her. "I'm sorry, do you want one? Are you nervous too? You seem calm, I can't tell."

"I had to think fast, they were just about to push us into going to Founder's Day together" said Cody shrugging a little. The situation wasn't dire, but they should have thought about what this dinner was about before they had arrived, he just didn't know that her parents were as scheming as his. "We are definitely going back down, we just need a game plan" he said as he opened up Claire's closet and pulled out a few things. Then she pulled candy out of her bra, "I'm good on the bra candy" he said calmly as he opened up Claire's bedside table and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and took a pull, "liquid courage?" he offered after he took another pull. This whole thing was absolutely fucked, "I don't know why they get off on meddling so bad, I feel like this is fun for them. Even bringing Nate and Charlie here as some sort of shiny example for what good futures look like. It's all too planned" he rambled. Usually he did not speak this much in front of Bella, or to Bella for that matter. But they were teammates now. He knew his calm exterior was alarming to her, but he got sort of robotic when it came to things like this. It was a game, and it was a game he wanted to win. "I wish I could just get them off my back, you'd think with the fourth kid they would let up some" he said as he sat down on his eldest sister's bed.

"Game plan? I'm not good with game plans." Bella shook her head, she wasn't sure what they could possibly do to change the outcome of this dinner, but that was mainly because she never went against her parents. All she wanted was to make them proud. She then looked through what Cody pulled out from Claire's closet and decided on one dress. A definite upgrade from the one she was wearing. "Please tell your sister I say thank you but that I'm sorry for using this without her permission. Also please turn around. Or close your eyes. Or both." she held onto the dress for a minute before turning around herself and changing outfits. "And done. Better, right?" she asked with a pleased smile as she looked down at what she was wearing. Bella stayed silent for a moment after Cody offered some of the whiskey. She wasn't too much of a drinker, but one sip wouldn't, or at least shouldn't, hurt. "Yes, thank you. I'm not feeling very courageous right now. I feel shaky. One, because the room is cold, but two, I get all shaky when I'm nervous." she wiggled her fingers as some kind of demonstration before taking a sip from the bottle. Bella clearly related to what Cody was saying, they were both stuck in the same situation, but talking about those kinds of feelings? It wasn't something she did very often. Or at all. "Well ... I'm sure it'll all work out in the end. My parents always tell me they just want the best for me. Maybe it's the same for you." she was trying her best to remain positive.

He did as she said and turned around, covering his eyes for an added measure. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to take a peak, but then again it was Bella. Did he actually want to take a peak? Probably not. When he turned around, she actually looked better. Nice even. Claire's taste prevailed. Cody laid back on the bed as she took a drink, "Yeah, they tell you they want what's best for you. But when's the last fucking time it was a good thing and they actually cared about what you wanted or what your dreams are?" he poked at her with his questions. He knew it was going to get under her skin, but he had a big ask. Big asks came with getting under someone's skin first to get them moving, especially an optimist like her. God, it drove him crazy how positive she was being about all of this. "Hear me out, we do go to Founder's Day together, and family barbecues, and all the dumb shit that we have to do. I know it's stupid, but if this pans out for them ... they will let me do whatever I want. Easy free pass" said Cody. He was always looking to work smarter not harder. It was a dumb idea, but if she agreed to it ... it would make everything easier.

Bella felt her heart sink a bit after hearing Cody's question. Her parents didn't care, or at least they didn't show it. They never showed interest in what she loved, they even missed her last art exhibit. To them it wasn't that big of deal, but it crushed Bella. She couldn't even answer his question, her silence was an answer in itself. Sure she didn't know how Cody's parents were with him, but did he have to be so negative about it? It must have been so draining. His suggestion completely caught her off guard. She wasn't good at game plans, but even she thought this was bizarre. "Wait, what? I thought the whole point was that we didn't want to go together. No offense! I'm sure you're a very fun time," she said innocently of course. "but we're just not close. At all. Which is fine." Bella was terrible with saying no to someone, no matter how strongly she felt. She just wanted to please people as much as possible. "I mean, if you're getting something out of it, do I?"

He knew that it was lacking some logic, but from his perspective Bella was a walking and talking get out of jail free card. "Seriously, think about all the things you could get away with, or all the positive attention we would both get. Give the golden children a run for their money" said the boy as he theorized the way to get the most out of this. "I don't want to go with you either, but it's looking like we're going to be going together regardless. And a forced event where they're checking on us is way worse than an event where they think we're already dating but just not touchy in public" he continued. He was positive he had never spoken this much in front of Bella, and Cody sat up on the bed "we don't have to be close ... we just have to appear to be close. It'll just be family stuff, and at school we don't have to think or act any type of way. And if you need more convincing than that ... I mean I can help you get what you want out of it too?" he said as he ended on a question. He wasn't sure what else she could want ... they were both going to win in this situation.

The last thing Bella wanted was attention, but her parents always threw the family under the spotlight anyways. She was going to get attention regardless, so it might as well be positive. As Cody continued on, Bella found it harder and harder to turn this all down. If her parents had something in mind, they were going to follow through on it. She would have to go with Cody whether she liked it or not, so maybe if her parents thought they were already dating, they wouldn't give her such a hard time. She was about to agree to the plan, until he said that he'd help her get what she wanted. Right then and there, an idea popped into her head. Bella was hesitant to bring it up, but she was pretty desperate at this point. "Help me with my finals?" she asked with big eyes. "For my finals, we're doing a realism project. I need a reference, of the human kind. My problem is that I can't get anyone to help me with it but I really wanna do a good job. You don't have to do much anyways. I have all the supplies. Please."

Her eyes grew big, if she didn't repulse him so much he might find it endearing. But he was too distracted by the fact that she looked kinda like one of those lemur things from Madagascar? He wanted to laugh, but he didn't. He just shrugged, "I could sit somewhere for a few hours." Cody put out his hand to shake her hand as they sat on the bed together. He could hear footsteps down the hall and he quietly whispered to her, "sorry in advance" he said, as he put his lips against hers with his thumb on the side of her chin. The kiss was soft and sweet as he moved in to deepen the kiss, seconds later his mother came in. He waited to break this kiss until his mom had already seen, "so sorry you two, we were just wondering where you'd gone off to" she said. Her eyes were all lit up, thinking her plan had worked so marvelously. "Just get down for dessert, and I'll send you two home with some tupperware for extra dinner when you get hungry. And don't you two worry, it'll be our little secret" said Mrs. Summers as she shut the door behind her. Cody's hands had been on Bella's waist as his mom had talked, but the second the door shut he moved away from her and put his hands back in his lap. "We can discuss terms in the car, and I'm sure the rest of dinner will go fine. 

Mrs. Summers quickly sauntered downstairs, "Well well well, not to toot my own horn but I was absolutely right. The two of them were upstairs getting cozy, I'm sure Founder's Day this year will be a delight" she announced to the table. The two of them came downstairs a few moments later and joined the table. No one said anything about what had just transpired, but Charlie and Nathaniel were making weird eye contact across the table. Charlie was going to ask Nate to come over for drinks after this ... strange dinner.

Bella gave a single nod and smiled. She was proud that she actually went for something she wanted and didn't just settle, but then it hit her that she would have to be with Cody quite a bit. It's not like there was anything wrong about that, but it didn't seem like it would be too fun. As she was reaching out to shake his hand, she furrowed her brows in confusion, not noticing the footsteps. Then his lips were already on hers. So many thoughts were going through her head, but the biggest one was WHY IS HE DOING THIS? She quickly realized what was going on when his mother opened the bedroom door. Bella looked at Mrs. Summers with the same big eyes as before, she was just in a full state of shock. She didn't think she'd be getting kissed tonight by a now fake boyfriend? She then relaxed a bit once she left the room, nodding her head in agreement. "Okay." It might have been the first time she ever gave him a single word response. 

Mrs. Langston's eyes practically lit up once Mrs. Summers told them the news. "This is even better than I thought." she said with a pleased smile. By the time the two got back to the table, Nathaniel kept looking back and forth between Charlie, Bella, and Cody. He thought he had everything figured out, but this was a major curve ball. He'd have to discuss this with Charlie later on. 

Finally the dinner was over, and Bella felt like she could finally breath. She was pretty drained by the end of all of this, but she knew her and Cody needed to discuss the terms. "So do you want to start? I've never pretended I was dating someone so this is all very new." she said as a way to keep things as light hearted as possible.

Cody had to laugh, "it's not like I've ever fake dated someone" the whole thing was her attempt at a joke, but it was preposterous. It's not like he ran around town dating anyone, let alone fake dating. If he was someone who talked and shared, Cody might say something like the last time I dated someone was in high school, and all of that was a little too real. But he wasn't. So he didn't. "I think we should talk about our terms, everything ... comes out even. You do me a favor, I do you a favor. The overarching thing: events with family do not count as a favor. But individual tasks during said event can count as a favor if they are out of the norm. I think at things with dances, we dance at least once an hour. Anything outside of that, for like a favorite song or something, that counts as a favor" he outlined. Cody liked having a game plan, he liked having plays set up. His outlook on life was that everything was a game: something you could win. This was no different.

Bella was trying to take everything in, but it was so much. This felt a lot more complicated than she thought and now she was worried that she was going to mess up somehow. Not only would her parents be disappointed in her lying, but then his family might not like her, and she didn't know if she could take all that. She wanted to be liked so bad. "I feel like I should be taking notes right now. Will there be a point system? Is this a competition? Will the winner get a prize? So many questions." Bella said before she gasped quietly. "What is your favorite song? One of mine is Flightless Bird, American Mouth." She always seemed to get so off track. "Oh I'm sorry. I agree, to everything. I don't mind doing favors, and I appreciate it you do me one." she said with a nod. "Question. Should we keep this from our siblings? Nate kept giving me a weird look and I was scared he was going to ask me something."

He zoned out for a second thinking about Alexandra, "no points, just keeping things even" he responded as he continued to drive. The girl kept popping into his head, it was distracting. He wasn't sure how long he had zoned out again, because she was talking about birds. Cody probably should have been listening, but she quickly moved on from the bird talk. "I mean, I don't really talk to my siblings much anyways. I get most of my updates from instagram" said Cody, being fairly honest. Charlie didn't want much to do with all of them unless there was something going on. Claire was always away, and Channing was ... Channing. "If you want to trust your siblings not to tell, and not to tell mine. You can? But the more people that know the more likely it will be to get out" he warned, "and to remind you again. I have not done this before, that's just how secrets work" he said, just making sure she knew.

"I don't either. He might ask though, but I can lie. I don't think I'm a good liar but maybe this whole thing will make me a better one. I don't know if that's a good thing though." Bella was very aware that her siblings were way closer to each other than with her, but it wasn't something she wanted to talk about. Saying it out loud would make it seem a little too real. Once he brought up not doing the whole fake-dating thing before, she gave him a small smile. She thought he was simply playing along with her joke from before, so she decided to push it. "You sure? I remember you being with someone back in high school. Are you like a fake dating specialist?" she asked, laughing a little afterwards. She of course meant no harm in it, but she definitely should have not brought something like that up. It's not like she enjoyed talking about her past relationships. She had only been with two people, and they treated her terribly. But of course, Bella blamed herself for it.

"I feel like lying is an important skill, how else would you tell children that Santa's real or trick your loved ones into going to a dinner" said Cody, he felt like his parents lied about things all the time. That's how they got anyone to do anything, especially their children. When she brought up Alexandra, he knew she meant no harm but it did hurt. "First favor" he said sternly, "never talk about her, or ask about her." He knew this meant that he automatically owed her one, but it was worth it to not have to get personal with her. She ruined Cody, he really thought he was in love. He thought he had found his person, and he was just dropped like it was nothing. It had been everything to him, to have someone to spend all his time with. Someone he could share with, he let all of his friendships go to be with the girl because she took up so much of his time. The last two years of high school had been rough, trying to catch up with everyone who had gotten close while he had been in relationship land.

"Yeah, that's true..." Bella mumbled, she wasn't going to argue on it. She never liked to argue. There was also some part of her that felt like she was lying all the time. If she kept in how she truly felt, was that considered lying? Was she just living an entire lie by pleasing other people? It made her embarrassed just thinking about it. Her eyes went wide when he ask for the first favor, she could feel her heart sink. "I'm so sorry. I won't, I promise. That was really stupid. I was just making a joke, not that I'm making an excuse or anything! I'm really sorry." she quickly spoke. Bella was going to mention how she didn't need the favor to be returned, but she didn't want to already go against the terms that were created. There was no need to upset Cody even more. Her knee started to bounce again as she looked out the window. Any little mistake she made set her off, she couldn't believe she would be so heartless and bring up something like that.

He took a breath, "it's fine, really. I just prefer to not think her into existence" said the boy. Cody had paranoia that if he thought about people they would suddenly pop up and make everything worse. Cody reached for his phone and put on Put Your Records On by Ritt Momney it was just a nice soft song. He didn't always listen to music like this, but it was relaxing. On the drive over they had been in silence, but he needed something to fill the space in the car that thoughts of his ex was filling. Taking the edge off was important because her fucking knee was shaking again, god did she have to wear her anxious energy so publicly? "Do you have any more terms you want to add in? Or do you want some time to think about it?" Cody asked. The most fool proof way for them to pull this off was for them to both be happy-ish with what they were getting out of it. That meant being clear from the start. "Obviously there's an unwritten rule that you don't fall in love with me" said the boy as they pulled into the school parking lot, he looked at her and smiled and then just broke into laughter. Bella Langston and Cody Summers being in love was the funniest joke all evening.

Bella bopped her head slowly to the beat of the song, but her thoughts were still filled with her little mess up she made a few minutes ago. She turned her attention over to Cody as she heard his voice, "Hm, well should we get to know each other better? Or get our story straight. Would your family ask us how we started seeing each other?" she asked before another thought came to mind. "Oh and that class of mine? It's on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but Thursdays are for working on the project. Are Thursdays okay with you?" Once Cody mentioned the unwritten rule of not falling in love, she cracked a smile. That won't be hard. was the first thought that came to mind, but she instantly felt bad for even thinking it. Maybe she was still upset about those stupid BJ jokes from when they were kids, but she just knew that Cody Summers was not her type. Instead of saying what she initially thought, Bella saluted the boy, "Aye aye captain. Same goes for you."

Cody had been so lost in the game plans for in person interaction, he hadn't even thought about backstory. Maybe she was good for something, they seemed to be making a good team. Cody pulled the car out of the school parking lot, "If we're going to come up with a good story, we're going to need actual dessert, and by actual dessert I mean drive through ice cream. "Class on Thursday, I can put it in my calendar. You might have to text me and remind me anyways though" said the boy as he drove onto the interstate and went to the next town over for fast food. The worst thing about living here was definitely the lack of fast food, it was all healthyish small businesses. "So the docket is we need a good why we got together story, we need to know where we are in the relationship, how long we've dated, anything else like that?" he asked as he continued to drive, pulling into the DQ drive thru.

Bella's eyes lit up when Cody mentioned ice cream, "Very smart Cody Summers! Ice cream helps the brain work a little better." she tapped her forehead a couple times with an excited smile on her face. She wasn't used to spending so much time with someone, she usually kept to herself, but she was glad he wasn't completely sick of her yet. "I could do that." Bella went into her phone and put a reminder every Thursday to text Cody about the project. It's not like she was going to forget, this was the most important piece she's ever done for school, but having a reminder wouldn't hurt. "Okay, so maybe we haven't been together for too long. Just so we don't have to create too many fake stories or act like we know everything about each other. Right? Plus we definitely told them that we didn't have a date to Founder's Day. But!" she put her index finger up as if she had a plan. "I think I figured out a way to save us from that. We could be like, we didn't want to announce our relationship during the dinner in front of everyone, because this dinner wasn't just about us. We wanted everyone to feel important tonight." she pitched her voice a bit higher as she acted out the scene. "It makes us look all selfless."

Cody pulled up to the drive through and the two put in their order. "Yeah we don't want too many backstory things. Maybe just that it was casual at first" said the boy as he pulled up to the next window and paid, getting their ice cream and thanking the staff person. "We can even take it as far as we just weren't sure where we were at yet and didn't want to assume anything also" said the boy as he pulled into a parking spot and started to eat his dipped cone. "and that when we went upstairs we had a talk about how we didn't actually want to go with anyone else, because that's dumb" he added. He thought it might be easier if they set the timeline to as close to the dinner as possible, "and maybe we can even say that we decided we were going steady or whatever during that talk upstairs. That way you don't look like you've been lying." The whole plan was genius, every conversation he had with his parents from here on out would be about Bella and he could just lie and say things were good. There would be so much less talk about all the other moving parts of his life. It was going to be such a wave of relief to have that burden off of him.

Bella automatically reached into her bag to grab her card, but noticed Cody was already paying for it. "Oh you didn't have to do that, but thank you. Next time will be on me, promise." she said with a kind smile before listening to his plan. It really did seem like he had done this before, he pretty much had it all figured out. "Wow, you're really good with game plans. Is that some kind of sixth sense for football players?" she asked as she began to eat her ice cream cone, making sure to not let it drip in his car. "Should we say we started talking to each other sometime this semester? To keep it vague, since it didn't mean much at first?" she asked. Bella was going through every possible scenario in her head. She wasn't sure how much her parents would ask, but she did know they'd be happy about this. Even though it was a complete lie, she was sort of excited to experience her parents being genuinely proud of her. She felt so disconnected from her family, but maybe this would make her feel like she belonged. "We should get to know each other more, right? Just in general. I think that'll help."

It was his instinct to pay since it had been his idea, "we're gonna have a lot of things like this anyways, might as well keep it on the favor rotation" said the boy. It was only fair, and it wasn't like money super mattered between the two of them. They were definitely still getting that silver spoon from their parents, otherwise how would they even have the problem of having to date. "Sort of. With my siblings, you kinda need to learn strategy. And yeah, that sounds good, like it was just a casual thing from a party that turned into coffee and studying" said the boy shrugging a little as he went back to his cone. "I'm sure we'll get to know each other enough at the stuff we'll be at. It'll come as it would anyways, unless you want notecards with all my favorite things on them" he said sarcastically.

"Sounds like a plan." Bella gave Cody a thumbs up. Once he mentioned them meeting at a party, she quickly shook her head, "Wait, I don't think that's gonna work. Us hitting things off at a party? They'll know I'm lying, trust me." When Bella was at home, she usually stayed to herself. She never went to parties unless her ex, Landon, dragged her to something. If she wanted to be somewhere other than her room, she would go to the beach in the middle of the night. The girl liked her alone time. "Notecards? I like that!" she said enthusiastically, completely missing the sarcasm. Catching social cues wasn't her thing. "I'll make some for you when I get back to my room." Just then, another thought popped into her head, "Another question. What are we going to do about all the people here from our hometown? Some of them are going to talk, I just know it. Do we have to pretend here too? Oh no, and what about social media? Do I have to start posting you on my instagram?" she started to ask questions quickly, so many thoughts were running through her head.

Cody was mostly paying attention to his cone, but he knew that if they were going to do this it shouldn't be half baked. "Then hitting it off just ... like at school randomly?" He tried to think of a better idea, "what about one of those things where we literally ran into each other. That's always cute?" he wasn't really sure why he described it as cute, but he knew his mom would enjoy the story. Charlie and Alice had a really ... disgustingly adorable story. "Then we could have gotten coffee, realized we were a little different than our perceptions of each other in high school ... started hanging out more often. Studying together and stuff as friends, and from there it just worked" Cody was mostly spitballing, but he wanted to meet her where she was at. Then she started talking about notecards, and he really had meant it as a joke. But the sentiment stood, he didn't want to have her bail on him. They both needed to be all in, or else his parents were going to straight up yell at him and get way too invested in his life. "Um, I guess we ... have to date publicly? We don't need to do any posts, but like stories? And I promise to keep my extra curriculars, if you know what i mean, to a higher level of discretion than I'm used to" he leveled with her.

Bella was pleasantly surprised with how quickly Cody was able to come up with something, she felt like her brain couldn't work that fast. She almost asked him what his perception of her back in high school was, but she held off on that. She didn't want to hear the answer. Even though she never thought too highly of him, hearing what he would have to say would still hurt her feelings. Bella was never well liked by people in her hometown, at least Cody had friends. "Bumping into each other, getting coffee, hanging out..." she mumbled to herself as she was going over everything he said. "Yep, I think that's the one. Ladies and gentlemen we have winner." Bella wasn't exactly thrilled to hear him say that they needed to keep this relationship up at school, but it did make sense. There were too many blabbermouths from their hometown here. "Um, sex? You're talking about sex, right? Cause it's fine, you could say it." If she knew one thing, it was that Cody didn't keep that part of his life on the down-low. Did he think she was some kind of delicate, innocent being? It was kind of the truth, but she still felt a bit offended. "Just please don't get caught. I don't wanna get cheated on by a fake boyfriend. That's kinda sad."

Cody wasn't completely sure why he censored himself around her, she just seemed like the kind of girl who didn't really do much. She had dated Landon and another person, but ... it was Landon. "I mean, I don't want to be the guy caught cheating whether or not its real or fake" said the boy, emphasizing the word caught. He'd never cheated on anyone actually, and it wasn't something he was interested in. His friend had explained to him that cheating is never something anyone wants to do, it just happens in the moment. Or the temptation presents itself and it's too good to pass up. He had never particularly felt that way about anyone, and he hadn't dated in almost four years. When you're that young and in love, cheating doesn't really sound tempting at all. You're more thankful than anything that you have someone to spend time with. But she had gone and destroyed all of that, and him in the process. "I'll keep the sex to a minimum, you too?" he said, "because people would expect that from me, but from you? That would be a town scandal all in itself." He knew people thought he was a dirtbag, and most of the time he either believed it or he played into it. Cody finished his cone and started the car again, "I'm sure we're going to have plenty of things to go to as a couple anyways, so we don't need to spend any extra time together unless it's for a favor."

So you've never cheated before? The question popped into her head, and thankfully she didn't ask out loud. It didn't change the fact that she felt terrible for thinking it though. He just sort of seemed like he had. She had heard stories about a few of his friends, so she assumed he was the same way. It's not like they all acted too differently in her eyes. She tried to stay away from that kind of crowd, mainly because she was incredibly intimidated by them. "Oh. Yes. I will keep the sex to a minimum." she answered back very awkwardly, and for some reason, decided to give him a thumbs up as well. Bella was not having sex. At all. The last and only person she had been with was Landon, and that didn't seem like it was going to change any time soon. She was the kind of person that actively avoided the people she was attracted too, simply because she was too nervous to go up and talk to them. "I guess I should go ahead and apologize in advanced for my parents." Bella said as she thought about how often he'd be around them. "They're weirdos." she rolled her eyes as she finished up her ice cream cone. "Anyways, I'm fine with only seeing each other for favors, and thank you for agreeing to help me with my finals. I promise I'll do you justice, and if it's good enough, it'll be at the summer exhibit. That's what I'm aiming for."

This was more the behavior he was expecting from her -deeply awkward and uncomfortable-. "I also apologize for my parents in advance, they're really nosey. I have no idea how Charlie and Alice managed to deal with them, especially with the family feud. Luckily that's laid to rest" said the boy as he focused on the road and got them back to school. "I think this is going to be good, and when it stops paying off or one of us wants to be involved with someone else we can stage a breakup that will get us out of even more things for a very long time." He could see it now: a very public breakup for their only in public relationship. As much damage as Alexandra did to him, there was at least a year that his parents didn't really ask anything of him. They just let him be a lifeless robot and stay in his room all the time. That's how all the kids liked to operate, they were creatures of their rooms. You'd be shocked to know that six people lived in their house sometimes, everyone could leave the state on a Wednesday night and no one would notice until Sunday Brunch when they were suddenly alone at the dinner table.

Bella was well aware of the family feud between Cody's family and Alice's. Everyone knew about everything that went on in their hometown. She was a bit nervous about his parent's being nosey though. Bella always had to act and talk a certain way in front of parents, it was so draining. Now she had to add on to the lie and pretend to be their son's girlfriend. "Ooh what will be the reason for our breakup? Do I have to start learning how to cry on command? Do you know know how to cry on command?" she started asking questions quickly, but continued to speak before he got the chance to answer. "I guess we can figure all of that out later. It's kind of intense, I feel like I'm in a movie. Fake dating is a good trope, didn't think I'd actually live it out." Bella continued on with a smile before they arrived back at the school parking lot. "I think we have everything covered. I'll see you on Thursday? Oh, I'll also give this back to you too." she pointed at the dress she was wearing.

Bella was well aware of the family feud between Cody's family and Alice's. Everyone knew about everything that went on in their hometown. She was a bit nervous about his parent's being nosey though. Bella always had to act and talk a certain way in front of parents, it was so draining. Now she had to add on to the lie and pretend to be their son's girlfriend. "Ooh what will be the reason for our breakup? Do I have to start learning how to cry on command? Do you know know how to cry on command?" she started asking questions quickly, but continued to speak before he got the chance to answer. "I guess we can figure all of that out later. It's kind of intense, I feel like I'm in a movie. Fake dating is a good trope, didn't think I'd actually live it out." Bella continued on with a smile before they arrived back at the school parking lot. "I think we have everything covered. I'll see you on Thursday? Oh, I'll also give this back to you too." she pointed at the dress she was wearing.

Bella did love the whole part of the fake dating trope where the people actually fall in love, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. She would never think about Cody Summers like that, it even seemed far fetched to imagine them as friends by the end of this. Before she got out of the car, Bella reached into her bag and tossed one of the Arcor strawberry candies into the cup holder, she made sure she had them on her at all times. "Goodnight, fake boyfriend." she said as she did a small curtsy. This wasn't how she expected her night to go at all, but all she hoped for was to get some good out of this. It was for her parents, and for her art. //END

#codyxbella #threads || bella and cody #bella and cody || 001 #codyxcharlie #codyxnathaniel #charliexnathaniel #cody: thread #charlie: thread #threads || charlie and cody #threads || cody and charlie #cody and charlie || 002 #charlie and cody || 002 #threads || nathaniel and cody #threads || nathaniel and charlie #nathaniel and cody || 001 #nathaniel and charlie || 001

[hellyeahrpmemes]

※ EVEN MORE JENNA MARBLES SENTENCE STARTERS ※

yall thought 2 parts were enough. here i am with part 3! here’s sentences from 10 more of jenna’s videos – feel free to change names/pronouns/zodiac signs/etc.! PART 1 • PART 2

READING MEAN COMMENTS ABOUT MY DOGS 2

“I’m sorry, we’re doing this again.”

“You guys are the sick ones. Shame on you.”

“Most of these are about you being allegedly dead.”

“He called you a fucking ice cream sandwich.”

“I need you to be alive and prove these people wrong.”

“In your fucking face, take that.”

“Why are you crying?”

“Why does she suddenly have tits?”

“Did she just hit puberty?”

“Do you live at home with your mom?”

“Congratulations, it’s a really big accomplishment, we’re all proud of you.”

“This is all in good fun, hahaha.”

PUNK EDITS IN REAL LIFE

“I can’t do a British accent.”

“Yours looks good, mine looks… wrong.”

“I think you look really good like that.”

“This is fun as fuck.”

“Write ‘daddy’ over my eyebrow.”

“Hello, I’m speaking to you.”

“You look so hot, oh my god.”

“Why do you look so hot? I still look like shit…!”

“Okay, that’s a lot.”

“You look hot as fuck, though.”

“I look way worse like this.”

“We’re your parents now.”

THROWING MY DOGS A POOL PARTY

“It’s not our fault, we just forget about him sometimes.”

“That’s my lying face.”

“We didn’t think this all the way through.”

“I’m just trying not to pass out today, you know what I’m saying?”

“Try to stay conscious 2k17!”

“Being a parent is fucking stupid.”

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“I might leave this up and then use it at a later date. Privately. In the comfort of my own home. By myself. Like the adult I am.”

“I’m sorry to be a disappointment.”

“This birthday party sucks.”

“The birthday party is a smashing success, I would say.”

“Is this it…?”

“Dude, this party is lit.”

“Did you have a nice birthday?”

“You’re so dramatic, Kermit.”

“This is it, I guess.”

“I threw my dogs a party, they don’t care, they don’t even like me, they don’t know who I am.”

“Are you going in?”

“They don’t even care, now.”

“This is garbage.”

DOUBLE DRAG MAKEUP

“I watched some videos, okay? It’s gonna be fine.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“The first thing we’re gonna do is shave your eyebrows.”

“That’s funny. That’s funny.”

“The more time you give me right now, the more chances that I run away before it starts.”

“It’s, like, the epitome of extra, right?”

“I’m being held against my will, somebody help me.”

“What are you saying?”

“This is a disaster.”

“I’ll be amazed if I have any makeup after this.”

“It was at this moment that he knew he had fucked up.”

“You look sad, like, you look like you need help.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I can leave right now.”

“I feel already, like, so defeated.”

“I’m like, fucking scared.”

“I really tried.”

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“I held it together pretty well; I wanted to die the whole time.”

“I wanna die, I wanna die, I hate this feeling…!”

“I can’t see or hear or feel.”

“Are you touching your nipples…?”

“That was a little unnecessary and uncalled for, I think.”

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck, I’m falling, I’m falling.”

“I’m like so incredibly far away from okay.”

“What in the shit fuck are we even doing?”

WHO’S SMARTER: CHIHUAHUA VS. HAMSTER

“Not doing so hot, are we?”

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“He has a will to live.”

“He’s trapped in his own prison.”

“So nice out… so quiet and peaceful…”

“Why are you crying?”

“Are you having a good time?”

CUTTING AND COLORING MY OWN HAIR

“So I’m home alone right now.”

“Listen to me, that shit is so boring, I’m bored.”

“Nothing I really do at this point is very surprising.”

“I’m doing whatever I want.”

“No turning back now.”

“Oh, it’s all over the floor…”

“I’m never getting my security deposit back.”

“I’m fuckin’ busy…!”

“I don’t know how to do this…”

“I’m trying to get cute hair on a budget.”

“You have one job, and you didn’t do it.”

“I wasn’t supposed to do this part yet, but I just couldn’t help myself.”

“How much time has gone by?”

“How could this end badly?”

“I can’t believe it worked…!”

“I really don’t have the patience for this.”

“Oh, it doesn’t feel good…”

“It already looks so good.”

“The Internet has done me so dirty.”

“Live your dream!”

“I feel like a new woman.”

“I think this is really great.”

“Oh my god, you look so good!”

“You look so fucking hot.”

“I’m out in public, so I’m being tame, here.”

“Nobody made fun of me the whole time.”

GIVING MY BOYFRIEND ACRYLIC NAILS

“Why are you making that face?”

“Why am I here?”

“What’re you doing?”

“I don’t like it, can we take this off?”

“There is no foot massage.”

“I pray that this never, ever happens again.”

“You have a giant cut!”

“It looks like you need stitches.”

“That was the easy part.”

“I don’t know what you want from me, okay?”

“Okay, this is kinda fun.”

“Worst case scenario, I can’t get these off.”

“You’re really pulling it off.”

“That is disgusting.”

“That is so dramatic, Julien.”

“You nasty bitch…!”

“What is wrong with you, that hurts so bad!”

“What do I owe you?”

“Well, Julien, was it worth it?”

“Should we do it again?”

“There’s no bonding like ruining a table together.”

A BALD CAP FULL OF EYELASHES

“Look, the world’s gonna end. We might as well do what we can while we’re here.”

“I really can’t rope Julien into this, he’s had it with me.”

“This looks so fucking gross.”

“Why do you look disappointed?”

“Imagine being our trash person and finding this in our trash.”

“Are you not impressed?”

“I’m pretty sure that all of my ancestors would fuckin hate me.”

“That is so nasty.”

“It’s like you’re allergic to gentle.”

“It’s a tiny masterpiece.”

“It doesn’t feel right, and it sounds terrible.”

“I already said I’d date you, okay?”

“I hope this is everything you wanted.”

“I don’t know why you wanted this, or, honestly, what’s wrong with you, but…”

“What about this is creepy?”

“End it. End it all.”

“I think it’s a good look, and it’s gonna catch on.”

MAKING TINY THINGS FOR OUR HAMSTER

“Did you get put in timeout a lot when you were a kid?”

“I don’t have any of the things you just said at me.”

“This takes for-fucking-ever.”

“Are you just cutting them to cut them?”

“That’s a waste and you’re making a mess.”

“Stop or I’m gonna take those away from you.”

“He is sex.”

“This is harder than she makes it look.”

“Do I have to babysit you? Stop it.”

“Oh my god, that was a bad decision.”

“If you gave me a good knife, I could do this better.”

“I’m gonna actually cry.”

“I’m like, I’m not gonna cry, but I am gonna cry.”

“I managed to not cry, even though I want to; I’m probably just gonna go cry in my room later.”

“I hope that you’re pleased with it, because I am.”

REVIEWING BAD APPS 4

“I look hot as fuck.”

“Wait, are you fuckin’ serious?”

“I blame Vine.”

“That makes me wanna die. I wanna die.”

“Some balls on this guy.”

“I swear to god, you’re gonna spam me with those all the time.”

“Is that a whip?”

“I am not a huge horse.”

“Have some fucking compassion, okay?”

“Since when do I have a belly button ring?”

“That’s fuckin’ fucked up, man.”

“Please take my phone out of your pants…!”

“It’s a screen, there’s no sensor in it…!”

“That’s criminal…! That is fucking criminal…!”

“You spent $11 on that.”

“This is so bad.”

“This is criminal. This person should go to jail. And give me my $11 back.”

“That looks like a murder fucking scene.”

“Why is her knee broken?”

“I’m actually gonna use those every day.”

“I want my $11 back. Really bad.”

“The bedroom is off-limits. Read me a poem.”

#rp sentence starters #rp memes #rp sentence meme #roleplay sentence starters #roleplay meme #mine

[mementovivere]

.

#it’s so funny thinking about how I feel bad sometimes when I had to stay for months in my college apartment and couldn’t go home #until I remember the reason why I don’t like being home in the first place #I’m glad I didn’t do summer school since I just knew I was going to be force to babysit my 17 yo brother just so he would actually do his #school work for once and not fail like he did when I wasn’t here #and I’m it’s barely day 1 of me helping and I’m already so tired of trying to parent him and my mom not doing anything #like i understand she doesn’t know English and she works all day and she gets to rest today but it doesn’t help that she just doesn’t try #to make sure my brother actually does his work?? like today I kept on waking him up and telling him to pay attention in class and asking if #he did his work while my mom just watched his videos and made unnecessary comments as if I she can’t see me struggling to wake him up #and somehow I’m the bad guy because I want him to go to summer school in person while my mom kept on saying she doesn’t care if he goes in #person like excuse me? you’re the one complaining he doesn’t do school work and the solution for that is sending him in person so he is #forced to pay attention but somehow she doesn’t want him to fo that? and she’s going to work tomorrow early in the morning so it is going to #be my job to wake him up early and I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to fight him to make sure he actually leaves the house and goes to #school and i want to cry just thinking about the stress of it

[shecapturedfeeling]

dude. ok. this is exactly what I mean.

back when the trailer for bohemian rhapsody first came out, I was super excited and just made a random post on social media saying “someone come watch this with me it looks so good.” I didnt rlly get any response but it was fine bc I just wanted to express my excitement.

then the movie comes out, and one of my rlly good guy friends works at the theatre so he can bring friends in for free. I literally listen to this guy rant all the time and we’re rlly close, so im like, he probably wouldn't mind doing me a favor and bringing me in since this movie just means a lot to me, right? but he ends up not having any time and finally I just felt so bad about bothering him so much about it that I stopped asking.

so then one weekend he ends up going to see the movie with a bunch of guy friends (some of which are my friends too). and I was out of town and I was like...wow. I mean ik he didnt purposely go just bc I wasn't there and that was prolly his free weekend and I happened to not be home but whatever. I wasn't rlly sad about him not bringing me, I was sad about not getting to see the movie. also, that group never did get to see the movie bc the theatre was filled up so they ended up watching something else.

anyway, one of the guys in that group is my best friends boyfriend. I basically set them up, since this guy (who's also my friend) had a crush on her and came up to me and I literally stayed up all night for 2+ weeks during the summer and spent so many hours just giving advice. I literally TOLD him the things to say and text to her. I gave him the idea for getting her a blanket for her birthday, forcing me to come up with another idea for my own gift for her. he used MY reasoning for the gift to explain why he got it, and she treats this blanket like its her favorite object. I was the one who ordered the present online for him, because he asked me to, because he didnt want his mom to question it. Even though it meant my mom asked me why I was spending so much money on her gifts. even though I had to go through the effort and I had to wrap the present and bring it to school. 

so after they went to watch the movie (but ended up watching something else), my friend is all “I want to watch bohemian rhapsody!!” which is so FUNNY bc every time I mentioned it before she’d roll her eyes and act annoyed and she NEVER listened to queen or expressed a modicum of interest before then, never sang along to bohemian rhapsody with the rest of us. but ok.

a few months later, bohemian rhapsody is out of theatres. the guys did end up seeing it, and they’re all obsessed with queen now, even though before half of them didnt know anything about them. its fine bc this is true of like half the teenage population who now professes to be huge fans of queen. I mean like, its fine, queen deserves it. and now there's people to discuss queen with so yay I guess. I never did get to see it in theatres which was sad, but I knew I could just find it online although it wouldn't be the same experience.

so then there’s another of my really good friends, a beautiful, talented, nice, perfect friend whom everyone likes. one of our guy friends who went to see the movie had a giant crush on her. I was the first person he told and he said not to tell anyone else so I didnt, but then he ended up telling a billion people and the situation got out of hand and uncomfortable for the girl, and I sat there giving him endless advice. (I also gave him advice during the times the three of us--sometimes 4, when the movie theatre friend was there--were face timing about the blanket guy trying to date my best friend.) I’ve had so many late night chats with this guy, talking to him, listening to his rants, spent so many hours trying to convince him to go to prom and ask this perfect friend to prom. I helped him with his promposal, came up with the majority of the logistics for his promposal, and stayed up with him while he made it. he’s sent me personal thoughts he hasn't shared with anyone else. I also comforted him when he lost someone recently and he said “thanks for being a really good friend and always being there for me” and after that has proceeded to treat me worse than he treats this perfect girl and my best friend. like, he’s always there to comfort my best friend, he always responds to her messages and addresses her in group chats. same with the perfect friend, he wants to go to her dance recital and stuff and is trying to persuade others to go too. I mean, I can understand it, bc not only are they both really pretty and accomplished, thus deserving of appreciation and kindness and friendship, he actually has reason to like them bc ofc he had a crush on this perfect friend and my best friend is HIS best friend’s girlfriend. but still, he’s been one of the few people to say that im a good friend so I thought he actually appreciated having me there as a friend and I kinda expected him to treat me as well as he treats them?? but guess not. and this perfect friend, I love her, and she's so nice to me, and were closer than I am with a lot of other people in our friend group. we have classes together and we can rant about stuff and I dont have to act like everythings fine around her (although Ive never expressed my actual sadness and depression to her bc her life is just so perfect, so she doesn’t actually know anything beyond the surface, but what I mean is that we can actually talk about deeper issues about the world and stuff). I love her but she is SO concerned with image and reputation. she never speaks up against people. in classes ive had to go up and talk to the teacher to ask questions for my friend. she’ll never say anything. and it sucks bc when we’re with others, she’ll put them before me. like suddenly they’ll all tease or laugh at me, im sure out of a good place, but it still sucks. she’ll team up with the guys, trying to gain their approval (they all love her anyway, so its really unnecessary). the other day our group chat decided to play evil apples, and the first round she won and I was second before the 2 guys, and in the second round one of the guys won and she was 2nd and I was 3rd but the prom friend (the one who had a crush on her) lost. then the next day in a class we were in a group playing cards against humanity, and when it was my turn to judge, I chose a card that was appropriate rather than an inappropriate one bc the appropriate one just made more sense and she whispers to the guy next to her, “see this is why we can’t play with them.” in a different round, the question card was “I get by with a little help from ______” and I said “is there a beatles related card” bc I wanted to make a reference, and the girl on the other side of perfect friend whispered what I said to her, giggling. it made me annoyed bc they were talking behind my back, and I would've been fine if it was the girl and the guy on each side of her, bc even though we’re all kind of friends they never really seemed to like me that much and always have seen me as just this weird, socially awkward, annoying person, but it made me so MAD that my FRIEND was taking part in this, and not saying anything, and just looking down on me when in private she’ll act like im her favorite person in the whole world. but whatever, I digress.

back to the point, perfect friend a few months after bohemian rhapsody left theaters she watched it somewhere and loved it, and she said it in our group chat, and everyone was like yay and loving her texts and had a discussion about how good it was.

yesterday I finally, finally watched it after months of waiting. so today I text the group chat that I watched it, and spam a little about what I liked and I didnt, which I realize is annoying bc I spam all the time and I cant really help it. but I expected since everyone in the chat is now queen fans, even those that weren’t before the movie, we could just obsess together over how good it was. 

but the only one who replied at first was my best friend (bless her). she loved a few messages (namely, 3: the first was that I watched it, the second was that the casting for brian may was amazing, and the third was that the live aid scene was so good). I was kinda confused bc I didnt think she even knew what I was talking about, especially since I didnt think shed even seen the movie? but maybe she did. or maybe she was just appreciating the comments, and anyway, regardless, I was grateful for her responding. and she said like “ooo where did you see it” and I said I found it online and she said “oh lol.” and she dislikes my ending text of “sorry for the spam I just really enjoyed it.” so I was grateful. but no one else really said anything.

until perfect friend sends an unrelated pic and says something. then she loved my text that I finally saw bohemian rhapsody, basically as an afterthought, but didnt say anything else on it. prom friend right away responds to perfect friend, ignoring all my texts, even tho I thought he was such a big fan of queen now after seeing the movie but whatever. he also then sends a video of blanket friend to the same group chat, addressing best friend, saying her name and what they’re doing.

so, nice to know im not liked lol.

I know this is a long winded story (I mean it doesn't matter cuz im just writing this to myself not anyone else) but im just so frustrated. I wish there was someone out there who would just CARE and appreciate my friendship and treat me like a friend. I KNOW I DONT DESERVE IT. and everything I say is with that unspoken warrant. like I KNOW. im just trying to say that at the same time im so tired of giving so much to my different relationships only to have it be reciprocated by like 5%. the closest connection I have is with is best friend, but she still looks down on me and has even told me everything she hates about me, two years ago when she was trying to get me to join color guard. color guard is like her obsession now, and she says she didnt know what it was before, even though back at the end of 8th grade I literally ASKED HER, “do you want to join color guard in hs.” but I guess she didn’t hear me and just disregarded it like she has SO MANY OTHER THINGS she doesn't deem important until she or her boyfriend or someone “discovers” it and then suddenly its her original idea or something. and ever since that episode when she basically ranted about everything she dislikes about me, just bc I didnt want to join color guard, nothing has been the same. I know ive wronged her so many times and I feel bad. I dont deserve her trust (I betrayed it so many times, like when I didnt tell her I was helping her (now) boyfriend) and I understand that, but now we dont share anything real. I dont trust ANYONE and all my real feelings and secrets I keep to myself. she doesn't need me for anything anymore now that she has a boyfriend, so its fine. but she still actually cares about me, and I care about her, and at least she will show her friendship and support for me. 

its just, I try so hard to connect. to act like im happy and have emotions when inside im depressed and empty. I try to show enthusiasm for everything they do when honestly I have so many of my own problems to worry about that I honestly just dont have the energy to care. I try to offer myself to comfort them and I prioritize other peoples feelings over my own obligations, feelings, problems, sleep, health, and time. I know it sounds like im a bad person just “faking” it and resenting these things that I should be happy to do. I guess I am, but its just that my mental health is so bad right now that its impossible for me to actually bring myself to care about stuff and others and myself or anything at all so thats why. When I get an opportunity to help people (like with the promposal and the girlfriend) it actually invigorates me bc I feel so needed. I willingly spend time on that bc it actually feels like im accomplishing something. It feels like people actually want me there. it feels like by doing this people will appreciate me. but that’s where im wrong. I got him his girlfriend and now he never talks to me or responds to my texts. I KNOW hes there, bc he’ll love all of her texts in the group chat, even the ones just saying the same things I already said, but he doesn't react to any of mine. I got him his prom date, yet in the hallways he doesn't say hi to me but he’ll gladly say hi to perfect friend or best friend. yesterday in lunch people got their yearbooks. perfect friend realized the cover had a feature. prom friend is there. best friend runs over yelling about how the cover is so bad because it’s predominantly black while the past 2 were predominantly white. to point out a good aspect, I repeat the feature perfect friend said. prom friend repeats what I said, but not in a high pitched voice or anything that hints at sarcasm or teasing. so I turn to him and im like “....I just said that.” he goes “I know. I was mocking you.” perfect friend and best friend say nothing to defend me. I just... I dont get it. a few days ago you said I was a good friend and now you proceed to make fun of me. somehow something about me makes it ok for him and others to make fun of me and look down on me, when he doesn't tease best friend or perfect friend. he treats me like trash but since the other two are perfect, since he likes perfect friend and since best friend is dating his friend, they have an automatic pass to be treated like queens, to be admired by him. best friend and perfect friend dont think they need to defend me when ive been nothing but loyal. it makes me annoyed because ive spent years defending best friend anytime someone says something. I was the outspoken one who'd yell at the guys when they teased. yet all anyone ever saw me as was the annoying, dramatic one. when I was just trying to be a friend the way I knew how. I thought being loyal was how to be a good friend, bc thats all I ever wanted. my brother made fun of me and put me down, at home, and in front of his friends, which were the most embarrassing time of all. so I thought my friends would appreciate me being loyal, yet all its ever seemed in all these years is that they’re embarrassed of me when I jump at those who tease. but I guess its because im so socially awkward. I overreact when things dont call for such big scenes. I talk too much. I try too hard. I just hate how I always take the fall. I never get credit where its due, just because I try to stay humble yet everyone still thinks im arrogant. I keep quiet, bc if I ever said what im saying now, it would just prove it. “see? you DO think highly of yourself.” they dont know that I would do anything to remove myself from this earth if I could because I have so much self loathing in me. 

the other day in math we were working in groups. one group came up with something and said it and the rest of the class was like “ohhh” but one group didnt hear and were like “what?” best friend goes “no dont tell them! make them figure it out themselves.” so I say to a classmate about to tell them, “no no no dont!” but in my voice thats 50x louder than my friend’s. someone else goes “what? no! thats so mean!” I was so embarrassed. I wouldn't have said anything if it wasn't my friends idea. I couldn’t care less whether that group knew or not, but since my friend said it I wanted to be supportive so I said something to have a bit of fun. yet I was the mean one, the one everyone looked at weird, the dramatic, annoying one, yet AGAIN. 

and it just made me think. I have taken the fall for others so many times and they have never spoken up. when its the other way around, when someone gets blamed for something that was my own fault, I always speak up and make sure to take the fall. I make it clear until people understand. and yet my friends never do the same for me. so why do I even bother?

I just need to stop trying so hard to be a friend, to be likable, because I know ill never know how. its just not in me to understand how to be a normal fucking person. to know how to interact with others. to not be socially awkward. to respond the right way. to not have a loud voice or talk too much or overshare. to read social cues and understand when people dont like me and to not force myself on them.

if I ever reach adulthood, maybe I can just sequester myself away from all humans, so none of them will ever have to deal with me again. so I dont fucking ruin society anymore. so I dont have to humiliate myself time and time again. so everyones lives can be so much better.

its embarrassing, im embarrassing, and im so tired of it.

[skerbango-blog]

Commentary on Tiger Commentary - by Ritty

Sports have already entered a post-photography and post-highlight package era, and soon, hopefully, we can add post-commentary era to that list as well. We have no need for professional curation. Or narration. Or pithy one-liner. The moment is the moment and it can be viewed in the highest definition instantly and repeatedly and without unnecessary interpretation.

For instance:

Jim Nantz begins by stating, “Many doubted we would ever see it…but here it is.”

Tiger Woods taps in for bogey and fulfills his epic journey. A Major victory that Tiger has flirted with for years. One that Nantz has covered for years. And yet, to exclaim this greatest of achievements, Nantz gives us sappy sentimentality.

“The return to glory!”

It sounds like the tag line for a shitty movie. Spoken by someone deplete of wit and running low on piety. Someone who no longer understands how we capture the scene.

After Tiger makes his putt, and after Nantz performs his line, both Nantz and his cohort, Nick Faldo, are silent for nearly three full minutes as Tiger transcends into the greatest of all-time before our eyes. We see the immediate, forceful thrust of Tiger’s arms as he tilts his head upward and yells at the top of his lungs. Immediately we see emotion from Tiger that we have never seen. He hugs Tony Finau. He’s gracious with Molinari. He hugs his caddie.

“WE DID IT!” he screams.

Meanwhile the roars increase in waves until an all-out “Tiger” chant becomes audible. It fuels Tiger as he walks up the hill behind the 18th green, now literally flexing, all of it made eerily surreal by Tiger’s bright red mock turtle neck. An anachronism that makes Tiger look like a very detailed hologram or some creation we would unlock on a video game. It is also a very literal connection to his past.

Tiger sees his family and has a genuine, intimate moment with each of them as random people in the immediate background awkwardly gawk. As the group moves toward the clubhouse, the crowd noise increases as new patrons catch a glimpse of their superhero and, once again, they are compelled to chant his name. Tiger raises his fist and screams at the top of his lungs, right in front of the camera, a completely bizarre move for him after so much time has elapsed after he made the final putt, but we barely notice because of the chaos around him.

“I never thought we’d see anything that could rival the hug with his father in 1997, but we just did,” Nantz says after his much-appreciated hiatus. Nantz’s connection to Tiger’s past is not the literal one (the mock), but rather an emotional one (Tiger’s hug with his Dad after winning his first green jacket).

Meanwhile, Nick Faldo completely gets it.

“That will be the greatest scene in golf…FOREVER,” Faldo says. Immediately Faldo senses this is more than one image, or one celebration, or one succinct statement. He recognizes the entirety of the scene for what it is and knows how it will be consumed in “views” online.

“That hug with his children?” Nantz chimes in, having missed the point, “If that doesn’t bring a tear to your eyes,” Nantz continues, “and if you’re a parent…you’re not human.”

You can almost hear Faldo mutter no you fucking idiot as he repeats and reemphasizes his (correct) viewpoint. “The whole euphoria of everything,” Faldo describes. “The patrons. His emotion. The chanting. We will never see anything as exhilarating as that. Fantastic. Congratulations, Tiger. Unbelievable.”

Nantz is not alone, of course. There was a lot of talk about “Fathers & Sons” at this year’s Masters. I don’t recall seeing that phrase much in past tournaments, but with Tiger in contention, it was low hanging fruit. Google traced the origin of the phrase to Jack’s Masters win in ’86 when he had his son on the bag, and then there is this Wright Thompson video essay from 2011, which is basically softcore porn for tear mongers.

Whether it’s Jack or Tiger, this is a fucked-up way to appreciate the pinnacle of greatness (And hey, what about Moms? Asks sbnation). Some mortals parse precious rarity down until it becomes relatable. It’s the only way they can process things emotionally. In Tiger’s case it was when he finally reached his family that people remembered he was human, too, just like us.

Colin Cowherd, in a pathetically melodramatic piece of theater, says the emotion we felt when Tiger won united us all at a time when the nation is more divided than he has ever experienced it. Most of America, he says, sat on their couch crying while watching Tiger’s win. An average of 13 million watched on TV by the way. For most of America to pull for the same thing with tears in their eyes, that means 150,000,00 were watching online…? Maybe being overly relatable through emotion is what is driving people away from TV, ESPN, etc.

Cowherd tells multiple stories with the same, dull, infinitely repeated character arc. Man is okay. Something bad happens to man. Man struggles then recovers. Man is good. We perceive man as being better than how he originally started (i.e. “okay) because we so desperately want to believe that we are capable of the same arc ourselves.  Michael Jordan: good + fall + struggle + rise = “family.” Tiger: respect + disgrace + struggle + rise = “We love you even more.” Tiger: healthy + injury + struggle + rise = “The greatest comeback in the history of American sports.”

Rich Eisen, calling himself the voice of reason, adds personal triumph over trials and tribulations to the list of explanations through indulgent, consumerist slogans like, “You can do it!” Can you be more demeaning of Tiger’s accomplishment than by telling the masses they are capable a similar feat if they just believe in themselves and do it? Not to mention the irresponsibility in doing so.

The YouTube algorithm for mawkishness was in control now. Skip Bayless. Random nerds on Sportscenter. Andy North. Scott Van Pelt. All felt the same emotion and all attributed it to relatable sources.

Tiger Woods represents the singularity. Objectively, undoubtedly, rare and great. The scene around the 18th green in Augusta was a portent. Nantz and the gang were correct in that we experienced emotion together, and that is unity in a sense, but not because of commonalities like family, or time, or redemption, but because it involves all of those things at once and amplified to a point beyond ordinary comprehension. A collective awe transpired that we instinctively recognized, and we knew the scene, the whole scene, was a momentous flash in time to be catalogued in our brains and on our computers forever. Just as Faldo reminded us.

Believe it or not, and however poorly I have explained the point so far, two important things are on my side. 1) Technology 2) The Masters. The latter revealed its “Track” feature on what was already the best sports event website on the Internet. Want to watch Tiger’s shot into #16 without having to hear Verne’s forced “Oh my goodness”? Or any other shot hit by anybody for that matter? Hit the play button: https://www.masters.com/en_US/scores/track/hole_view/index.html?pid=8793&round=4&hole=18

Commentary began in print because people could not experience events in any other way. It evolved with technology and as the visuals became ubiquitous and in high definition, commentary evolved into emotional depictions. Most of the time these depictions center around what divide us and that works because anger easily triggers, but in rare cases like Tiger Woods, the commentators struggle to describe why he unites us.

But soon technology will exist that will allow us to virtually experience each and every shot on the golf course as if we were seated right next to Michael Phelps behind the 16th tee. It won’t take wealth or fame to get there, either, just a headset and a virtual subscription. I hope The Masters and IBM innovate this technology in order to perfect its use in golf, and I hope they remember the “Mute Commentary” button. Should something so indescribably great happen again, something momentous that makes me feel small, and ordinary, something so unbelievably unrelatable, bizarre, and inexplicably emotional…I’ll know it when I see it and I can go back and visit anytime I like.