#hello past riya

[orangeinecstasy]

cherry cola, pt. two ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟcalum hood

paring: calum hood x clifford sister reader (fem implication)

summary: it's once again time for the yearly clifford beach house stay, but things are different. working on their new album the rest of the guys join, hoping the change in scenery will spark some inspiration. will the work get done? or will a forbidden romance blossom?

an: hello beautiful people! i'm so sorry the second part too so long for me to get to you. i hope you enjoy!

cw: smoking, drinking, cursing, age gap, smut

wc: 877

taglist: @riya-kaur @percysaidnever

tuesday

“Y/N got help, Calum, with the dishes.” Your mom nods toward the kitchen as she cleans off the dining table. You hum a response, grabbing your plate before you make your way into the kitchen. 

“I’ve come to the rescue.” Calum chuckles at your words, glancing in your direction with a smile. “My savior” 

You smile, setting your dishes in the sink. “You can go ahead and start drying them, love.” you nod, taking a dish cloth and drying the clean culturally, the metal cool in your hands. 

You stand in silence for a moment. It’s not uncomfortable, but something indescribable builds in the air between you two. He can sense that you’re thinking about something. His hip nudges yours as his hands scrub pasta sauce off of a plate, his arms flexing as the veins in his hand become more propionate. “What are you thinking about? I can partly hear the wheels in your head turn.” 

It’s a simple question, but you can feel your skin heat up and your core throb as you press your legs together. 

I’m thinking of you. You bending me over the countertop as your wet hands kneed my skin. Calloused fingertips pushing past the hem of my panties with ease. The feeling of your five-o’clock shadow against my inner thigh. Fucking into me, hot and slow. 

You shake your head, shrugging, and bite back a smile, “Nothing.” 

The house is quiet as you move through it. Cold hardwood pressing to the balls of your feet, soon met with concrete as you walk outside. The moon cast a bright glow on your skin, filling you with calm and energy as you walked towards the pool. 

Tossing your towel onto one of the pool chairs, you strip the clothes from your body. Nipples pebble, goosebumps spreading along your skin as you step into the water. You hummed, letting the warm water consume you as you lazily swam through it. 

You heard the deck door open and shut up with a loud click. You quickly swam to the pool’s edge, trying to hide your bare body as you blinked the water from your eyes, the figure still blurry in the distance. 

“What are you doing out here? It’s one in the morning.” Cal’s voice settles familiar in your ears, causing a wave of embarrassment mixed with euphoria down your spine. 

“Just a late night swim,” You rest your chin against the edge of the pool, concert rough against the skin. 

He cocks his brow, sitting on the edge of one of the pool chairs. “You always were a weirdo.” He shakes his head, tapping his pack of cigarettes against his thigh before pulling one out and placing it between his lips. “But you love me.” You smile, pushing yourself off the edge of the pool. 

“Could you throw me the towel?” He tosses it to you before cupping his hand to cover the cig as he lights it, the small flame casting a warm glow onto his skin. 

You say a small thank you, grabbing the towel as you make your way to the steps of the pool, wrapping it around you as you make your way out of the water. You wrap the towel tighter around your bare body, fully realizing the situation that you’re in. Naked. In front of the guy, you’ve been in love with your whole life. 

He takes a long drag off his cigarette, dark eyes landing on yours. You clear your throat, skin prickling with heat under his gaze. “Can I have one?” 

“You?” he chuckles, smoke slipping between his lips. “Have you ever even smoked before?” 

You shift in your seat, the cold plastic sticking slightly to your wet thighs. “No, but what does that matter? God, stop acting like my brother.” You shove his arm gently, biting back a smile.

He laughs gently. “Sorry, sorry.” taking another drag. “Why don’t you shotgun it first?”

“Okay.” your words are quite as Calum moves next to you, warmth radiating off his body as he takes another long pull off the cig, letting it settle in his chest for a moment before he cups your face. Calloused hands on your skin, making your hair stand on edge. Your lips part as smoke slips past Calum’s, the queue for you to slowly inhale. 

The warmth of his body, mixed with the unfamiliar menthol feeling, makes you feel light-headed. Your arms wrap around Calum’s neck, closing the gap between your bodies. “Y/N..” he breathes out before you connect your lips. It’s soft and hesitant until he slowly melts into you. Strong arms wrapping around your waist, pulling you even closer. 

He tastes like smoke and mint, consuming all your senses as your hand slips up his shirt. He quickly pulls away, breath hitched and lips slightly plump from friction. “Y/N, I, we… We can’t do this. I’m sorry.” 

He stands quickly, shaky hands stubbing out the cig. His mouth opens, trying to find the right thing to say, but nothing comes out. He briefly looks at you, eyes dark, before walking back into the house. 

The familiar click of the deck door settled the reality of it all. You’re an idiot, and he doesn’t feel the same. 

#5 second of summer #5 secs of summer #5 seconds of summer #5sos #5sos fanfic #5sos smut #5sos x reader #calum 5sos #calum hood 5sos #calum hood #calum hood smut #calum hood imagine #calum hood fanfic #calum hood x reader #calum hood fluff #calum hood angst

[orii-blogs-stuff]

“Mother?” Charlotte asked. “Where are we going?”

“We are going to a very fun place.” Riya said as they walked towards the gardens. “Remember how I said Uncle Shuu and I were thinking of how boring it must be for you two to be sitting around all day?”

“We were not bored, Mother.” Detlind said. “We are very happy reading the books you gave us or talking to Auntie Maria about fashion.”

“Yes but staying inside isn’t good for a growing child like you two, you need exercise and stuff.” She couldn’t remember all the points for why playing outside was very important for children, she just knew it was very important for children. Riya tugged her cloak tiger and gimanced, maybe it was a bad idea to be doing this in winter but YOLO right? Besides, it wasn’t even snowing, the children would be fine.

Probably.

Oh well, their immunity needed to be built up anyways, not like vaccines exist here. 

They walked past the rose garden and past the large lake until the came to a small clearing where a children’s playground had been recently built, it had all the usual things a child enjoyed like like swings and slides and monkey bars and other weird additions like a netted bridge (Shuu’s idea) made of rope and a ‘flying fox’ which looked a bit stupid and didn’t look like something a five year old would enjoy but Shuu heard from Harry it was one of his favourites when he was small so Shuu decided to add it.

“Wow~” Charlotte said looking at the multi-coloured playground (it honestly looked like that weird elephant from inside-out vomited all over everything).

“Oh my!” Detlinde said. “Oh lovely, what is it?”

Riya was a bit confused. “What do you mean ‘what is it?’ It’s a playground!”

Detlinde seemed to sink back into herself after Riya’s little outburst, fuck. Ok she needed to fix this. “Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you…”

“...Ok…” Detlinde said. Riya felt so bad for what she’d done, she felt heartbroken .

“What Detlinde means to say is.” Charlotte said. “Is how do we ‘play’ with these equipment?”

Riya took one last look at Detlinde and tried to answer Charlotte’s question, “Well why don’t I show you?” She first took them to the swings first, “This are the swings, I love them because when I’m on them I feel like I’m flying.” Charlotte’s and Detlind’s attendants helped them get onto the swings and Riya ordered them to push gently (to not scare them).

“Wow-” 

“Ahh~!” 

“Fun isn’t it?” Riya asked as the attendants started to push the swings harder and harder.

“Yes!” Charlotte said. “Thank you, Mother~”

“Thank you Mother~!” Detlinde said, her face happy, like she wasn’t scared of Riya a few minutes ago.

That reminded her… “Didn’t you two have anything like this back in your duchies?”

“No~!” Charlotte said.

“I heard~! There is one~ In the Commoner~ Side of the city~!” Detlinde said mid-swings. “At least~ That’s what~ Wolfram~ Told me~.”

“Your big brother?~” Charlotte questioned.

“Yes~!” Detlinde said, “When Mother~ Was too busy~ With Alstede~ He would sneak away~ To see the~ City~! And saw~ Commoner children~ Playing on~ Swings~! But never went close~ Incase~ Someone noticed~ And recognised~ Him~!”

That was… Quite heartbreaking to Riya, a child seeing other children playing, but couldn’t join in.

“My Lady.” Sophia said. “You are going to be late for your evening tea with Lord Debajoti.”

Oh right! They had adda today didn’t they?! “Make sure the children don’t get hurt and get home safely after playing.” Riya ordered Charlotte’s and Detlinde’s attendants.

“Ofcourse, Lady Projookta.” Roseina, Detlinde’s attendant said.

“I shall do as you say, Lady Projookta.” Vanessa, Charlotte’s attendant said.

Riya nodded. “Let’s go, Sophia.”

They walked all the way to the castle, to Deb’s room, they were just at his door when they noticed Shuu coming out of Deb’s room. “Hello Riya.” Shuu said. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Shuu~!” Riya smiled. “It’s been a busy few days you know? Showed the children the playground and they seem to love it a lot.”

“I’m glad.” Shuu said. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh you know.” Riya said, “Here for our bi-weekly adda, what about you?”

“Came for work related stuff.” Shuu replied. “I should be off, more work to do, nice seeing you, bye.”

“Bye.” Riya said as she walked past him, Sophia opened the door for her, “Deb?” Riya asked, “ Kee Cholche ? (How’s it going?)” She asked as she sat down on the sofa.

“ Cholche. (It’s going.)” Deb said, “ Khoob bhalo cholche, Shuu eshecheelo ei ektoo age or budget barabe (It’s going great, Shuu just came in a few seconds ago to see if he could increase his budget.)”

Looked like RIya wasn’t the only one. “I see… Ar keo eshecheelo? (Did anyone else come?)”

“ Sobai mota moti. (Everyone almost.)” Deb said with a sigh. “Jayden, Melissa, Valerie, Sally, Harry, even Max came!”

“ Dosh dite parish na oderke. (You can’t blame them.)” Riya said as Deb’s attendants brought in tea. “ Ora shoodu funds secure korche, jane na toi teektak funds deebee ki na (They’re just trying to secure their funds, they don’t know you well enough to know if you’ll give them the money they need or not or might have to negotiate if there isn’t enough money to go around.)”

“True.” Deb said. “Money is such a problematic factor isn’t it? Doesn’t seem to be enough of it most of the time.”

“But can’t make more either or raise the prices of everything and you’re back to square one.” Riya nodded.

#my writing #ascendance of a bookworm #excerpts #a drop of existential horror

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

Title: Baggy Blue Cloud (Miya)

IMPORTANT NOTE: No #OnThisDay throwback post for this date.

Hello, May. 🌏☀️ While I'm waiting for my "Secret Art Trade" from my G-Pal (Guatemalan Pal) 🇬🇹, rafacaz4lisam2k4, I decided to do something for Miya's 3rd "adorable" clothing. 🐰🐻🔋🌩️💙💛

• I'm sure you've already seen Riya 🐰🏎️ using her Sammir 2019 clothing as a parachute, right? ☁️🪂? → [CLICK ME!] (BTW: Did you know, I used these artworks 2021 for the Paypal Commission menu? Yup, as of today, my "Custom PayPal Commissions" are still available [CLICK ME!]... Even though, no one's buying it except my one BF). Well, here's another artwork of mine that was related! 😊 Imagined, when you wear this adorable blue clothes in baggy sized while you we're walking on clouds? 🚶‍♀️☁️🌫️🤔 I bet so, and it'll be a cool feature in the cartoon physics world, unlike IRL (In-Real-Life).

Miya🐰🐻🔋 [wearing her 3rd clothes]: Yeah-yuh! Actually, it already did. No matter what clothes you're wearing, it doesn't matter, compadre creator! Hehe. 😁 Nonetheless, I have to move these clouds to form a step. My cute cloudy bear is waiting for me. 😘😚💏

Well, that's all for now.

Miya Speedster (Chowder OC) - created by ME!

[mangora]

Finally watching episode 9 so here are some live notes:

•Aiden falling over when Tess gave him the water bucket was a peak visual gag

•Alec??? Alec hello???

•Yul with Kai’s shirt…toxic yaoi scraps…

•Oh my god fuck this guy

•Grett you poor baby holy shit???

•LETS GO RIYA GO OFF QUEEN

•Riya looked up to Grett omg…

•FUCK HIM UP ALEC oh my god I hate Yul Grett needs to dump his sorry ass

•I don’t really know how I feel about how they’re portraying Gabby’s mental health. Idk it’s just kinda off

•I love Jake but how much longer are we going to do this TomJake subplot fuck me it’s so boring

•The Ally and Jake beef is kinda sucky too. Also what’s Jake been doing for the last nine episodes if not trying to improve? Wh

•Jake I could fix you

•Tom’s totally lying about his boyfriend huh

•YEP okay

•Also Aiden and Tom bonding over their scars is kinda cute

•Tom still thinks about him??? Okay we’re getting somewhere I’ll let them cook

•Emily I love you so much Emily. Trevor too. Power friendship

•Girl why are you eating a raw carrot. Creature

•I’m still sad that we didn’t get any real Jake/Ellie interactions after they set up a rivalry between them in season one. Come on. Toxic friends. Or rivals who can’t let go of a past platonic bond

•When are we going to get a non-elimination episode it’s been like eight eliminations in a row now I think

•Jake…buddy…

•FUCK EM UP GRETT

•“Ok ok I’m sorry” immediately when Ashley tells him what to do. He’s such a lapdog I love him

•TESSALLY CRUMBS

•JAKE!! FUCK YEAH KILL HIM!! HE’S SO BACK!!

•I’m so proud of him

•Tom <3 I don’t really like him this season but he’s still my cutie patootie yk

•ALLY BABYGIRL YOU DID IT

•Can you guys tell who my favorite team is yet

•I feel like Gabby isn’t really acting villainous yet. Kinda let down on that front tbh

•Yul kinda seems vaguely attracted to Tom

•If Riya goes home…

•Why has no one voted for Yul yet

•Sorry but when did Grett like make up with Gabby? Wouldn’t it make sense for Gabby to still hold a grudge against her for season one? She holds grudges, we know she does, she did it in season one and she’s doing it now

•Listen I get Gabby’s anger but Tess, Aiden, and Tom are right like all of these people would betray Gabby at any other point given the chance and Alec fucked Ellie over multiple times

•Man I miss their friendship actually

•IF RIYA GOES HOME…

•OH MY GOD IS IT TESS

•FUCK

•ONC stop voting off some of your strongest characters before the merge challenge fuck off I’m so sick of these eliminations

•Gabby kinda ate tho

•“Someone say bye to Ally for me” sobbing

•Gabby you’re so babygirl I’m going to miss your friendship with Tom so much

•OLIVER’S BACK

•Wait are Tom and Jake going to talk next episode then? I mean I guess I’m excited but…also not really because it’s probably going to end how it always does. With them just moping and not resolving anything. Augh

Overall the episode was okay I guess? Animation is wonderful as always but I’m really sick of the same like three plot threads being drawn out and of an interesting character going home every single episode without being fully developed beforehand. I feel like the writers— as much effort and love as they’re putting in— aren’t very organized and could use a lore Bible or a clearer outline, because some plots and character arcs are just dropped randomly, and some aren’t resolved in a very sensible or well-paced fashion. That’s not to say the writing is entirely bad, the writers clearly have some good ideas and the dialogue gets better every episode, but I think they need to balance the story better and plan out what they’re going to do with each character more effectively— it would also be nice to have some more relationships between characters instead of each character having 1-2 focal relationships with a few vague allies or enemies outside of that, considering how much time we have left with the season still. But that’s just a matter of preference on my end, I <3 complex relationship webs.

#alex’s dc rambles #disventure camp spoilers

[atsumiye]

um, wrong number?

summary: on a night out, atsumu manages to get his next flings number. written on a flimsy napkin, they scribble a cute “call me” and their number. however, the next morning atsumu realizes the last few digits are smudged. with his superb guessing skills, he manages to guess the last 3 digits….or what he thinks is the 3 digits. so what happens when atsumu texts y/n some raunchy messages? he gets called a pervert.

masterlist ll seven ll eight ll nine

“Eichi, keep an eye out. This place is packed and I don't want to be here longer than I have to.” Akiko says as she pulls out a compact mirror to check her makeup and hair. She pulls out her lipstick and glides it across her lips and smacks her lips together. Brushing her fingers through her hair to fix any stray strands, she slams the mirror shut before placing it back in her purse.

“I'm not leaving without his number.” She says as she turns her head to look at Eichi.

Eichi gives her a small nod as she stretches her neck to look above the large crowd and around the neutral colored restaurant, before she spots a flash of bright blonde.

“I think I see him, he's towards the back with a group of guys.” She points her finger in the direction as Akiko starts to walk to the back.

She plasters a large grin on her face before she giggles out an, “Atsumu!”. The players he's speaking to look at her before turning back to Atsumu. She places her hand on his shoulder and tilts her head to meet his eyes.

“Hello…” he mumbles to her while looking back to his teammates with a questioning look.

“How have you been, baby? You never texted me so I sent you a dm but you never responded.” She bats her eyelashes at him as she looks at his confused expression.

After a few beats of silence, Atsumu's eyes widen, “Oh yer Akizo, right?”

She huffs before fake laughing, “Close, Akiko.”

“But you do remember me after all? What happened to sending me a message?”

“Ah sorry, had some….issues with the number. It was good to see ya again I guess” rubbing the back of his neck, he nods his head before he turns back towards his team members. All his team members look between the two, angry that Atsumu might be causing more problems. He remembers how his PR team begged him to not cause anymore drama- that he argued he doesn't purposely start- before the start of the new season, so he chooses to ignore the girl hanging onto him.

And he can't ignore the way his heart feels a bit weird as his mystery girl pops into his head.

Akiko huffs and she clings to his arm and brings a hand to rest on his chest, noticing the way a few people begin to pull out their phones and whisper to each other. She leans into his ear as she whispers, “Your causing a scene baby, let's exchange numbers again hm? This time, you give me your number”, she pauses dropping the smile on her face slightly, “and I'll send you a text.”

He looks down at her before placing his hand out to grab her phone and type his number in. She grabs the phone back and says “Let me just make sure it's right” she types a quick message and hearing his phone ding, sighs in satisfaction. “Make sure to answer when I text.” She flashes him a small smile and walks away towards the exit, Eichi quickly bows her head towards the table as she walks after Akiko.

----------

“Oh yer Akizo, right?” You turn your head towards Atsumu's loud voice noticing a pretty girl start to cling to him. You tsk and look back towards the plate Osamu hands you.

Before you take it, Osamu looks down at you and says “It's been three weeks since he texted you right?” You nod as he continues, “You know, there hasn't been a single day where he hasn't talked about you. Don't be jealous.”

You gasp and give him a disgusted look, “I'm not jealous! He doesn't even know my name, I just think she's a bit...weird. And I thought that the name sounded familiar to the girl he was originally supposed to text. That's all.” You snatch the plate from his hand as he begins to smile. You roll your eyes as you walk to the table, “Jealous! That's ridiculous.” You shake your head before approaching the table.

------

As the last customer walks out of the door, Osamu points to the door and tells you to turn the open sign to close. Flipping the sign and pulling down the blinds you loudly sign, “You know Osamu, you may regret hiring me but I regret accepting the job. My feet hurt.” You begin to pout before Meian comes behind you and flicks the back of your head, “Stop complaining.” You bring your hand to place it over where he flicked you and stick your tongue out at him.

“Osamu, let me know what you want me to help with.” Meian says as he begins to yawn.

“No, go home. Not only are you tired but if you stay here you'll use it against me or ask for some of my paycheck or something.” You smirk at him as he and Osamu begin to laugh. “She's right Meian, I can drive her home.” Osamu tells him as he begins to pull out a bucket of water to wipe down tables.

“Fine” he nods towards Osamu before turning towards you, “Text me that you got home safe okay?” he pulls you into a hug before ruffling your hair.

You brush down your hair and nod with a grin. “Drive safe okay?”, he smiles as he yells out a ‘goodnight’.

You turn back towards Osamu to grab a towel to start cleaning, “Y/N, after you are done with the tables, just wait here for a few minutes. Atsumu is bringing extra products from the other restaurant so he might come in.” You smile and nod as you begin to to wipe everything down and Osamu walks into his office to close the registers for the night.

Twenty minutes later, the door opens revealing an annoyed Atsumu.

“Samu! The traffic was horrible, I'm never helpin' ya again!” he yells and you begin to laugh. He turns his head to you, “Yer Y/N, right? The new girl he hired.” You nod and you can't help the smile that grows on your face at the mere fact he has no idea, “Yeah I am, it's nice to meet you Atsumu.”

“Same here.” he places the giant box on the floor behind the register as he comes back out and stares at you for a few seconds. “Yer a girl right?” you look down at yourself and meet his eyes to say “Sure?”

He drags a chair across the floor and places it in front of you, sitting backwards on the chair.

“I've got a question for ya.” You nod, allowing him to ask.

“So, how would I get a girl to tell me who she is?”

“Sorry? What does that even mean?” you furrow your eyebrows trying to decipher what he is trying to ask.

“Basically, I'm texting this girl. She knows who I am because we got mutual friends or somethin but I don't even know her name. We have spoken every day for almost four weeks and I know nothing about her.”

Osamu walks out of the office towards the two of you smiling to himself, “You forgot the best part, Tsumu. Ya sent her a nude as yer first message to her.” You and Osamu laugh as Atsumu drops his head in his hands.

“I've told ya and her that it was a mistake. Plus she moved on from it.”

You smile at him as you say, “Well, maybe she will come around. Just be respectful of the boundaries she has set up. You skipped quite a few steps by sending a nude the first time you spoke, so be understanding of that. Who knows, maybe soon she will want to tell you who she is.”

Osamu widens his eyes before smirking, “Why Tsum, ya got a crush on her?”

You feel your face heat up as Atsumu looks at the floor. “Shut up, Samu!”

Osamu smiles looking at your reactions before he says, “Alright lets get ya home Y/N. Meian will kill me if I get ya home too late.”

You both begin to stand up as Atsumu says, “Thanks for the advice.”

“Anytime. I hope it works out for you guys.” You smile at him as you all walk out of the restaurant.

chapter eight- don't be jealous

riya's notes:

- i wholeheartedly believe that osamu doesn't talk with his kansai dialect until he gets around atsumu

- akiko did a lot of research into atsumu in the past few weeks, so she knew he probably wouldn't want a ton of people looking at him or to cause a scene

- y/n doesn't know if she likes atsumu, what she does know is that she cares about him a lot

- atsumu is currently planning ways to win his mystery girl over

- osamu knows his brother really well, he knows how he feels and he found it hilarious he was asking y/n how to talk to y/n....

- y/n texted meian right as she got home but he was already asleep

- pls let me know your thoughts <3333

taglist: @satorinnie @speakfrenchbetweenmythighs @tetsuhoes @namyari @tabipleats @yamstadashi @lilith412426 @haikyuuwifu @bakugouswh0r3 @royahllty @its-the-aerieljeane @schleepyflocci @riceballsandanime @lady-tokugawa-of-mikawa @zukoslosthishonor @blueowl51 @meri-soni-meri-tamanna @windkages @unstaaableaf @sakusasimpbot @tsukkinginamo @starylust @crocigator @a-disappointing-teen-author @ysatrap @fuschiguro @sugabeaniee @art-junkie-13

#um wrong number? #miya atsumu #atsumu smau #atsumu x reader #atsumu x y/n #atsumu x you #atsumu scenarios #atsumu imagines #atsumu fluff #atsumu angst #meian shugo #meian smau #meian x reader #meian x y/n #meian x you #meian fluff #meian angst #haikyuu!! #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x y/n #haikyuu x you #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu angst #hq #hq x reader #hq x y/n #hq x you #hq smau

[sincerelyella]

Everything Has Changed Chapter 9 - Butterflies

Book: The Royal Romance (AU)

Song Inspiration: Butterflies by MAX & Ali Gate

Pairings: past Liam x MC (Ella); Drake x OC

Characters belong to Pixelberry; MC Ella Brooks belongs to me

Summary: What if Liam was promised as a child to another kingdom’s princess?

A/N: Sorry for this taking forever guys, thanks for pestering me about this chapter!

Catch up here -> EHC masterlist

Thank you @ofpixelsandscribbles and @alyssalauren​ for prereading! Y’all know I get nervous before posting anything. Love you!

Warnings: Angst; fluff

Words: 1428

I won't stop getting butterflies, I get 'em every time I look into your eyes

You won't stop running through my mind, For the rest of both our lives

You give me butterflies

Liam, now 13 years old, was introduced to the court as the Prince of Cordonia. His father insisted that a ball needed to be thrown and whatever Constantine wanted, he got. Liam spoke with some of the court with his father and then sat in the corner of the ballroom and played a dice game with Tariq. Now and then, he would look up and try to find 10-year-old Ella in the crowded room. She was with her parents that night and wore a royal blue floor-length gown with tulle and a rhinestone belt that shone in the bright lights. She’s really pretty.

“Hello? Earth to Liam! It’s your turn,” Tariq pushed the dice into the young prince’s hand. “Who are you staring at?”

“Nobody,” he mumbled and tossed the dice against the wall. 

The boys played for a few moments until Liam heard a little voice.

“Prince Liam.”

He looked up and saw Ella smiling down at him. “Hello, Princess.”

Ella playfully curtsied. They both giggled.

“May I dance with the Prince of Cordonia tonight?”

“I suppose I have time,” he turned to Tariq. “See you later, my friend.”

Tariq waved at both of them and the two turned and walked towards the dance floor.

Ella’s little arm was curled through Liam’s. “So, are we doing the Flamingo?”

Liam let out a loud laugh. “Our parents would not find that appropriate.”

They turned to face each other, Liam putting his hand on the small of her back and holding her right hand in his left. As soon as the Prince and Princess began to glide across the dance floor, the entire court stepped back to watch them. Royalty was always expected to learn to perfect the art of dance at a young age, but these two held everyone’s attention. They danced like grown adults that had been doing this for years.

“Everyone is staring at us,” Ella whispered as she gazed into Liam’s eyes.

“No, they’re staring at you,” Liam had always noticed Ella’s almond-shaped, light brown eyes, how they lightened under the sun, how they darkened and turned almost grey when she cried. This time, however, her eyes were almost green. Liam felt a fluttering in his chest, then it moved to his stomach. Am I hungry? He had never felt this sensation before. “Did you know that your eyes change colors?”

Their movements were practiced and natural, elegant in every way. They didn’t even need to think about what came next, their bodies already in sync. Ella shook her head. “Nobody has stared at my eyeballs long enough to know.”

Liam chuckled softly. “Well, they do. They’re really pretty - you’re really pretty.”

Ella bit her bottom lip. “Thank you, Prince Liam.”

“I’m not telling you as a prince, El,” Liam swallowed nervously. “I mean, I am. I think you’re beautiful,” he stammered. “But I’m also telling you as a boy. As Liam.” The fluttering was back, this time he felt it everywhere, his chest, his stomach; he felt the tingling in his fingers as he held her hand, emptiness when she let go of him to twirl under his arm.

“You’re very sweet,” Ella’s cheeks turned a rosy pink color. “Thank you, you’re very handsome too.”

Present-day

Liam and Ella stared at each other - both trying to decide if this was real or just a dream. He felt the butterflies flutter in his chest just like he did the first time he danced with her all those years ago.

Liam was the first to break the reverie and took a tentative step forward. “Can we … talk?” He was overcome with emotion but kept his stoic facade in place.

Ella nodded, unable to form words.

Liam quickly took her hold of her arm and gently led her to the VIP area where it was darker and a bit quieter. Security let the two by and Liam slid towards the back of the booth, Ella following.

They turned to look at each other and began talking at once.

“Are you here?” “Oh my God, it’s you!”

Liam couldn’t help himself, he had to touch her. He still got butterflies when he looked at her. Even when they were kids, the love he felt never went away. If anything, it got stronger as the years went by. Liam gently cupped her cheek and he let out an audible gasp. “You’re real,” he whispered.

Ella leaned into his hand, relishing in how her feelings for him came back all at once; it hit her like a freight truck. When she locked eyes with him by the bar, her heart stopped for a moment. “I’m real,” she whispered back.

“Where … have you … been? I looked … for you,” Liam was crying now, a slow, steady stream of tears trickled down his cheeks. Four years. Four years of missing her, afraid for her, not knowing where she was. Almost believing that she had died with her family.

Ella’s cheeks were already wet with her tears; she could barely speak. “We … were attacked,” she closed her eyes to try to keep her breathing normal but she couldn’t.

“Shhh,” Liam whispered as he leaned in to kiss his long-lost love. The salt from their tears mixed when their lips met; it was like everything they both had endured in these four years apart was worth it. Liam pulled back and wiped her tears away with his thumb. “What happened, Ella?”

“They took … over our kingdom. Killed … my mom,” Ella cried. “My name is … different … for protection.”

Liam put his forehead against hers and they stayed that way for several minutes. Both crying, both trying to get their emotions under control, otherwise this conversation would never happen.

“What is your name now?”

Ella gave him a small smile. “My name is Ellie Wheeler.”

Liam sat back and held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Ellie, my name is Liam.”

Ella let out a giggle and put her hand in his. “The pleasure is all mine.”

Liam softly kissed her knuckles and took in her scent. The coconut and lavender instantly hit his brain and he felt drunk off of it. “So, Ellie, you’re here in L.A., what about your kingdom?”

“Hey!”

The two turned to see Riya staring at them with an arm in the air. “What are you doing in there, El? And who is that?!”

“Is that your friend?” Liam noted that he saw her at the bar, in her red jumper.

“Oh, yes that’s Riya,” Ella waved and Liam nodded to security that it was fine to let her in. Drake, who was still at the bar looking for Liam, heard what was going on and made his way to the VIP section.

Riya huffed and placed her hands on her hips. “You ditched me to hang out with” - she motioned to Liam - “this snack?!” She studied him intently, then her eyes widened in shock. “Oh my God, you’re Liam!”

“Brooks?!” Drake exclaimed from behind Riya as he stared in shock.

“Hey, Drake,” Ella grinned sheepishly.

“Why is he calling you Brooks?” Riya demanded.

“Who are you?” Riya and Drake had turned to face each other as they spoke at the same time.

Liam stood from his seat and waved his hands in the air. “Okay, timeout! There’s a lot of explaining to do. Can you both please sit down?” He gestured for them to join him “They have the same scowl and both are drinking whiskey,” Liam whispered to Ella quickly before their friends slid into the booth.

Ella clapped a hand over her mouth to stop her giggles.

“Okay,” Drake quipped as he set his tumbler down onto the table. “So, what’s going on?”

Ella explained what happened at the palace four years ago, how her father’s men had tried to kill her family, taken over the country, and that she fled to California with her dad.

“Damn, I’m so sorry about your mom, Brooks,” Drake lifted his glass in the air as a salute and knocked it back. “Alright, so is the arrangement off then?”

Ella’s nose crinkled. “Arrangement?”

Liam’s eyes showed remorse as he turned to look at Ella. “Ah, well … I have something I need to tell you.”

#Everything Has Changed #Liam x MC #Liam x Ella #Liam Rys #trr fanfic #trr fandom #choices trr #trr mc x liam #trr #the royal romance #choices the royal romance #the royal romance fandom #the royal romance fanfic #the royal romance fanfiction #choices liam x mc #choices trr au #choices liam #choices au

[bryan360]

Here’s my note before I’ll get started….

(DON’T YOU EVER COPY FROM MINE OR MY FRIEND’S WORK, CHARACTERS, AND STUFF IF ONE OF YOU ARE IMPOSTERS WHO HAD HABITS OF PLAGIARISM! I WILL BLOCK YOU FROM MY BLOG IF I SEE YOUR POST WITH MINE OR MY FRIEND’S ORIGINAL WORK BEING EDITED ALL OVER! I’LL EVEN SHARE IT ONTO MY BLOG SO IF EVERYONE WILL SEE THAT YOU TRYING TO COPY MINE OR MY FRIEND’S THINGS FOR NO GOOD REASON WHATSOEVER! That will be all….I mean it.)

My Jellystone! Mains

Hello to my true followers and closest friends! Though I wanted bring something new around the tablet after I’ve been into C.H. Greenblatt’s Jellystone!; for bringing back some memories when watching his other works like Cartoon Network’s Chowder and having unexpected changes to the original Hanna-Barbera characters. However, I’m here to bring you this latest art style drawing change like something never been seen before. For the first time ever, I decided to have this for my mains 🐰🖌Maxwell, 🐰👊💥May, and 🦊⚽️Sam front and center! It happens after I’ve been doing my working draft finished back in September. 19th, 2021; thought before doing Riya Speedster’s 8th birthday posting next. Link Here

Nevertheless, it was an alright progress to go along as when making Maxwell, May, and Sam in their “C.H. Greenblatt-ish” style themselves. Though they’re still the same kids remains unchanged, (mostly if their genders were to swapped when that happens, but I’ll let that passed because reasons ^^*) but their looks will be different to compared from their original looks. When in their Jellystone! vibe after entering the world, just imagined when they were in crazy situations whether getting away from Cindy Bear’s gelatin ray blast, Cattanooga Cat’s robotic rampage, or Yogi Bear’s monstrous hunger that could eat the entire town! I got from watching some YouTube clips, by the way. However from what they're doing in poses, our best guess is where they joining the marching sequence from the show's intro; alongside with other characters including Doggie Daddy, Augie Doggie, Shag Rugg, and Jabberjaw when everything all having fun. That is until making a break for it after someone or something crashing a building which causes to tumble another building and the next like as a domino effect....eventually they would be squashed at the intro ends. Taking about making this a comedic timing. I watched this from YouTube as well and its not bad to included Hanna-Barbera characters doing their marching parade in style; whether for comedy purposes like any cartoon shows where everything goes wrong during the show's intro.

Though couldn't help but to feel bad if Maxwell, May, and Sam gonna survive through this. That being said, at least the world of Jellystone would be an alright place to stay when meeting some familiar people who appeared from past Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

Hope if everyone and my friends would gave me likes and reblogs to this latest post I’ve made. Thought It would help me to share his other two siblings in spotlights for a change. It’s been long years after doing Maxwell’s art style drawing posts for my DeviantArt page; especially knowing the first one back in April. 18th, 2018 of how it started. Link Here #2

However while I’ll be continuing on with Maxwell’s art style drawing posts in the near future, time will tell if I could do on other Animal OCs like 🐶Wilson “Long Ears” or 🥜Brown the Squirrel to share in spotlight as well. Until then, this will be my Tumblr Exclusive to share like I did with Chip and Potato Maxwell’s part. Link Here #3

🐰🖌Maxwell, 🐰👊💥May, and 🦊⚽️Sam (in their Jellystone! art style) created by me; BryanVelasquez87 (Bryan360)

Title Logo Image - Link Here #4

Edited Background - Link Here #5

@murumokirby360 @carmenramcat

#bryan360 #bryanvelasquez87 #exclusive #exclusive art post #maxwell #may #sam #animal ocs #my animal ocs #mains #my mains #my main ocs #art style #cartoon art style #jellystone! #jellystone #ch greenblatt #warner bros animation #hanna barbera #edited #images #transparent #november 2021 #november 8th 2021

[raleighcarrera]

cliché

ride or die | colt kaneko x mc (ellie wheeler)

an au where everyone is college friends and logan is getting married and the best friend of his ellie always hated is going to be logan’s best man. as the maid of honor, she’s probably expected to be at least a little nice to him. 

for @rodappreciationweek, of course! day 7/wild card

(spoiler alert: i bent the rules of weddings for plot reasons so go easy)

tags: @choicesarehard, @lovehugsandcandy, @pixeljazzy, @troublemakerinspace, @dancingboba, @yaushie, @brightpinkpeppercorn, @tempesrature, @zigtheeortega, @beccadavenport, @theeccentricbibliophile 

~15.5k words | M (18+)

she squealed, clapping her hands excitedly in view of the laptop’s webcam. “i’m so happy for you guys! seriously, this is amazing.”

from across the country, ingrid beamed, still holding her left hand aloft so ellie could see her ring. “did you know?”

ellie shook her head. “i knew he’d bought a ring but i didn’t know he was proposing now.” her attention turned to logan, “i thought you were waiting until your anniversary?”

he shrugged, looking just as excited as ingrid did. “i couldn’t wait anymore, it was driving me crazy.”

ingrid leaned her head on logan’s shoulder. “ellie, say you’ll be my maid of honor.”

“oh my god, of course i will!” ellie gushed, blinking away a sudden wave of emotion. “please, you guys know i’d do anything for you.”

the two of them exchanged a glance. “glad to hear you say that,” logan said slowly, “because i already asked colt to be my best man.”

the smile dropped off her face. “are you kidding me?”

“come on, it won’t be that bad,” ingrid rushed to assure her, “you’ll hardly have to deal with him. but -- while we’re breaking bad news to you...” she pursed her lips, and then shrugged. “we already set a date, too.”

“it’s in three months,” logan interjected helpfully.

ellie felt her eyes bug out. “three months?”

“el, we got our dream venue,” ingrid sighed wistfully, “you’re going to die when you see it. it was the only saturday they had available for, like, the next five years. it’s in santa monica overlooking the water and it’s just -- it’s perfect.”

“that’s really soon,” she said dumbly, “we have a lot to do.”

“totally.” ellie watched as ingrid shifted from blushing bride in love to ruthless, no-nonsense delegator. “we’re going to cram as much of it in as we can when you’re home for spring break. i already made us appointments to go look at dresses and tuxes and then -- we’ll figure everything else out when you’re here.”

the thought of spending her spring break shopping with colt kaneko was already making a headache start to throb behind her eyes. but ingrid and logan were her best friends. and they deserved the wedding of their dreams.

she pasted the biggest, most extreme smile she could muster on her face. “sounds great, you guys.”

*

ellie relished the long flight home from new york to los angeles, well aware that it was probably going to be the last moment she had to relax until the end of the summer. 

there had to be some irony in the fact that she was midway through pursuing her ph.d and more stressed out about her college friends’ wedding than anything else. 

but her coursework was going well. everything in her life was falling into place perfectly, exactly how she’d always envisioned it. 

this was the wrench in the plan. how she was supposed to make time to come back home for ingrid and logan’s wedding when she’d already committed to spending her summer in miami doing field work was a problem she didn’t need.

so she spent the flight napping, enjoying the five hours in the air as the only chance she’d get to kick back during her spring break. if she knew ingrid at all, she was going to be barking orders from the moment ellie’s feet touched orange county soil until the second they left. 

still, there were at least a few hours she could spend delaying the inevitable.

riya picked her up at the airport and ellie threw herself into her arms eagerly for a giant hug. “oh my god, i am so glad to see you. thank you for picking me up -- i pretty much have bridal boot camp all week.”

“ingrid’s got it all planned out, huh?” riya asked, helping her get her suitcase in the car with a grin. “look, it probably won’t be that bad. you’re you -- when darius and i got married you were the reason we didn’t even need a wedding planner!”

“that was different,” ellie explained, as riya started driving them back to the city, “you and darius are normal. maid of honor doesn’t mean the same thing to ingrid that it meant to you, trust me.”

“well, i believe in you,” her oldest friend declared, “and even if it’s awful, just come over afterwards and we can drown ourselves in wine.”

“done and done,” she sighed. “i’m sorry i probably won’t be around much this week otherwise. i know it’s been forever since we caught up.”

“please, i can’t even imagine how busy you are,” riya said, waving her apology off, “you’re getting close to the home stretch, eh?”

ellie shrugged. “i still have two more years of study, but -- yeah, pretty much. it’s crazy.”

“so crazy,” riya agreed, “but you will absolutely see me and dare in miami as soon as you get set up there.”

the thought of it, with everything she knew was ahead of her this week, sounded like nothing short of paradise. “can’t wait,” she said genuinely, sighing as the car slowed to a stop in front of the house she’d grown up in. “wanna come in and say hi to my dad?”

“uh uh,” riya chided, “i’m done being the buffer between you two. sooner or later, you’re going to have to have that long overdue heart-to-heart.”

“okay, dr. phil,” ellie groaned, “thanks a lot.” her phone lit up with a text from ingrid as soon as she closed the car door. 

be at your house in 5 it said, pulling a sigh of relief from deep within her. 

saved by the bell.

*

ellie only had a moment to drop her bags and shout a quick hello to her dad before she heard a car horn honk and rushed back outside, leaning over the car’s center console to give ingrid a big hug hello. 

“boy, am i ever glad to see you,” her friend said. “everything is already such a disaster. the venue is giving me such an attitude about moving our ceremony outside and my sister is an out of control diva who is, like, demanding to be allowed to read a poem before we say our vows and -- i swear i’ve almost killed logan at least twice.”

“wow. okay, well -- all of that sounds fixable.” though already she knew the next three months were going to be nothing like the ramp up to riya and darius’ wedding. ellie stifled a sigh. 

“oh, it will be,” ingrid threatened darkly, “we’re doing everything at once today. dresses -- tuxes -- groomsmen, bridesmaids. i tried being nice about it, but do you know what i realized? some people don’t deserve to be allowed to make their own decisions. so i changed our appointment and i’m going to supervise and everyone who acts normal will be allowed to come help me pick out my dress at our new appointment on wednesday.”

ellie blinked. “whatever you want,” she said finally, her brain still working to process what the hell she was talking about, “it’s your day.”

“yes it is,” ingrid agreed viciously, “i’m glad you’re on board. come on.”

ellie followed behind her into the boutique they’d arrived at, immediately catching sight of eight or so of their closest friends from college, plus logan’s cousin and ingrid’s sister, the latter who was staring at a long, pink dress with her arms crossed petulantly over her chest. “i’m not trying that on,” she said, as ellie stepped closer, “it’s going to accentuate my shoulders.”

“look, brat,” ingrid started, lowering her voice to the dangerous timbre ellie had come to associate with group project members who weren’t pulling their own weight, “get in that dressing room and put this on right now or so help me god --”

“ellie!” 

she turned around and saw logan, the distressed look on her face instantly melting into one of relief. “oh my god, hi,” she laughed, rushing over for a hug, “it’s so good to see you!”

“hey, back at you,” he grinned, “seriously, i know this probably isn’t how you wanted to spend your spring break, but -- thank god you’re here. ingrid needs all the help she can get.”

ellie pulled out of his arms and saw that he was wearing an elegant black tuxedo, the lines of which settled nicely on his shoulders and seemed to suit him perfectly. “okay, but -- this is a great tux.” she called out to ingrid over her shoulder. “come look at this one.”

ingrid walked over and gave logan a cursory glance. “i hate it. get changed.”

logan shot her an amused glance, but dipped back into the dressing room without a word. bless him, ellie thought, before drawing in a deep breath and asking, “okay, where do you want me?”

as if on cue, a harried shop attendant immediately dropped a pile of gowns into ellie’s arms. “follow me.”

*

the first dress she tried on was bright pink and heavily ruffled -- so ugly she honestly didn’t even want to show everyone. 

but she hitched up the skirt and stepped out of the dressing room obligingly, standing in front of the mirrors and the rest of the bridal party for ingrid’s judgment.

you have the ideal body type, ingrid had explained nonsensically to her as they herded her off with the gowns, so you’ll try on all of them and then once we find one we like everyone else will try it on, too. 

ugh. “it’s not... that bad,” ellie said delicately, once she was situated on the platform in front of the group.

“not if you’re little bo peep.” 

god. she’d know that smug, arrogant, self-centered, self-obsessed, narcissistic egomaniac voice anywhere.

“hi, colt,” ellie said pointedly, without turning her head, “nice to see you, too.”

he stepped closer, directly into her field of vision. there was no avoiding looking at him, then. 

colt was just as handsome as he’d been the last time she’d seen him, over a year ago at logan’s twenty-fifth birthday party, but this time, he was in a navy blue tux that had no business looking as good as it did. 

he smirked at her. “as if anyone could miss you in that thing.”

ellie sighed, rolling her eyes toward the ceiling. formalwear could only go so far when it came to making him appear tolerable, it seemed. “do you always have to be the most insufferable person in every room you’re in?”

“not always, no. but i like to win.”

“it’s disgusting,” ingrid declared abruptly, before ellie could snap back at him, “please take it off. can you try on the purple one next?”

she ducked back into the dressing room, thunking her head softly against the wall once the door swung shut behind her. why me, ellie thought miserably, i’m a good person. this isn’t fair.

it took two and a half hours, but eventually, she’d tried on what felt like every single dress at the store. finally, once she’d wiggled into a gown that was a soft, sky blue, figure-hugging with thin straps and delicate lace accents over tasteful cut-outs, ingrid gasped, “that’s it! that’s the one.”

every bridesmaid, including ellie, sagged with relief. “great,” she smiled, “i’ll just get out of the way so everyone else can try theirs on, too.”

just before she stepped back inside the dressing room to get changed, she caught sight of colt, who was still standing around on their side of the shop for some reason. he was staring at her, face carefully blank -- though there was something in his eyes she couldn’t quite place.

as soon as he noticed she’d caught him looking, he stormed off.

once ellie was back in her street clothes, ingrid said, “i’ll finish up over here. can you please go make sure the guys are on the right track?”

ellie winced as she approached the men’s side of the store. half of logan’s groomsmen were dressed in navy, the other half in black -- logan had a white jacket on and one of their friends from college, brent, was inexplicably wearing pants that were powder blue.

“oh my god, ingrid’s going to kill you,” she said to logan. “i can see why she sent me over here to babysit.”

“hey, i’ve got it sort of under control,” logan said defensively, “she said she wanted slate grey. look at this.”

ellie cringed again as he held a jacket on a hanger aloft in front of her eyes. “that’s charcoal grey.”

the determined look on logan’s face crumpled immediately. “fuck. can you help me?”

she was already nodding before he finished his question. “just -- get in there and get that off before anyone sees. i’ll pull tuxes for everyone.”

it was only a few minutes before she was passing out new outfits, herding each of logan’s groomsmen into their respective dressing rooms one by one. 

only one of them gave her any trouble about it. as soon as she passed him his tux, colt scowled, asking, “what is this?”

“a tuxedo,” she answered tersely, “presumably you’ve seen one before? like, an hour ago? those are all called tuxedos. maybe you never learned the word?”

he merely rolled his eyes at her. “why are you giving it to me?”

“because i want you to put it on. now. like, immediately.” 

still, he just stood there. “i already tried on forty of them.”

“then one more shouldn’t make much of a difference.” she shoved his shoulder expectantly. “go.”

ingrid wandered over just as they all started to emerge. as they stood in a line outside the dressing room, she laid a hand to her heart and gasped. “oh my god, they’re perfect. baby, you did such a good job!”

“actually --” logan started, though he stopped abruptly as soon as he caught sight of the way ellie was frantically shaking her head from behind ingrid’s back, “uh, thanks. i want everything to be perfect for you.”

“oh my god, you guys can do something right,” ingrid sniffed, “i’m so happy. okay -- fuck it, let’s go get drinks. i’ll get the first round.”

*

a few of their friends cornered her as soon as she got her first drink. it was the same every time she came home; everyone wanted to know how new york was, how school was going, what the dating pool was like on the east coast and if she’d met anyone. they asked the same questions every time ellie was able to make it out so they could catch up, and she gave the same answers.

it was exhausting. she gulped down her glass of wine as quickly as humanly possible, just so she could have an excuse to escape back to the bar. 

the bartender slid her a shot when he passed her refilled wine glass back to her. his smile was sympathetic. “you look like you need this.”

ellie grimaced at him, but immediately lifted the shot to her lips and knocked it back. “that obvious?”

“oh, yeah.” he placed his palms on the bar top and leaned in close, grinning brightly at her. “let me guess. family reunion?”

“worse,” she sighed, “two of my best friends from college are getting married. in three months.”

he whistled, slowly shaking his head. “brutal. i don’t think we have enough alcohol in the bar to help you with that.”

“tell me about it,” ellie laughed, taking a sip from her wine glass to chase away the burn of the shot she’d done, “you don’t even know the half of it.”

“well...” he smiled charmingly at her again. “my shift is over in twenty minutes. i’ll gladly listen to you complain, if you want.”

she blinked. “oh, i --”

“hey, don’t look now, but that guy over there has the angriest eyebrows i’ve ever seen.” the bartender leaned in a little closer, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “boyfriend?”

“what?” ellie turned around and followed the line of his gaze. 

sure enough, colt was glaring at them from the booth with the rest of their friends, his eyebrows drawn together thunderously. 

“oh my god, no,” she said, turning back around as quickly as possible, “never. we don’t even like each other.”

“right. well -- listen. if you do wanna pick this up some other time, here’s my number, okay? no pressure.” 

she watched, dumbfounded, as he wrote it down on a cocktail napkin, printing his name evenly below it. ben. 

all the girls cheered for her when she got back to the table.

“is that a phone number?” julia demanded, her grin wide and wickedly sharp. she reached over and plucked the napkin out of her hand. “jesus, ellie. you’ve been back in the city for, what, an afternoon?”

“give it,” she said, stepping forward as the rest of the girls passed it around the table, out of her reach, “oh my god, he was just being nice.”

“no, please,” gemma laughed, holding the napkin up over her head, “tell us again how you’re too busy to date.”

“i am too busy to date.” she bounced up on her toes and snatched the cocktail napkin out of her friend’s hand, folding it up and tucking it into the pocket of her jeans. “and i live across the country, remember?”

“hey, that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun while you’re home this week, right?” brent asked, making her aware, all at once, that the guys were officially clued into their conversation, too. “speaking of, ryan moore keeps asking me about you.”

beyond brent’s shoulder, colt was still staring at her. he looked tense, his grip firm on the glass in his hand. his jaw was clenched tight.

“can we talk about something else?” ellie asked finally, lifting her wine glass to her flushed cheek. “my love life can’t be that interesting to you guys.”

logan reached out and ruffled her hair. “hey, you’re our last single friend. you can’t blame us for being invested.”

“colt’s single,” she reminded him, before she could bite her tongue. ellie risked another glance his way and found him scowling at her.

“colt doesn’t count,” ingrid interjected, “he doesn’t have any social skills. you are a catch. you just need to put yourself out there.”

“and i promise, once i have my ph.d, you can set me up with anyone you want.” a discussion they’d had at least a thousand times before. ingrid looked as pleased about it as she’d ever been, which was to say not very much at all. before she could respond, ellie continued, “hey, will someone please play pool with me? i haven’t shot in forever.”

to her surprise, colt offered, “i will.” ellie slowly turned towards him and found him smirking at her again. “who knows what’d happen to your virtue if you went over there alone?”

fucker. he’d probably volunteered to go with her on purpose -- now there was no way for her to get out of it. and if she stayed at the table for one minute longer she was going to scream.

her eyes narrowed at him. “thanks.”

colt set up the table like she wasn’t glaring at him bitterly, humming to himself while he racked the balls and then passed her a cue.

“you’re awful,” she said, as she snatched it out of his hands.

he just grinned at her. “thank you. break?”

ellie leaned over the table to line up her shot, knocking the cue into the balls. two of the solids slid into the corner pockets. her hip leaned against the table as she watched him survey the setup critically, and she took advantage of the fact that his eyes were elsewhere to study him in turn, making note of what was different about him since the last time they’d seen each other.

he’d recently gotten a haircut, but was otherwise unchanged -- he wore the same leather jacket, had the same smug smile, was still so insufferably arrogant she found talking to him pretty much impossible.

“so, what’s your deal?” he asked suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts and knocking the striped number eleven ball smoothly into one of the side pockets, “you a rocket scientist or whatever yet?”

ellie rolled her eyes, trying not to flush when he lifted his head and looked directly at her. despite his many, many flaws, she’d always found him unnervingly hot. “my degree is in chemistry. so -- no. i still have two more years in the program.”

“yeah, but what are you going to do with it? once you’re a doctor.” even the way he said the word sounding mocking. 

she ignored him in favor of focusing on the table, and knocked one of her balls in. once it was his turn to shoot, she answered, “if you need to know, my specialization is in environmental science. one day i’ll hopefully work alongside some of the best in the world to ensure environmental hazards are at an all time low.”

“so whaddya moving to miami for?” he asked, effortlessly sinking two balls into the pocket at once, “their environment is already pretty sweet.”

“the department is sending me to collect data from the water and air outside of the city,” she answered, her eyes on the table as she tried to locate her next best shot, “it’s for my dissertation. it’s only for the summer.”

“shame,” colt murmured, laughing under his breath when her next shot went wide, missing her target completely, “i’ll be stuck dealing with this mess on my own.”

“somehow i doubt that,” ellie said, “it’s only a timezone change. there’s still phones and video calls and plenty of ways for all of you to bother me.”

“only if you pick up.” smoothly, he sunk the last three striped balls, one after another. she scowled at him. “the way the rest of them talk about how hard you are to pin down you’d think you were the president or something.”

“i have a demanding course load,” she huffed out defensively, “so we should get started on planning their bachelor and bachelorette party before my flight back on sunday. that should be the only thing that’s still up in the air after all our appointments this week.”

“don’t even get me started on the concept of a joint bachelor party,” colt sighed, leaning over in front of the eight ball, “it’s going to be the lamest trip of all time. side pocket.”

“i don’t know,” ellie murmured, resting on her cue as the eight ball sailed effortlessly into the side pocket as indicated, “i think it’ll be fun.”

he straightened up and smirked at her, spreading his hands out wide as if to say look at me. what an asshole. “you would.” colt nodded at the table. his smirk lengthened. “looks like you still suck.”

ellie shoved her pool cue back into his open hand. “one thing you’ll never know,” she promised, spinning on her heel and striding back to the table as quickly as possible.

*

“thanks for all your help today,” ingrid said sweetly on the drive home. “i know it wasn’t easy -- dealing with my idiot sister and all of those guys.”

“colt was as terrible as ever,” she mused, officially thinking too much about it. “i don’t know how he never gets tired of himself. he is such a prick.”

“totally,” ingrid agreed, even though ellie knew she’d softened to him, lately -- though she wasn’t sure she’d ever understand why or how. “but he just picks on you because he likes you.”

ellie lifted her head from where it’d been leaning against the passenger side window and turned towards ingrid with a look of confusion contorting her expression. “what? no.”

“yes,” she insisted, “he’s wanted to bang you since freshman year.”

“okay -- you’re too drunk to be driving,” ellie laughed, though even she could hear the undercurrent of nerves in the tone of her voice, “he’s an asshole to everyone. it doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“well, he sure doesn’t talk to me like he talks to you.”

ellie waved her hand dismissively. “because you and logan have been dating for, like, a hundred years. i’m positive he’s just as big a dick to gemma and julia and christie.”

“okay,” ingrid mouthed, arching her eyebrows at the road. 

she furrowed her brow. “he is.”

“forget i said anything,” ingrid said breezily as the car slowed to a stop in front of her dad’s house. “i’ll pick you up tomorrow at nine, okay? seriously, thanks again for all your help.”

“anytime.” 

dread filled her stomach as ellie dragged her feet up the path to the house. all the lights were on inside, which meant her dad was still awake. “hey pumpkin,” he greeted her, as soon as she toed off her shoes and dropped her bag, “long day?”

“you have no idea.” ellie walked straight to the sofa and flung herself down onto it face-first, groaning into the cushions. for a moment, it felt like she was back in high school, without a care in the world other than coursework and group projects and prom. she drew in a deep breath. “planning this wedding is going to be a headache.”

“you’ll pull through,” her dad assured her, “you always do.”

ellie pressed her forehead to the fabric of the couch and scowled, the freedom of her hair covering her face allowing her to express how she really felt. that was what everyone always said: she’d be fine. she’d figure it out. she’d make it happen.

part of her was so tired of always bending over backwards, always finding a way to make things work -- always being perfect. 

some first day back it was shaping up to be.

“i guess,” she mumbled, letting herself sulk for one more long moment before finally lifting her head and sitting up straight. “are you working tonight?”

“yep -- on my way out now. glad i caught you, though. i feel like i haven’t seen you in forever.” 

she winced, turning away from the disappointment in his eyes. “ingrid has a pretty full schedule for us this week, but maybe we can have dinner tomorrow.”

“sure thing,” her dad said brightly, pausing by the couch on his way out the door to gently grasp her shoulder. “i’ll see you in the morning, then. hang in there, kid.”

ellie slumped back into the couch, watching him go blankly. half of her was so exhausted she couldn’t imagine doing anything other than collapsing into bed for as long as humanly possible, but the other half of her still felt anxious and unsettled, the way she always did whenever she had to come home. 

being back in los angeles always felt like losing control of her life. there was something about being around her old friends and her dad and other people’s expectations that made her feel not like herself -- like some kind of persona she was putting on so everyone would perceive her a certain way.

so she could look like she had everything figured out, so everyone would keep saying you’ll pull through. you’ll figure it out. you’ll make it happen.

the thought of keeping it all up for an entire week of wedding activity with ingrid and their college friends was daunting. worse still was ingrid and logan’s engagement party on friday night, hanging over her head as the last obstacle between her and her flight home to the solace of her silent new york apartment, where she’d be able to analyze soil samples in peace until her mind was quiet again.

*

the week passed by in a blur. true to form, ingrid kept her busy for a majority of her waking moments with dress shopping, fittings, a trip to the venue, the florist and the bakery and, finally, last-minute preparations for friday’s engagement party, which left ellie tying ribbons around party favors late into the night on thursday.

“i could kill logan,” she complained to riya in the middle of the one free hour she’d been able to steal away for a mani-pedi, “i swear to god i’ve been playing the part of the fiance since i got back.”

“it’ll all be over soon,” riya hummed sympathetically, “the wedding will be here before you know it.”

as she dressed for the engagement party, she repeated the words to herself over and over again in the mirror. it’ll all be over soon.

she arrived at the venue early. the first person she saw after she stepped out of her rideshare was colt, who was loitering by the entrance to the restaurant, smoking. 

“some dress,” he smirked at her as soon as she got close enough to hear him, not even bothering to pretend like he wasn’t looking her up and down, “you trying to get laid tonight?”

“you know, ‘hello’ works just fine, too,” she said, pushing past him without a backwards glance. her face felt hot as she considered the comment, looking down at herself self-consciously. fuck him. i look nice.

fortunately, the party itself was less exhausting than she’d expected it to be. it was actually sort of nice to catch up with people she hadn’t seen since they’d graduated, and though she had to run through the familiar talk track she was getting sick of over and over again -- how’s school? how’s new york? what are your plans for after your thesis? -- the open bar made her hate it all a little less. 

eventually things started to wind down, until it was late and only the wedding party was left. ellie teetered in her heels as she pretended to help ingrid clean up, shuffling around as inconspicuously as she could manage, given the drinks she’d had.

“are you drunk?” 

she jumped, startled by the question. ellie’s lips pulled down into a frown as she noticed the out-and-out delighted expression on colt’s smug face from where he was suddenly standing next to her.

“no,” she lied, “and shhh. someone will hear you.”

“god forbid.” the shit eating grin on his face stretched further. “you want a ride home?”

ellie blinked. “from you?”

colt wasn’t at all deterred by the high arch of her eyebrows. he shrugged. “if we get out of here now we can probably avoid carrying presents to the car.”

that was all it took to convince her. she followed him out to the parking lot with a laugh, drawing up short when he stopped her in front of his motorcycle. she propped a hand on her hip and asked, “you still ride this thing?”

“it’s part of my image,” he answered, and as he came closer ellie found herself staring at the gentle slope of the smirk on his face. maybe it was the low lighting of the parking lot, but he looked a little softer than he had all week -- almost like when she’d first met him, in college, before he opened his mouth to say something rude and their relationship devolved into exchanged barbs and sidelong glares. 

colt cleared his throat, looking down at the helmet in his hands. “here.”

she flushed, pulling it on as quickly as possible in the hopes that it’d cover her face before he noticed. 

in all the years she’d known him she’d never actually gotten on the back of this thing. she’d seen him pull up to parties and speed away from them with plenty of girls holding onto his stomach, but she’d never actually thought she’d be one of them herself.

the bottle of wine she’d had was making it seem like no big deal, though, so she pressed up snugly behind him and rested her cheek on his shoulder like they’d done this enough times to form a habit.

and then they were back at her dad’s house, so quickly that ellie was almost sad about it. colt was actually mostly alright when he was quiet -- the speed of the bike hardly facilitated conversation -- and he was warm and solid against her while he drove, comforting her to the point that she was half asleep when they finally stopped.

she slid off the bike with a yawn, clumsily yanking the helmet off and handing it back to him. “thanks,” she murmured, glancing at the house and cringing once she realized all the lights were still on, meaning her dad was waiting up for her again. ellie lingered silently beside him, fidgeting. 

colt hesitated. after a moment, he killed the engine. he pulled his own helmet off so she could see his face. “you okay?”

“yeah.” she pursed her lips, then exhaled, blowing a messy lock of hair out of her eyes. “i guess i am a little drunk.”

his lips pulled back into that stupid, familiar smirk. “i know. i saw you guzzling chardonnays back there.” 

ellie leaned in over the handlebars. “stalk me much?”

“you wish.” 

movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye and ellie sighed as she saw the curtains shift. colt followed her gaze to the house, then turned back towards her with an eyebrow quirked.

“is there a reason you’re still standing here?”

she rolled her eyes at him. “it’s complicated.”

he laughed. it was after midnight, and the sleepy street she’d grown up on was completely silent and dark, save for that sound. “don’t tell me little miss perfect has daddy issues.”

“what, you thought you had the monopoly on them?” she shot back, too drunk to stop herself.

surprise flashed across his expression for a split second before he laughed again. “touché,” he murmured, “i probably deserved that.” 

ellie still didn’t move, standing at the front of the bike. they stared at each other, silence hanging in the air between them. it had to be the longest amount of time they’d gone without arguing since their freshman year. 

that felt like a lifetime ago, but she still remembered what she’d thought when they first met at orientation. 

cute, and then, once she found out that he was in the honors college like her, and smart, and eventually, once he opened his mouth, but a jerk. 

“what are you staring at?” he asked finally, and though he was difficult to read on even her best day, when she had one-hundred percent of her faculties intact, she was pretty sure there was no malice in his voice -- just genuine curiosity.

“nothing. you’re being weird.”

he laughed again. it took her a moment to realize why it sounded so different than it usually did; most of the time he was laughing at her. but not tonight. “no i’m not.”

“yes you are.”

“okay -- you’re trashed. do you need me to walk you inside?” 

all the lights were still on. yeah, that was just what she needed. the thought of colt and her father coming face-to-face made her own mouth curve into a grin. “no. but thanks for driving me home. that was almost decent of you.”

“well, i’d hate to be fully decent.” even his smile was different when he wasn’t making fun of her. 

ellie forced herself to take a step away, though it was difficult -- some strange magnetic pull seemed to want to keep her in his orbit, to see if she could maybe make him laugh softly at her again. 

as soon as she stepped back, the bike roared to life, though he didn’t pull out of the street until she’d wobbled all the way up the path to the front door and turned back to wave at him.

huh, she thought to herself as she ducked inside, wine-drunk acid swirling in her stomach with something else unidentifiable along for the ride, weird.

it wasn’t until she was tucked in bed that she privately acknowledged to herself, nice, though, too.

*

as expected, ingrid filled the weeks after her spring break with questions and complaining and dozens of skype calls.

ellie did her best to balance it all with school, which was ramping up as they got closer to the end of term, and packing for her move to miami, though on any given day she felt torn in at least ten different directions while she struggled to get everything together. 

the sound of another incoming facetime call was going to haunt her nightmares. with a groan, ellie fumbled for her phone blindly, not taking her eyes off the instant noodles slowly spinning in her microwave. 

“what now?”

“hello to you, too,” said a voice that definitely wasn’t ingrid’s, and ellie turned her head to see colt staring at her expectantly from the screen of her phone, jolting both from the surprise of seeing him and the sound of the microwave going off. 

“colt?” she blinked, suddenly aware that she was in her pajamas and tugging self-consciously at the cropped tank top she was wearing. “what do you want?”

“we have to go over some things for the bachelor party,” he sighed, and when he shifted she saw that he was reclining in bed. her face flushed.

“bachelor and bachelorette party,” she corrected.

“whatever. is now a good time?”

ellie cast a glance around her apartment, which looked like a tornado had recently swept through it. her kitchen table was covered in textbooks and pages of notes, though the living room had half-packed boxes covering every available surface. “i guess. one second.”

she set her phone down to retrieve her instant noodles and then leaned it up against her toaster, standing in front of the counter to both stay in her phone’s field of view and shovel noodles into her mouth as quickly as possible.

“seriously?” colt said, “isn’t it ten p.m. where you are?”

“i’ve been busy,” ellie answered defensively, between bites, “some of us have lives.”

he rolled his eyes. “did you book your flight yet?”

she paused, fork halfway to her lips. had she booked her flight yet? “i think so.” ellie pursed her lips, and then remembered, “yes! it gets in at seven. i’ll meet you guys at the hotel.”

“okay. the rest of us are driving down together, god help us all.” he scowled.

“relax. it’s only, like, four hours to vegas, anyway.” she was the one who was going to lose two entire days to travel and timezone changes. 

“do you want to sit in a car for four hours with everyone?” he smirked at the look that crossed her face. “i didn’t think so. how are the dinner reservations coming along?”

“good,” she nodded. at least she’d remembered to do that. “we’re all set for friday and saturday night. we can walk to both restaurants from the hotel.”

colt had been adamant about planning everything else, and she’d been all too happy to let him take the reigns. the last thing she needed to worry about was getting them into nightclubs and securing bottle service and busting her ass only for him to ultimately turn his nose up at it and declare the whole thing lame. 

“that should be everything, then.” she just barely saw the way he narrowed his eyes at her when she tipped her head back to get the last of the styrofoam cup of noodles down her throat. “except for whatever girly shit you have planned.”

“hey, you’re going to have to be the one to tell logan that your bad attitude is what got all of you excluded from mani-pedis and facials,” she shrugged, resting her elbows on the counter and leaning in toward the screen. “just so you can do what on saturday? smoke cigars and play darts?”

“someone has to draw the line somewhere,” he said, revisiting the argument they’d had at least four or five times since she was home the month before. 

“you’re impossible,” she sighed, her mouth stretching with a wide yawn. ellie pulled a face at herself, shaking her head. she had at least another two hours of coursework to do once they hung up. 

“you’re the one who looks about ten seconds away from combusting,” he smirked. “you can say no to things, you know.”

“i’m fine,” she insisted, “and i do say ‘no’ to things. when i have to.”

“right. it’s not like we haven’t known each other for eight years or anything.” 

ellie rolled her eyes at him, her cheeks still flushed red. like he’d paid attention to anyone other than himself and whatever girl he was fucking when they were in college. “everything’ll calm down after the wedding.”

“whatever you say,” he shrugged, “just don’t miss your flight to vegas, okay? i’m going to need someone to talk to who doesn’t make me want to blow my brains out.”

what? colt hung up just as she opened her mouth to respond, leaving ellie staring at her phone background in confusion. 

she took one last glance around her apartment, slowly trailing her eyes over the dishes in the sink, the schoolwork on her kitchen table, the piles of shoes that had to be bubble-wrapped and boxed up in her living room.

then ellie turned on her heel and headed off to bed. for once, it felt pretty fucking good to do the wrong thing. 

*

when her flight got in she sent logan a long, detailed text with all the information he could possibly need -- what time her rideshare was going to get to the hotel and how much time she was going to need to get up to the room and get changed -- and asked where she should meet everyone when she was done. 

his response was two short words. casino. craps. typical.

she rushed to get into her dress and get some makeup on and found everyone standing around the same table when she got downstairs. of course, the only available space was just to colt’s left. ellie squeezed in with a grin. “hi!”

“hey, you made it!” eager cheers from around the table greeted her and the tight hugs she was forced into let her know that she had a backlog a few drinks deep to catch up on. 

when she turned back around, colt shoved his hand in her face. there was a pair of dice sitting in his palm. “blow,” he said, staring at her expectantly. 

“excuse me?”

“blow,” he repeated, smirking at her, “it’s for luck.”

“i’m not going to --”

“come on, ellie,” logan grinned, “he’s up, like, two thousand dollars. you have to!”

“this is so demeaning,” she grumbled, but pursed her lips and blew on the dice as requested. colt stared at her the entire time, not even breaking eye contact to roll.

it was only when the croupier said, “another easy eight,” and the table broke out into cheers that he looked away, directing his gaze down at the stack of chips that was pushed over to him. 

“okay, what’s the next one?” he asked, taking the dice into his hand again.

“huh?”

“what am i rolling?”

“oh.” ellie glanced around the table and found everyone looking at her expectantly. “seven.”

“okay, any seven.” colt shook the dice in his hand, then held them out to her again. “come on.”

she leaned in a little closer. “you know, i’d love a drink at some point.”

“if we get this one i’ll find you a whole bottle of dom,” he promised. “blow.”

ellie blew on the dice. she grabbed colt’s arm anxiously as they waited for them to land.

they did, a moment later. she craned her neck and saw them facing up, over the line -- five and two.

all the noise they were making was starting to draw a crowd. ellie found herself sharing a grin with colt when he looked back at her again.

“another seven,” she instructed, head already bowed towards his hand.

he rolled a three and a four. the people gathering around the table were enraptured.

she blew on the dice again. a one and a six.

the forearm of his jacket had indents where her hand kept grabbing at it frantically, but colt never showed any outward signs of nervousness. if anything, he seemed to get more and more excited as ellie called out the numbers and he rolled them, one after another -- an eight. a six. a ten. another seven.

“holy shit, that’s twenty thousand dollars,” ingrid breathed finally, her mouth open in shock.

colt picked the stack of chips up, nodding at the roulette table behind them. “come on.”

“where are we going?” ellie asked, but followed him to the table anyway, her heart racing. all of their friends fell in line around them, hushed. 

“we’re gonna double it,” he smirked. “red or black?”

“you’re going to bet it all?” her eyes went comically wide.

“ellie, red or black?”

everyone within hearing distance, including the attendant, was staring at her. she looked down at the table, and then at the screen, which was displaying the outcome of the last few rounds. her mind raced as she tried to calculate all the ways it could become more complex than just a fifty-fifty probability.

colt noticed her staring and shook his head at her. “just pick.”

“black,” she blurted out, and watched in horror as he dropped the entire stack of chips down onto her choice. “oh my god, i’m going to throw up.”

his arm wound around her waist as the ball dropped into the table and started to roll around. instead of recoiling, ellie held onto him in return, digging her nails into the fabric of his suit as she stared.

there was dead silence at the table when the ball dropped neatly into the slot.

“twenty-nine,” the dealer announced, smiling at the both of them. “black.”

sound exploded all around them. their friends were jumping all over colt and the table, clapping him on the back, cheering and screaming. the spectators who’d been watching them joined in, and ellie couldn’t stop a deliriously joyful laugh from escaping as she looked, beaming, from the stack of chips on the table to colt’s face.

he was already grinning at her, and reached out to shove her shoulder excitedly before pulling the chips off the board and towards their end of the table -- four stacks of ten.

logan pushed between them, a beer bottle dangling from his fingers. “jesus christ. that was insane. way to make an entrance, el.”

“me?” she demanded incredulously, “what kind of person puts twenty thousand dollars on black?”

“what can i say,” colt shrugged, eyes still bright when they settled on her again, “i’m reckless.”

well, that was the understatement of the century. she slowly shook her head as the rest of the players at the table moved on to the next round. “i can’t believe that just happened.” 

colt reached out and grabbed her wrist, then unceremoniously dropped five chips into her palm. “here. your cut.”

ellie blinked down at her hand like she’d never seen a casino chip before. “five thousand dollars?”

“hey, all you did was blow on some dice.”

“no, i --” she shook her head, trying to shove the chips back onto his pile with a laugh, “you don’t need to do that. it was fun.”

he shrugged. ellie watched in surprise as colt smiled at her, fixated on the upturned corners of his mouth. “whatever. remember i did the next time you’re pissed at me.” 

colt walked off before she could try giving the money back to him again. she stared down at the chips in her hand for a moment, staring at all the zeroes that looked back up at her.

if what had just happened was any indication, it was probably going to be a strange weekend.

*

after dinner they went to a nightclub. her buzz was kicking in, so the lights and the music hardly bothered her as much as they might have on a normal night, and though she was loathe to admit it, colt had actually done a pretty nice job setting everything up. they had a booth to themselves and bottle service with sparklers, themed shots and props for both logan and ingrid -- sashes and buttons and crowns for the both of them.

seeing how happy everyone was made all the aggravation of the last six weeks worth it. before she knew it, she’d had more shots than was probably wise and her feet were killing her from dancing, leaving her flushed and sweaty when she stumbled back to the table.

as soon as she sat down, ingrid rushed over and grabbed her arm. “come on! i want to introduce you to a hot guy!”

“no,” ellie moaned, digging her heels into the booth while ingrid tried to drag her out of it, “stop, we’ve been dancing for hours. i need five minutes.”

“okay, but he’s so hot,” ingrid insisted, “and you could get laid tonight!”

“or we could just enjoy your bachelorette party!” she screamed back, over the music, “that’d be so fun, too.”

“oh my god, you’re impossible,” ingrid sighed, dropping down dramatically into the booth beside her. "look, he’s right over there.” 

ellie followed the line of her eyes and saw an admittedly very hot guy standing with a few of their friends. she lifted her hand and waved at him, and he smiled charmingly back at her, waving in return.

from behind her hand, when she pulled it in to cover her mouth, ellie said to ingrid, “he looks kind of stupid.”

“oh my god,” ingrid groaned again, “forget it. i’m done trying to set you up.”

before she could argue further, logan ran over to refill his drink and pulled ingrid back up to her feet, dragging her away from the booth and back onto the dance floor.

ellie watched them go, then turned her eyes to the half-full bottle of vodka in the ice bucket on the table. she was in the middle of trying to decide whether or not she was one drink away from puking when colt walked up to her.

“hey, loser. you wanna dance?” he asked, just as she made up her mind and reached for the bottle. he wasn’t loud enough to be heard over the music, but ellie could see the shape of his mouth make each word clearly, mostly because she tilted her head up to stare at him in complete confusion as soon as he got close. 

“with you?” 

“i thought you were supposed to be smart,” he said, and she recognized the easy grin on his face from dozens of late nights out with all their friends in college; he was drunk. “come on.”

she stumbled to her feet and followed him without thinking too much about it, even though there was no way their friends weren’t looking at them as they found a spot on the dance floor together. 

“you know how to dance?” ellie asked, blinking down at colt’s hands, which settled confidently on her waist, in absolute, total surprise, “since when?”

“since always,” he answered, lowering his mouth to her ear, “you just repress all my positive traits.”

“you don’t have any positive traits,” she shot back, though she gave in and wound her arms around his neck a moment later, letting him pull her in close.

“ouch,” colt murmured softly into her ear, and ellie sunk her teeth into her bottom lip at the low tone of his voice and its proximity. “that really hurts.”

her head tipped back to stare up at the flashing lights in the ceiling. colt didn’t say anything -- of course, he loved to get the last word -- and after a moment she forgot how utterly strange it was to be close to him at all and let herself enjoy the dance, smoothly moving her hips against his.

it was unnatural how natural it felt. she was dancing with colt kaneko -- it should have felt insane. they didn’t dance together. they didn’t get along. 

except that evidently they did, and she kind of liked it, too. 

when he dragged everyone out of the nightclub at three o’clock in the morning he wouldn’t tell them where they were going. even ellie was surprised to hear about a planned part two of the evening, though the way he seamlessly swiped a bottle of dom perignon from a table they passed on their way to the door and presented it to her as soon as they stepped back into the lobby of the hotel made her laugh with her whole body.

“you didn’t even pay for it,” she grinned, cradling it in her arms like a baby. 

he looked around, then started leading everyone down a side hallway. “i never said i would. hang on.”

logan caught on as soon as they all stopped in front of the fancy glass doors marked pool, and ellie kept watch at the end of the hallway while the two of them worked to get the door open. one by one, their friends filed quietly inside to the hotel’s closed indoor pool, giggling while they stripped out of their clothes.

“this feels illegal,” ellie said, while ingrid helpfully lowered the zip on her dress for her, “no?”

“it’s only a crime if you get caught,” logan answered, running past and jumping in the pool directly in front of where they were standing at its edge, splashing them both.

“oh, you’re in for it,” ingrid promised, jumping off after him. 

ellie self-consciously pulled her dress off the rest of the way, walking over to the steps and wading into the shallow end carefully. she swam out to join the rest of the group, head spinning from the drinks she’d had.

“hey.”

she turned around and came face-to-face with colt again, staring at what she could see of his bare chest, sticking out of the dark water before averting her eyes with a flush. “we’re totally all going to jail,” she said, apropos of nothing.

“that’s the plan,” colt returned, still smiling that easy, open smile. but he’d always been a lot more fun to hang out with when he was drunk. 

“why’re you being so nice to me?” ellie asked abruptly, reaching out to hold onto the pool wall and treading water to stay afloat in front of him. “it’s weird.”

colt laughed. his own arm braced on the side of the pool beside hers, and she looked over at the way the water slid of his muscles, her mouth suddenly dry. 

“guess i like the reactions i get,” he answered, effortlessly short-circuiting her brain as she tried to figure out what the fuck that was supposed to mean. “plus, it looks like you’re my good luck charm.”

“that was pretty crazy,” she acknowledged with a soft smile of her own, “i’ve never done anything like that before.” in fact, it’d been almost more excitement than she could handle.

“there’s so much i could show you.” 

the look in his eyes was intense -- searching. she wasn’t sure what to say, but fortunately the noise from the rest of their friends splashing around covered the too-loud pounding of her heartbeat as he stood there staring down at her.

it was the most alive she’d felt in months. before tonight, she hadn’t even thought she’d want a break from her routine -- from school, from her work, from everything that made her her.

wading in the pool now, with colt, all she wanted was more.

before she could find something to say, logan and brent swam by, kicking up water with a splash. “come on!” logan called out as a wave of chlorinated water hit her smack dab in the face, “we’re doing back flips.”

she forced her eyes down and swam off after them, hurrying to put some space between them. 

drunk as she was, it was a struggle to even stay afloat.

*

the semester wrapped up quickly; before she knew it, it was time to start shipping her things down to miami. ellie saw and heard from everyone less and less as she finished her coursework and switched into summer mode, even as the date of logan’s wedding grew closer.

finally it was time to hand her keys over to the girl who’d be subletting her apartment for the summer and catch her flight; when she stepped off the plane she forgot, for a moment, that she wasn’t home in los angeles -- it was humid and sunny and everyone around her looked happy, a far cry from the scene she’d left behind at jfk.

ellie went straight to her summer housing and checked in, a little astonished by how nice the apartment was. there was a pool in the back of the building and the beach was only a short walk away; there were floor-to-ceiling windows exposing the view to her and illuminating every last one of the boxes she’d have to unpack where they were cluttering her new living room floor.

her eyes landed on one marked kitchen stuff and ellie tore into it, using her keys to rip the tape. the still-sealed bottle of dom perignon from the bachelorette party was sitting on top of everything else, wrapped in bubble wrap.

the trip or the heat had probably made it go flat but she pulled it out anyway, sitting on the floor and popping the cork. ellie took a sip from the bottle and grimaced -- all expensive alcohol was disgusting.

she set it on the floor and took a photo for her pictagram story anyway, the boxes and the view in the background. it was only up for a few seconds before her phone screen lit up with an incoming message.

it was colt. dork was all he’d written, when she opened her direct messages. the little animation beneath his words indicated he was typing something else. how is it?

pretty bad she wrote back honestly.

guess i’ll have to work harder to impress you

she stared down at her phone, rereading the words twice before she huffed out a genuine laugh. ellie had been avoiding checking in with most of her friends while she focused on moving, but it felt pretty nice to talk to colt again. the new peace that had settled between them had admittedly been a welcome respite, distracting her from every stressor in her life. 

with a shake of her head, she gave in and wrote back guess so.

*

everyone in the wedding was spending the entire weekend in santa monica, and ellie was grateful for the opportunity to avoid awkward conversation with her dad, heading straight to the hotel when she flew in on the morning of the rehearsal dinner.

things were already in full swing even though it was early in the day when she arrived; though she was exhausted from her flight and the work she’d left behind on the east coast ellie still let ingrid pull her up to her suite to start getting ready together.

one by one the rest of their friends started to trickle in, chatting excitedly about the wedding the next day, and eventually, after they’d gone over saturday’s schedule at least a thousand times, it was late enough in the afternoon that she had to go back to her own hotel room to get dressed for dinner.

ellie was the first of the girls to finish getting ready and logan and the rest of the guys were already downstairs at the lobby bar when she came out of the elevator. logan pulled her into a hug as soon as she got close, kissing her cheek hello.

“are you so excited?” she asked, squeezing his arms, “big day tomorrow.”

“i can’t wait. i know we did this fast but it still feels like we’ve been waiting for forever.” he looked adorably eager. “you look nice, by the way.”

“thank you,” ellie said primly, stepping out of his arms to spin in a circle, the skirt of her dress swishing around the tops of her thighs, “not half bad for an all-nighter and a cross-country flight, eh?”

“thanks for flying out so early. i’m so glad you’re here.” logan called the bartender over as she moved down the line to say hi to the rest of the groomsmen, and when she came back around to his other side to accept the drink he held out to her she noticed there was one person missing from the group.

“where’s colt?”

logan arched an eyebrow at her. her face flushed pink, and then worsened when that voice she could pick out of a crowd said from behind her, “miss me?”

the smart remark that was waiting on the tip of her tongue died when she turned around and saw him. he always wore formalwear well, but something about how he was dressed tonight captured her attention in a way that was impossible to ignore. she swallowed.

“just wondering if tonight might actually be peaceful or not,” she said finally, lifting her eyes from the few buttons that were open on his shirt at the front of his throat to look him in the eyes. “i guess it won’t be.”

he shrugged, leaning around her to signal the bartender for a drink of his own. “i promised i’d behave this weekend.” 

“yeah, and you’d better follow through or ingrid’s going to come after us both,” logan grinned, waiting until colt had his glass in his hand before sticking his own in between the three of them. “cheers.”

“cheers,” ellie smiled, clinking her champagne flute delicately against the two rocks glasses in their hands, “congratulations. i’m so happy for you guys.”

“you can back out at any time,” colt said, and then, as ingrid finally walked over and hit him on the shoulder, “ow. what? you can back out, too.”

she linked her arm through logan’s, tilting her face up for a kiss. “no one’s backing out. come on.”

they filed into the restaurant, where everyone’s families were already waiting at one end of the long table. ellie sat down on ingrid’s right and came face-to-face with colt, who was sitting directly across from her at logan’s left. he smirked at her from the other side of the table, bumping his foot into hers underneath the tablecloth. 

she kicked him back, turning her cheek to stifle a smile when she saw him wince as soon as her high heel collided with his shin. 

dinner was surprisingly pleasant, making her cautiously optimistic for the way the rest of the weekend was going to go. tomorrow was sure to be exhausting, with a full day of primping and photos before the ceremony and reception, and the after party following late into the night, if she knew their group of friends at all.

but it’d probably be pretty fun, too. at least she could start drinking heavily as soon as her toast was over.

though she was woefully sober after the cake had been cut and the night started to wind down, certain that a hangover would be a wrench in tomorrow morning she just didn’t need, with the day ahead of her. 

they all took their time saying goodbye and slowly started to head to the elevator. just outside the restaurant door, colt caught her elbow and asked, “wanna go for a walk?”

she stared back at him dumbly. why? “huh?”

“come on, the beach is right there.” his hand slid down her bare arm to curl around her wrist, and he tugged her towards the french doors that would lead them outside onto the hotel’s back patio before she could protest.

ellie slipped off her shoes as they moved down the steps and out into the sand, silent when they both walked off down the beach together. the stretch owned by the hotel was private and closed for the night, so they were the only two people making their way down to the ocean, though she still wasn’t exactly sure for what. 

“how’ve you been?” she asked finally, when it felt like it’d been quiet for too long.

“fine. how are your... water samples?” 

her eyebrows arched. part of her was amazed he’d remembered, and a little warmed by his thoughtfulness. “um, good,” she answered slowly, “well -- not good, they’re contaminated, but... good for me? to have something to study?”

out of the corner of her eye, ellie saw his lips twitch. it was good to know he still found her embarrassment amusing. “that’s good.”

“are you nervous for your speech tomorrow?” she asked, because she was certainly nervous about hers. his smile spread.

“no.” he’d long since let go of her arm, but colt still only shoved the hand on the other side of his body into his pocket, letting his other arm dangle near hers. “i’m just gonna wing it.”

“you’re going to -- i’m sorry, what?” she demanded, completely horrified. “you cannot just wing it.”

“well, i’m going to,” he shrugged, “so don’t lose sleep over it.”

“oh my god,” ellie groaned, “i feel sick just thinking about it. please tell me you’re joking.”

“you know i’m not,” he laughed, that same soft sound from the night of logan and ingrid’s engagement party, when he’d given her a ride home. her cheeks flushed just thinking about it. “don’t you ever get tired of being so self-righteous?”

“no,” she sniffed, “don’t you ever get tired of being so...”

ellie trailed off as she searched for the right word. colt stopped suddenly and turned in the sand to face her, grinning widely when their eyes locked. “so what?”

arrogant. smug. obnoxious. insufferable. reckless. “so...” she paused, tongue darting out to lick her lips, “well --”

colt leaned in and kissed her before she could decide which word she wanted to settle on. the hand that’d been in his pocket landed on her waist, and he lifted the other to her jaw, cradling her cheek in his palm when he pulled her closer to meet his lips.

she froze. part of her had been expecting this, though it still felt so unbelievably beyond imagining -- colt kaneko was kissing her after they’d spent the last eight years at each other’s throats, and tenderly, too, his lips soft and gentle when they brushed against hers.

ellie sighed quietly into his mouth, then looped her arm around him and kissed him back, sliding her fingers into his hair at the back of his head. 

he was a good kisser. not that she’d thought about it, or anything, outside of one or two times --

fine, a few times... 

colt snaked his arm fully around her waist and pressed his body in against hers as close as they could get; there was only the sound of the waves on the shore while they kissed for what felt like an eternity, with all the familiarity of two people who’d done this dozens of times before.

there was something about being alone with him that eased the tension being home always brought with it. something about the new calmness in their relationship reminded her of her apartment and new york and the places she’d always felt most like herself, almost like colt understood her and the things she wanted to say but wouldn’t without her even having to say them. 

finally, his thumb pressed into the hinge of her jaw and he broke them apart, tipping his forehead against hers to stare into her eyes.

in the dark, with the moon behind him, the depths of his gaze consumed her entirely. ellie worked to catch her breath while staring back at him seriously, though there was surely some shock on her expression.

“um,” she said finally. “i --”

he swept her into another kiss and she was grateful for the chance to collect her thoughts before being expected to say something, though every last one she had left her abruptly when their lips met again. all she could focus on was how good the kiss was -- how it felt like giving into something she’d been holding off on allowing for far too long. 

this time, when he pushed her away, he spoke up. “do you want me to apologize?”

ellie realized her fingers were still curled into his hair and forced them to relax. she dropped her hand onto his shoulder. “no.” her eyes lingered on the minute upturn at the corners of his mouth. “an explanation would be helpful, though.”

the hand colt had on the small of her back dipped lower. she raised her eyebrows at him again. “i want to spend the night with you,” he said bluntly, “if you want.”

she pretended to think about it, even though she already knew what her answer would be. judging by the look on colt’s face, he knew she was only acting, too, though he stayed quiet for once and let her go through the motions of looking back at the hotel in thoughtful consideration. “yeah,” she said finally, with a nod, “let’s go to your room.”

*

colt’s room was on the other side of the hotel, and he’d forgotten to pull the heavy-duty shades shut the night before, so the sun filtered in through the gauzy curtains and hit her in the face early, waking her up before she was ready.

ellie rubbed at her eyes and took in the sight before her: the muscled arm slung across her waist was attached to a set of broad shoulders and a sculpted torso, though colt was sleeping on his stomach so she could only see his back, the sheet draped low over his hips. 

his face was squished into the pillow and he was still peacefully asleep, his breathing even and quiet beside her.

she stared at him for a few seconds before a deep sense of dread started to set in, filling her with slowly dawning horror.

you slept with colt kaneko! her brain screamed unhelpfully at her, like she didn’t already know. what the fuck were you thinking?

okay. this was fixable. all she had to do was get to her clothes and get out of his room before he woke up. she could make it back to her suite before anyone noticed she was gone, right? 

his body stirred beside her as soon as she shifted to the edge of the mattress. ellie watched colt’s arm slip off her waist and stared as his eyes slowly blinked open, his jaw cracking with a yawn. “hey,” he murmured, voice thick with sleep and perfectly cozy-sounding, halting her progress out of the bed and almost enough to make her turn right back around. “what time is it?”

“seven,” she returned just as quietly, and he flopped back against the pillow with a groan, scrubbing a hand down his face.

“the fuck are you doing up?” he grumbled. “christ.”

ellie shifted another inch to the edge of the bed. “we need to all start getting ready soon. pictures are at two.”

“it’s seven,” he sighed, “she can’t possibly expect you to --”

“she does.”

colt groaned again, louder this time. he rolled onto his back and pressed both palms against his face, then pushed his hands through his hair. “we’ll get up in ten minutes,” he declared decisively, dropping his cheek into the side of the pillow. his eyes were half-lidded when they landed on her. “come here.”

ellie hesitated at the edge of the bed, biting her lip. 

that was probably a mistake. 

she cleared her throat, averting her eyes. maybe all of this had been a mistake. it was so unlike her -- flirting with him, kissing him on the beach, having a one night stand. he’d never even liked her before she started doing all of these things that felt so wildly out of character for her. in fact, he’d always hated her. 

what the fuck did he think they were doing, anyway? 

panic was starting to set in, hot and desperate. “i should really get going,” she said, then stood and snatched her dress up off the floor before she could be sucked in by the curve of him against the mattress. “ingrid’s going to wonder where i am.”

there was complete and total silence as she pulled her clothes back on quickly, piece by piece. finally, colt said, “okay. i’ll see you later.”

his voice was slow -- carefully measured. ellie didn’t look at him before double checking to make sure she had her phone and room key and nodding blindly in the direction of the bed, doing her best to keep her voice faux-chipper. “totally,” she called out mindlessly, rushing out the door.

her chest squeezed tight with anxiety and refused to relent for the entirety of the morning. ellie found herself fighting off a meltdown through hair and makeup, through hours of gushing over ingrid and how beautiful she looked, through a session with the photographer in the bridal suite. 

her thoughts were elsewhere during the group photos with everyone. it took every effort not to look colt’s way when they all got together before the ceremony to take so many pictures her face was hurting from maintaining her fake smile.

still, her mind drifted. the part of her that was adamant she’d made the right decision couldn’t seem to quiet the little voice beneath it wondering what if, her curiosity needling her brain incessantly. 

now she’d never know what he might’ve been about to say or do. she wouldn’t have to deal with the reality of having two pieces of her life that didn’t fit together -- new york and school and los angeles and colt -- because there was no knowing if anything would’ve even come from it.

maybe that’s for the best, said the larger, more rational part of her brain. 

all the excuses she’d used a thousand times before came back to her at once. she was too busy to date, probably, and ill-equipped to have a boyfriend. guys she’d dated in the past had complained about her being hot and cold, either clingy or distant depending on where she was with school or in her professional life. the only parts of herself she could actually tolerate most of the time seemed to be the biggest turn-offs: she was too driven, too focused on her passion projects. 

each word felt hollow, now. maybe she hadn’t done the right thing.

ellie’s pulse raced dangerously as everyone lined up at the edge of the cliff for the outdoor ceremony. she and colt stood just behind logan, side-by-side. 

he wasn’t looking at her. her stomach twisted unhappily. 

she gently reached out to touch his arm. her voice was barely a murmur when she leaned in close and said, “hey, can i talk to you?”

colt looked down at her like she was insane. in front of them, logan started down the aisle. “now’s not really a good time.”

fuck. she was almost definitely going to lose her nerve, but he was right. she pursed her lips, looping her arm through his. her free hand clutched her flowers tightly.

colt felt stiff beside her, at odds with the easy way he’d held her last night. she used all her focus not to trip as they walked down the aisle together and then separated on either side of the altar, the both of them looking anywhere else but at each other.

fortunately, the ceremony provided a welcome distraction from her swirling thoughts. logan and ingrid had written their own vows, and she cried the entire time they spoke to each other, tears silently dripping down her cheeks as she watched two of her oldest friends profess their love.

even the poem ingrid’s sister read made her heart skip a beat, her bottom lip wobbling through the ceremony until the officiant finally pronounced them husband and wife.

ellie was still smiling through tears after they’d kissed and started back down the aisle together. she forgot to be nervous about walking with colt until he took her arm in his and said, “seriously?”

then everything that had happened rushed back to her at once, and she was uneasy and miserable again.

“come on,” ellie sniffed, dabbing delicately at her eyes, “that was beautiful.”

“it was something,” he mumbled, so quietly the excited din of the crowd nearly drowned him out. “i’ll catch up with you later.”

he dropped her arm as soon as he possibly could, disappearing into the venue. ellie watched everyone through the glass windows for a moment before following him inside with a sigh.

bathroom, then bar. even if the first thing she needed was a large glass of wine, the absolute last thing she needed was smudged mascara. everything else could wait.

*

it was almost the end of the cocktail hour when logan found her at the bar. ellie grinned at him wholeheartedly and passed him the champagne flute she’d taken for herself, signaling for another.

“thanks,” he said, reaching out to squeeze her arm, “like, a thousand people have already tried talking to me. you never told me this was going to be so exhausting.”

“getting married is a huge deal,” ellie laughed, “of course every single person here wants to talk to you. you’re going to be making the rounds all night.”

“just -- keep me occupied for a few more minutes,” he said, gaze darting around the room, “make it look like we’re having a really serious talk. start with whatever put that look on your face.”

“i don’t have a look on my face,” she argued, though she knew it was futile.

logan arched his eyebrows at her. “ellie.”

“what?” she asked. she shuffled her feet anxiously and then continued, “look, i’m sure colt already told you we slept together last night, so --”

logan started coughing, spitting champagne back into his glass. he set it down on the bar with wide eyes. “oh my god, you what?”

ellie felt her own eyes bug out to match. “he didn’t tell you?”

“no,” logan hissed, then coughed again. “what do you mean you slept together last night?”

“um,” ellie started, her voice high as she swiveled her eyes to the ceiling, “well...”

“jesus, i can’t believe he finally went for it.”

she slowly lowered her gaze back to his. her brow furrowed in confusion. “what?”

“oh, man. he’s liked you for forever. i didn’t think he was ever going to...” logan trailed off as he caught sight of the expression on her face, which cycled from confusion to realization to horror so quickly it made her head spin. “wait, how’d you guys leave it?”

“um,” she said again, cringing, “well...”

“yikes.” logan matched her look with a wince. “you should probably talk to him.”

she wandered into the ballroom as if in a daze. ellie found her seat at the table with the bridal party and breathed a sigh of relief once she noticed colt was far away from her at the other end -- at least ingrid had done her one favor. 

after the toast, she told herself with a nod, i’ll talk to him. 

after the toast she could have the hard drink she’d need to get through the conversation. they could take a few minutes to themselves.

but first she had to actually get through the toast, and that meant sitting politely while colt gave the best man speech, which he did unflappably well, of course, even though he hadn’t prepared for it at all.

ellie was reminded all at once what’d made her hate him in the first place: colt was good at everything without having to worry about it. in college, he’d effortlessly pulled perfect grades in even the most impossible classes; tonight was no different. he made jokes that landed perfectly with the crowd, getting the appropriate amount of laughs, and finished with something surprisingly sentimental that garnered lots of applause -- both ingrid and logan beamed at him when he sat down again.

and she had to go next.

she pointedly ignored him as she stood with her glass. “hey, everyone. i’m ellie. for those of you who don’t know me, ingrid and i met on the very first day of college -- eight years ago. i’d just turned eighteen and i was away from home for the first time. i actually bumped into ingrid in the parking lot...”

ellie hit all the marks, too: what she loved about her friends, what made them perfect for each other. “-- and i knew he was the one just from the way she’d talk about him. she always got so giddy, it was like there was a whole other side of her i’d never seen before. every day she’d have something new to say about him: ‘oh, logan said this,’ and, ‘oh, logan showed me that’ --”

everyone was crying by the time she wrapped up. ingrid blew her a kiss as she lifted her glass into the air, and ellie grinned brightly back at her and logan before the band came back on and she could finally sit down again.

the girls around her were gushing about how good her toast had been, but ellie leaned around them to catch colt’s eye at the other end of the table.

her eyebrows lifted meaningfully. she nodded at the dance floor.

colt rolled his eyes. she watched him shake his head.

ellie thrust her bottom lip out into a pout. 

he looked sort of close to smiling, setting a swarm of butterflies loose in her stomach. it was both better and more dangerous than the thought of him being angry at her had been. later, he mouthed, turning away before she could frown at him any harder.

that was fine. it’d give her a little more time to work up her nerve -- hopefully.

she grabbed ingrid on her way back to the bar.

“oh my god, i can’t believe you,” ingrid sighed, squeezing her tight in a huge hug, “that was only the most beautiful toast of all time. you ruined my makeup, you bitch!”

“okay, you still look perfect,” ellie argued, squeezing her hand, “you’re the most beautiful bride ever. don’t even start.”

ingrid sighed wistfully, looking off towards the sweetheart table at the front of the ballroom. “i am pretty beautiful, huh?”

“are you kidding?” ellie demanded, “the whole thing was gorgeous.”

ingrid’s grin sharpened. out of nowhere, she said, “logan told me you totally fucked colt last night.”

“shhhh!” ellie cast a glance around desperately, but they were blessedly alone at the bar. “oh my god, i didn’t --”

“yeah, right. why didn’t you tell me?!”

“it’s your wedding day,” she laughed, “i wanted to -- i don’t know. it just happened, it was weird.”

“what’s he like?” she asked, passing ellie a glass of champagne.

“can we not do this?” ellie ducked her head behind the glass, trying to hide her flushed face. “isn’t it time for your first dance?”

ingrid waved her hand dismissively. “in a minute. so? spill!”

“oh my god, it was obviously incredible,” she mumbled into her champagne, “now get out of my face, this is exactly why i didn’t tell you.”

“fine, but we are so not done talking about this.” she reached out and tugged on one of the neat curls of her hair before linking her arm through ellie’s to walk back to the front of the ballroom together. “and you’d better save me a dance.”

*

she didn’t get her moment alone with colt until after the entrees. ellie had given up on trying to catch his eye, so she was surprised when he walked over and said, “i’ll take that dance, now, if you can stop crying long enough to make it happen.”

“people with souls cry at weddings,” she huffed, standing and taking his hand in hers, “i’m sorry you can’t relate.”

“you’re forgiven,” he smirked, so that she could almost pretend there was absolutely nothing weird going on between them as they walked out onto the dance floor.

but his expression shifted when the song changed and her hands laced together behind his neck, absolving her of that illusion near-immediately. she cleared her throat as his hands settled on her hips and they started to sway together.

“i’m sorry,” she said again, more seriously this time. 

he pursed his lips, then shrugged. “for what?”

“for being weird this morning. i don’t know what you were going to say -- um, if you were going to say anything, but i totally freaked out and i obviously didn’t even give you a chance to get to it, so. that was uncool. sorry.”

colt’s gaze was calculating on hers. she wondered what he was thinking. “don’t worry about it,” he said finally. “it’s nothing.”

she drew in a deep breath. well, if he wasn’t going to give her an inch... “logan said you’ve always liked me.”

ellie watched as his eyes narrowed. “logan’s lucky today’s his wedding day,” colt murmured darkly. his hands tightened on her hips briefly, then released. he turned his head and leveled his glare on her. “so?”

“so -- i thought you hated me,” she laughed, that thread of nervousness back again. “you never -- i mean, why didn’t you ever say anything?”

he rolled his eyes at her. “okay, you’re always, like -- smiling and happy and constantly surrounded by people. when we were in school you were in, like, student government and on debate team and running a thousand clubs or doing extra lab hours and everyone always liked you -- so you wanted me to, what, exactly? just walk right up to you and be like, hey, do you want to see a movie?”

ellie gaped at him, her mouth open in shock. “i -- yes! you could have just asked me out.”

“right,” colt snorted, “that would’ve gone over well. you thought i was a total asshole.”

“colt, you were a total asshole,” she reminded him.

he shifted back and forth on his feet. ellie stared in fascination as the tips of his ears went red when he dipped his head to avert his eyes. “i didn’t want you think i had a crush on you or anything.”

it felt a lot like she was having an out-of-body experience. “well... did you have a crush on me?”

colt cleared his throat. “you weren’t like everyone else,” he said, in lieu of an answer, “you’re still not. but i get that you’re busy. this doesn’t have to be, like, a thing.”

“hang on, i’m still processing.” whatever this was, it was officially bizarre. 

it seemed impossible to wrap her head around what he’d just admitted: that he’d always liked her, even at her most neurotic, at the most school-obsessed, five-year-plan focused she’d ever been. 

so she didn’t have to change.

for once, it didn’t feel like she needed to put up some front that was, frankly, exhausting to maintain.

everything just felt -- nice.

“done yet?” he demanded, “the song’s almost over.” 

ellie leaned in and kissed him, uncaring of anyone who might see. his hands were warm over the cutouts in the dress at her sides and she was breathless when they finally broke apart, long after the song had changed.

the look on colt’s face was a mixture of self-satisfied and surprised when he pulled her off the dance floor and out onto the terrace. “i am busy,” ellie said, once they were alone.

colt nodded, looking out at the view of the beach below them. “i know.”

“but -- if you really don’t mind that i have to split my focus with school... and the distance... and the time difference...”

“are you trying to talk me out of it?” he asked, sounding amused.

“...then obviously i’d love to date you or whatever.”

“huh.” colt was smiling as he stared at the ocean. “i guess i probably should have just asked out you five years ago, then.”

“it might’ve been easier,” ellie allowed, shifting to lean her shoulder against his. she reached for his hand and laced their fingers together. “but that’s not really our style.”

colt turned and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “true,” he hummed, and then, “you smell like you have a whole can of hairspray in your hair.”

“i probably do.” she hesitated, looking down at their joined hands. “are you sure you want to do this?”

“yeah.” ellie looked back up at him and found colt’s eyes still stuck thoughtfully on the view. “i’ve wanted to for a really long time.”

“that’s so crazy to me.”

“why?” he finally turned and looked at her, his gaze no less intense than it had been last night by the ocean. “ingrid’s right. you are a catch. it’s crazy to me that you’ve stayed single all this time.”

“well, i was --” she bit the inside of her cheek to avoid again using the word busy, and then pivoted to a more uncomfortably honest answer, “-- never interested in compromising. before now.”

his lips spread into a smile. she felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of it, soft and genuine and open on his face. “figures i’d be the one to break your streak,” colt said, in that same overconfident way she always used to hate.

“oh my god, do not start,” she huffed, using their joined hands to push his side until he stumbled a step away.

colt retaliated by spinning her around and pulling her in close, trapping her against the ledge of the balcony before she could move. “why?” he challenged, “what are you going to do about it?”

she was going to kiss that stupid smirk right off his face, for one.

and he was going to spend the night dancing with her and later hold back her hair when she had too much to drink.

then they’d both spend most of sunday in bed, skipping brunch with the rest of their friends to put the hours before her flight to better use.

colt would drive her to the airport. they would say their goodbyes on the curb.

and she would be too excited to sleep on the trip back to miami.

“just wait,” she threatened, though her voice was sweet; she tilted her chin up to brush their noses together. “you’ll see. i have it all planned out.”

the look in his eyes made her feel like she was doing something dangerous; colt looked both fond and delighted, content and sweet and sure. his free hand lifted to thumb at her cheekbone, like part of him was still surprised to find the both of them out here, wrapped up together like they were. 

“i’ll bet,” he returned, his voice low and full of promise. “that work ethic is one of the things i like most about you.”

“you’ll have to give me a list of the rest,” ellie laughed, eager to hear his take on it all from what was arguably the most unique perspective in their friend group. 

“eh, you can wait,” colt shrugged, gently pressing her in along the stone ledge behind her back on the balcony, leaning over her with another grin, “there’s a few other things we have to catch up on first.”

fair point, she thought, though she’d be damned if she ever actually agreed with him out loud. she had a lot to fill him in on, too. 

he’d probably waited long enough, though, so ellie folded first and gave him that kiss she’d planned, colt’s smirk dissolving as expected when his mouth pressed against hers. 

when they finally broke apart and turned to head back inside, they drew up short outside the doors to the balcony. every last one of their friends was standing in front of the glass facade, staring at them, their eyes wide and their mouths open. ingrid and logan in particular looked unreasonably overjoyed. 

“christ,” colt sighed, as ellie instantly flushed bright red beside him, “is this what this is going to be like all the time?”

“no take backs,” she said, squeezing his hand. she turned to look up at him just in time to catch his eye roll, and the subsequent glare that made the group watching them from behind the door scatter with raucous laughter.

“fine,” he answered, sounding put-upon, but she hadn’t looked away yet and so she still caught the private smile that tugged his lips up against his will.

perfect, ellie thought to herself, and then, for the first time in as long as she could remember, nothing else -- no self-doubt, no exhaustion, no pretending. 

colt was probably going to have to help her get used to how it felt to have everything she wanted.

#rodaw #colt kaneko #colt kaneko x mc #choices rod #ellie wheeler #colt kaneko x ellie wheeler #myfic #long post #i love this trope................. too much #GOD i'm so glad i finished this in time !! #there's nothing n/s/f/w in here by the way #the 18+ rating is for swearing lol #and the implication of sex #but we did a tasteful fade to black ladies #also if you ever mentioned wanting to read this you got tagged lol hope that's okay !! #ride or die

[flowerpowell]

The Boy Next Door (Colt x MC ? / Logan x MC ?)

PART FIFTEEN

A/N: This is the last chapter! And the epilogue is being worked on too! I really hope you’ll like it and thank you SO much for reading and reblogging, commenting, liking and supporting this series. I meant A LOT to me. Characters belong to Pixelberry. 

Rating: PG-16

Word count: 1911

Tagging: @brightpinkpeppercorn @desiree-0816 @lovehugsandcandy @walkerduchess @liamzigmichael4ever @emceesynonymroll @emichelle @hellomynameisdevi @client-327 @badchoicesposts @blackcatkita @pixel-thirsty @drakeismyweakness @donutsgirl36 @miss-raleigh-carrera @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @lovemychoices @mskaneko @missameliep @cora-nova ♥

“Ugh, the jet lag is killing me,” Ellie murmured, inhaling the scent of her coffee in hopes it would wake her up.

“You know, you can’t really blame jet lag if you’ve been here for over a month,” Logan noticed and Ellie looked at him narrowing her eyes.

“I can blame whatever I want,” she stuck out her tongue at him. “Why are you so happy, though? Where do you get your energy?”

“I dunno. I just love it here. My classes are amazing, the people I met are cool, my job is going great. You’re here too. I can’t complain, really.” He took a sip of his tea and Ellie rolled her eyes.

“I miss my bed. I’m tired of having a panic attack anytime I see someone driving on the wrong side of the road. And it is freezing here.”

Ellie wrapped her fingers around the mug and closed her eyes listening to the noises of a campus cafe. The past month was very... interesting, to say the least. Nothing bad happened but Ellie had the hardest time adusting to a new country, new university and a new lifestyle. Copared to Logan who seemed to love being there, Ellie counted down the days till she could go back. She missed her dad, she missed her professors, she missed Riya, she missed Annya. And no matter how hard she tried to hide it, she missed Colt the most.

They talked every day, sometimes even twice a day. He called at times that were the most convenient for Ellie and at some point she found out he would stay up late just to talk to her. They talked about Ellie’s classes, about Colt reuniting with his mother, about Logan who was living his best life. The only thing they didn’t discuss was them. It almost felt like a taboo subject but she knew from her conversations with Annya that he missed her too.

They also never talked about what would happen after her London adventure. She wasn’t sure where she would go, back to California to her father? Find a new appartment in Colt’s neighborhood? It was driving her insane but she tried to not to think too much about it.

Ellie tried not to doze off when Logan was telling her something that happened during one of his classes. She smiled involuntarily. He was always very excited when talking about his classes and Ellie was really happy for him. Everything was good between the two of them and she was glad to have a friend like him in her corner. They even went to a weekend trip to Paris because Logan refused to spend the money he earned for it on anything else.

“Logan, seriosuly, I can’t... You don’t have to spend the money on me anymore. We’re not a couple or anything.”

“But we’re friends. And I want to take you there as an apology for lying to you. Come on, I know you want to go there. Please?”

“Ughh, okay. You don’t have to but if you must, I’ll go. After all I lied to you, too.”

Logan raised his eyebrow trying not to laugh. “Oh poor you. Going to Paris with me is such an awful punishment for almost cheating on me with Colt. How will you bear so much suffering?”

The trip was very successful and Ellie sent tons of pictures to Colt, Annya and her Dad. Colt was a little jealous at first, even though he tried to hide it, but Ellie explained it to him that her and Logan would never be able to be more than friends. And she was okay with that.

“Ellie?” Logan’s voice brought her back to reality. “Maybe you should skip classes today? You look really tired. I could drive you back to your dorm,” he offered concerned.

“Yeah... I think I need a break today. Thank you.”

As soon as she entered her room, she jumped on her bed and fell asleep. Her phone woke her up a few hours later.

“Mmm, hello?” She rubbed her eyes trying to get out of bed and turn on the light.

“Ellie? You sound... different. Is everything okay?” Colt’s voice was full of concern, which made her heart skip a beat. He cares.

“I just woke up from a nap. Was tired all day,” she murmured sleepily and Colt let out a chuckle.

“I’m sorry I woke you up.”

“No, it’s fine. What’s up?”

“I met my grandparents today. My mom’s parents. By the way, she says hi.”

Ellie smiled at the words and closed her eyes, climbing back to bed. She might as well make herself comfortable. “And? What they’re like?”

“A couple of assholes. No wonder my mom doesn’t like them. They suck.”

“Colt!”

“No seriously! They were complaning all the time about everything. Why I never reached out to them sooner, and it’s not like I just found out they existed. Why I look so much like my father, why I don’t look like my grandfather, who apparently was very handsome when he was younger. Well, I couldn’t tell because he looked like a fucking raisin. And then my grandma told me to stop wearing my leather jacket because I look like a cultist. And she got offended when I said I was in an anti-grandparents cult. Then she proceeded to criticize my mother. I’m tellin’ you. Assholes.” She couldn’t see Colt but she could tell he was rolling his eyes in this very ‘Colt’ manner. She chuckled.

“Well then, I’m glad I didn’t have to meet them,” she said stifling a yawn.

“Ellie? You’re tired. Go to sleep a little earlier and I’ll call you before your classes tomorrow, okay?”

“Mhm, okay! Love you!” she blurted and her eyes widened as she realized what she just said.

No... No... Please, no.

“Ahem, okay then, I... I’ll call you umm...tomorrow. Night!”

Ellie hang up and facepalm herself hard.

Did I just say I loved Colt? Yes.

Did he hear it? Probably yes.

Did he say it back? No.

Does he feel the same? Probably not.

Did I scare him? Most likely.

Am I an idiot? Totally.

She buried her face in her hands. She didn’t mean to say it, at least not like that. They were still figuring things out and now she ruined everything.

“UGH!!!” She groaned. Colt didn’t say anything back. He was probably surprised too.

Maybe he didn’t hear it...

Maybe I can pretend I never said that. Maybe it was nothing.

~~~~

Colt didn’t call before her classes.

Ellie waited for him to call but she gave up when it was already time to leave.

He heard.

And he is avoiding me.

Great.

She didn’t pay attention to her classes that day at all. She didn’t even notice Logan driving her back home. She was done with London and she wanted to go back home. Wherever it was.

She came back to her dorm, turned on TV and mindlessly watched different shows for a few hours. It was almost uncanny how much the lack of conversation with Colt affected her. Her days were much better when she could hear his voice at least for a few minutes.  

I need to go on a rehab.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was already late in the evening and she didn’t expect anyone. She wanted to ignore at first but the knocking didn’t stop for a few minutes.

“I’m coming!” She groaned and crawled out of bed. She opened the door and her heart stopped. It was either a dream or she was hallucinating.

“Hi,” Colt said nervously as she started at him. He walked inside and closed the door while Ellie was still in shock.

“C-Colt? What are you doing here?”

“I-- I don’t know.” He ran one hand through his hair and looked at her. “I-- I thought it was all over and I prayed for a sign and when you blurted out those three words, well, two, I thought...”

“You heard it.” It was more of a statement than a question and Colt nodded.

“I... did. And I... I figured it was true and I wanted to take a leap of faith and come here. It gave me hope that maybe there’s still a chance.”

“Chance? Chance for what?” She asked and Colt’s expression softened.

“I don’t know much about feelings, emotions and crap like this. I don’t know how to be with someone, I don’t know what it’s like to have a normal, healthy relationship but I would like to try it if... if you want it too.”

“Colt? Are you...?”

“I,” he swallowed hard and closed his eyes before opening them again and locking them with Ellie’s confused eyes. “I think I love you, Ellie. No, wait, I ruined it, I know I love you. No wait, it still sounds bad, I--”

“You... you do?” Ellie’s eyes welled up with tears as Colt nodded. “Oh my gosh, I thought you didn’t feel anything for me anymore.”

“What? How could-- No, Ellie, I was worried you hated me after I told you to get out. I thought I messed up for good. And when I heard you saying these words I thought... I thought that maybe there’s still a chance?”

“So you came to London?” Ellie couldn’t believe it. Maybe it was indeed a dream.

“Well, yeah. I missed you. Home is not home without you. Ellie,” he took her hands in his as he looked into her eyes. “I know I screwed up. I know I’m not perfect, hell, I’m the opposite. I know I suck at showing I like someone and I have many, many, maaaany issues. But I promise, if you’ll take me, to work on them, on myself, on everything for you. I know I don’t deserve you after all you’ve done for me and after all I’ve done to you but if you’re willing to forgive me I would like to ask you for a second chance. I want to be whatever you want me to be, your boyfriend, your best friend, your shelter from any storm in your life, your roomate, anything, Ellie, just say I word and I’m yours.”

Ellie sniffed as tears were rolling down her cheeks.

He loves me. He loves me!

And I love him too.

“Ellie? Please say something or I’ll die.”

Ellie let out a laugh as she threw her arms around his neck pulling him closer. She kissed him and he kissed her back and she never felt happier in her life. Their kisses were slow but passionate, full of love and hope. Full of promises and new beginnings. He deepened the kiss, pulling her even closer and she put her hands in his hair.

“I love you too, Colt. So much,” she said breathlessly between the kisses. She’d never seen Colt being so happy. He lifted her effortlessly and spun her around, peppering her face with gentle kisses. They stayed like that, kissing in the middle of Ellie’s dorm room, for a few minutes before pulling away. Colt rested his forehead against hers as both of them tried to catch their breaths.

“Ellie?” Colt asked, his breathing still heavy.

“Mhmm?”

“Let’s go home.”

#ride or die: a bad boy romance #colt kaneko #colt x mc #colt kaneko x mc #rod colt #rod logan #choices #choices rod #rod #ride or die: bad boy romance #playchoices

[orii-blogs-stuff]

“... Where are we?” Max said.

It was getting dark so Leo, Riya and Max decided to go home. Unfortunately, while going back to the castle they got lost so they and their retainers  were setting up a makeshift camp with barely any supplies.

Max was out getting firewood and currently, he was lost.

“I believe we are close by to the campsite, My Lord.” Edward said holding up the lantern, “It should be just up ahead.”

Instead of the campsite, they had come across a desolate village.

The light from the lantern illuminated parts of the village buildings, Max stared at the way the used-to-be houses had collapsed onto themselves, overrun by moss and small plants such as flowers.

Max took a step to go closer.

“My Lord, please do not.” Edward said. “You could get injured.”

“I’ll be fine.” Max said as he stepped closer to investigate, “What happened here?”  

“I believe the village had been burnt down during the war.” Edward said. “During the war, it was common to burn down villages and farmlands so the rivalling Duchy would not have enough grain to sustain themselves.”

It was the silence that Max found the most unnerving, the way every step he took would break the silence for a fraction of a second, before the entire village… the entire Forest being buried underneath an oppressive silence, the flowers had masked the scent of the rotting wood well enough that Max could ignore the stench if he didn’t think about it too hard.

Max had known that a war had occurred before he got iseakied to Yurgenschmidt, but living the past four months in the castle, where he received plenty of food and a warm bed every night, the war seemed like something… From so long ago… It didn’t feel like something the Duchy was suffering the after-effects from.

Suddenly, Max heard a high-pitched scream. 

“ AHHH~!!! ”

“MY LORD DON’T-”

Max ran in the direction of the scream, it sounded like a child was in a great deal of pain!

When Max got there, it was too dark to see, even with his lantern, he could barely make out the silhouette of a well from which the wails of a child was echoing out, “Hello?! Hello?! I am in need of assistance! Please help me!”

From the way the little boy spoke, it sounded like he was a Noble, “Don’t worry! I’m here to help!” Max started looking for a rope so the child could use it to climb up but he couldn’t find any.

The child stopped crying, “... Really? Sniff sniff! I am grateful! I see that there is a rope attached to the rod above the well, use that to get me out!”

Max was about to do exactly that when Edward tackled him to the ground, “Forgive me for such insolence but I cannot let you do this, My Lord!”

“That child is in danger!” Max yelled as he could hear the boy scream at the top of his lungs, screaming for help.

“That thing is not a child!” Edward said.

Max was so confused, “Of Course that’s a child!”

“If it is then ask how it got itself stuck in the well, My Lord.” Edward said, still pressing him into the ground so he wouldn’t be able to get up to help the child.

Max just growled in frustration, “How did you get stuck in that well?”

“Help me, please!” The child screamed out.

Maybe the child didn’t hear his question. “How did you get stuck in that well?” Max yelled a bit louder.

“Hello?! Hello?! I am in need of assistance! Please help me!” The child said.

… What? “Hello?” Max said, “I just want to know how you got stuck in the well!”

The child stopped crying, “... Really? Sniff sniff! I am grateful! I see that there is a rope attached to the rod above the well, use that to get me out!”

… What was going on?!

“It was a common war tactic.” Edward explained, “A recording of a Noble child’s voice is used, perhaps stuck in a tree or in a well. The knights, being concerned for the child’s safety, would go to rescue the child and a magic tool would kill them if they got too close.”

Edward picked up a stone and threw it at the well, Max watched as an explosion caused the stone to explode into multiple rock fragments.

Then, it became silent again, the crying stopped. And the Village became silent again.

As if there was no one else in the village.

#ascendance of a bookworm #my writing #excerpts

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

Title: Riya's house clothes changed (slightly)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Once again, no #OnThisDay throwback post for this date.

Hello! 😊 Following Riya's 🐰🏎️ late Easter Egg hunt 🐇🥚[CLICK ME!] , she realized that her house dress needs to be changed. Well, not really because, although it looked the same as before, the only minor change was her animal of a Cat to an adorable Bunny. 🥰🐰🤗 Considering, that her DNA was from her father, Bonn Speedster 🐰🚹.

Riya 🐰🏎️: Yes, sir! 😁 And speaking of, I did show my guest bunny to my parents, including Bonn. And he was delighted to see an adorable pink bunny! 😊 Unfortunately, this pink bunny has to go to the woods because it turns out that this pink bunny was the mother of their children 🐇🚺, and this will see the last of her. Awww, good for her, Mama Bunny! 🥰🐰🤗 On the plus side, I could never forget our moment! That's why, I switched from a cat to a bunny image! 🥰 And don't worry though, I do respect cats because we have feline friends in our neighborhood. 🐱😉

Well, that's all for now.

Riya Speedster (Chowder OC) - created by ME!

[leelee10898]

Fast cars & Freedom: ShadowBoxer (4/?)

Summary: Ellie gets blast from the past. Logan amd Ellie have thsor dinner, but will it go well?

Pairing: Logan-x-Ellie, Colt x Ellie

Rating: Mature

Song inspiration:

Ellie paid the driver and got out, her eyes taking in the familiar sights.  It had been a long time but she would always remember this street. She turned around slowly noticing her destination, a sign that read TC Automotive where Kaneko Auto Body used to be. New owners  she thought to herself as she took a deep breath.

********

Ellie sat in the in the booth of the diner somewhere in Eastern California, the events of the past few weeks playing over and over in her head. She had ditched her prom dress grabbing a change of  clothes at Riyas. Colt stopping and buying something quickly. “Were gonna get through this Ellie, don't worry.” He placed a reassuring kiss on her forehead, she rest her head on his shoulder. “How can you know that colt?  These people are unhinged, we could be dead tomorrow. I want to live Colt. I'm not ready to die” she sniffled.

Colt knew this was eating her up, he needed to find some kind of a distraction, anything to make her happy, to take away all the fear and pain. He needed her to be happy, it was as if he survived on it.  He looked around the small diner, a guy sitting at the counter, his shirt reading viva las Vegas. “Have you ever been to Vegas?” she lifted her head “What? With everything going on you're seriously asking me if i've been to Vegas?”

She walked into the shop, not seeing anybody around, nobody manning the desk, nobody anywhere. “Hello?” she yelled as she walked around. She looked at the desk some papers strewn about, some car parts. The place reminded her of Kaneko's garage,  the new owners obviously rebuilt it a bit more modern but appreciated the older feel of a garage. Her eyes landed on a postcard from Vegas. Her mind taking her back to a night that she would remember the rest of her life.

“Ah yeah, I am. So have you?” he smirked, he loved seeing her get railed up, it was cute the way she scrunched her nose up. “NO!”

“ok, it's settled. Were going.” he jumped up reaching for her hand. She grabbed it as they climbed on his bike. “Where are we going colt?” She asked as she put on her helmet.  “Vegas.” he smirked as he shut his helmet kicking his bike to life.

******

“sorry miss. How can i help you.” she turned towards the voice. “Oh just picking up my car.”

A huge smile formed on her face. “Toby?”

“Oh my god. Ellie belly is that you? You're all grown up.” he ran lifting her up into a spinning hug. “oh my  god hold on x is gonna get a kick out of this.” he ran towards the hall “Hey X. X, come here. You're never gonna believe whos here.” ximena came out a huge smile plastered on her face. “oh my god sweetheart, how the hell are ya?” she pulled her into a crushing hug. “Eck. X. Crushing. Me.” she grunted as ximena let her down. “I'm not sorry, it's been too long honey.”

They stood there talking about Ellie moving back. Toby and ximena travelling together, coming back this way once they heard someone opened a shop in the same place, and ended up working there again. Toby went to look for her keys and couldnt find them. “Hold on, I bet the boss has them.” “Hey boss, can you bring the keys to that Honda?” she heard someone shuffling around in a room off the back before emerging. Toby and ximena said they would catch up with her later.

“ C- Colt!” Ellies heart dropped in her stomach as she came face to face with him. After 6 years the sight of him still lit a fire in her. “Here are your keys miss. You should be good to go. Also, you should probably get a new car seat those may not be safe after an accident.” He kept his face fixed on the paper in front of him. Ellie felt the tears start to well up in her eyes. He couldn't even look at her and acted like he didn't know her.  “Th. Thank you.” her voice trembled, immediately irritating her. Why should she be upset, he's the one who left without saying goodbye.

She snatched the keys out of his hand and storming off to the lot to get her dad's car. How dare him, after 6 years he still had the power to make her swoon to pissed in a matter of seconds. She marched out to the lot getting in her dad's car. She let out a long irritated scream,  all of her frustrations boiling over. She turned the key, the car roaring to life. Something in her snapped as she peeled wheels out of the lot. She caught a glance at colt propped against an open bay door.

She couldn't understand how someone she hadn't seen in 6 years could piss her off so bad. She took the long way home, hoping to calm down before getting there. She arrived home, Luca barreling towards the door. “mommmmmy.” All of Ellie's frustrations and fears instantly melting away upon seeing that sweet smiling face. “Hi baby. Oooh I missed my sweet girl. Did you have fun with grampy today?” she lifted her up, wrapping her in a hug.

“Yup. We went to the park. Grampy made a friend. Her name is sally.” ellie eyed her dad. “He did?”

“uh huh, they are going to have dinner on Saturday night.”

“Ooooh kay. That's enough of that little miss loose lips. How about you go watch some tv while grampy helps mommy with dinner.”

Luca jumped up and down with excitement before running into the living room.

“How was your day?” He asked Changing the topic. “Nope. Na ah. Were starting with you. You taking my daughter to pick up chicks?” she eyed her father.

“what? No. I would never, ellie.” she chuckled “Dad im just playing with you. I think it's great you have a date.” she hugged him. She knew he hadn't really dated much since her mom died, and the fact he felt comfortable going on a date now made her so happy.

“Speaking of dated. I have one tomorrow night.” her father looked at her confused.  “With who?”

“Logan.”

She spent the entire work day thinking about her dinner with Logan. Was it a date? Was it business? Whatever it was she felt the butterflies in her stomach, no matter what happened she knew one thing for certain she was telling him tonight.

She raced home getting ready in a hurry, Riya picked Luca up since her father had card night with some of his old police buddies. She wore a white and champagne colored v neck midi dress. She tacked her hair up in a braided updo, she looked in the mirror her nerves getting the best of her when she heard a knock at the door.

Logan stood on the other side, Ellie stood there a minute admiring the man before her. He had sure grown up, still with that toned body but he was bigger than before. He wore a pair of khakis and a button down shirt. “You look beautiful Ellie.” He finally broke the silence. “Ah. Beautiful you too look.” he cocked his brow amused by how flustered he made her. “I mean, you look nice too Logan.”

“These are for you.” He held out a bouquet of wild flowers as She let him inside. “Thank you. These are beautiful. Let me go get a vase.” she came back quickly and they headed out for dinner.

They sat at the table sharing stories of the past, and laughing.  She missed how easy it was with Logan. They were headed somewhere she had thought and then she found out he used her to get information about her father's investigation.  She had already had feelings for Colt, but she would be lying if she said that didn't play a factor in them becoming even stronger.

A silence settled over the table and Ellie took her chance to try and back out of becoming his accountant. “Logan. We need to talk about me being your accountant. I dont think its a good idea.”

“Ellie, we have been over this time and time again. I trust you, besides it's a done deal.” Logan casually sipped his beer.

“You might not feel that way after you hear what I have to tell you.” He arched his brow.

“ok El, what is going on?”

She shook her head “not here, can we go?” He grabbed the check, paid and the valet brought his car around.

They drove to a parking lot, Ellies nerves a wreck. “Ok, whats up Ellie. You know whatever it is,  you can just tell me.”

She took a deep breath, it was now or never. “Logan I am a mom. I. I have a daughter.”

“Oh.” His eyes widened at her confession. “So you have a kid. I don't see what's so bad about that Ellie.” he chuckled.

“That's not the bad part.” she started to fidget in her seat. “Her. Her name is Luca. shes. She's 5.”  Logan sat there Quiet. She could see him doing the calculations in his head. “Logan?” she spoke softly, she couldn't take all the silence.

“Five? You were in college then. Did you meet someone there?” She shook her head no. He swallowed hard, his throat becoming dry. “What.  What are you saying, is. Is she mine?”

The tears started to spill, silently. “Im, not sure if she's yours or Colts.” She hung her head ashamed. “I'm so. So sorry Logan. “ she said through sobs. After 6 years of being alone, raising her daughter alone she finally was one step closer to finding Lucas dad.

“Hey. Hey. Don't cry Ellie.” He wrapped his arms around her tightly.  

“How can you be so calm? I just told you there is a possibility you have a child.”

“I know. I'm not going to lie Ellie, I am kind of freaking out. But what good is it going to do if I flip out?”  he took a deep breath “You did it on your own?”

Ellie told him about finding out in school and trying to get in touch with both him and colt, both numbers disconnected. She had her dad look for them, but turned nothing up. Eventually she just resolved herself to raising Luca alone. Logan apologised, he left town for a little while, he came back once the brotherhood was dismantled completely. It was then he enrolled in night school and took a job with a racing company.  They drove back to her house in silence. Logan leaned over giving her a hug. “It's gonna be ok El, we will figure it out. Can I.” He cut himself off, hesitant to finish.

“Can you what Logan?”

“Do you think I could meet her?” Ellie stared at him shocked “Ah. Well. I think that is ok. But, and don't take this the wrong way but.  I don't want to tell her you may be her dad. Not until we know for sure.” Logan nodded “I'll follow your lead. It's gonna be ok Ellie, no matter what,  i'm here for you.” he wrapped her in a tight hug, placing a soft kiss in her cheek.

She got out of the car, waving as he drove off. She turned to head to her house when she caught sight of someone standing across the street. “Really Ellie, him? Of all people why him?”

“Not that I have to explain anything to you but, it was a business dinner.” She snapped. “what do you want colt?”

“What do I want? It's been 6 years and you show up in town like nothings wrong.” He followed her up the walkway.  

“Oh, so you do know me? Because yesterday you couldn't even look at me.” She seethed, turning to face him.

“Oh I know you alright.” he snorted.  “ how could I ever forget you Mrs. Kneko?”

Tags: Permatag

@kennaxval @hopefulmoonobject @crookedslimecreatorpasta @be-still-my-aching-heart @ao719 @speedyoperarascalparty @riseandshinelittleblossom @cocomaxley @bobasheebaby @ownworldresident @cordoniaqueensworld @indiacater

ROD

@daniv2278 @brightpinkpeppercorn @lovehugsandcandy @going-down-downtown @mercyparkcrew @emichelle @annekebbphotography @powdesiree0816 @walkerismychoice @yesivefallenpreytothechoicestrap @zaira-oh-zaira @sweetest-marbear

@simsvetements @zaffrenotes @professorortegasstudent @akrenich @ifyouseekheart @client-327 @choicelogansbitch

#fast cars and freedom rod au #choices ride or die #ride or die bad boy romance #colt x ellie #colt kaneko #colt x mc #logan x ellie #logan x mc #logan rod

[pixelburied]

Take A Chance On Me (Part 4)

A/N: Unless anything changes, this is the second to the last part of the series. Thank you so much for your support! 💛

Translation Note: Tala means star - which is the nickname Riya calls her here.

Summary: The bet ends but Tala and Colt’s relationship is only just beginning.

“Star?” A faraway voice called out to her.

“Earth to star - Tala, are you listening?” Riya poked Tala’s shoulder, startling her out of her daze.

“Hm? Sorry, I spaced out.”

“I said – what did you get for number four?”

Tala slapped her cheeks a few times to wake herself up before scanning her notes. “Oh. Uh, letter C.”

“Yes! That’s what I got too.” Riya danced in her seat before noticing Tala had slipped back into silence.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

“You haven’t been to the garage in what? Three days?”

“Four. Today’s the fourth.” Tala tapped her pen repeatedly against the library table until another student a couple of rows down shushed her.

Riya rolled her eyes at the kid before turning back to Tala.

“Tomorrow’s the last day of the bet, right?”

Tala scoffed. “He’s probably forgotten already.”

“Well, do you want him to remember?” Riya asked her with a teasing smile.

Tala didn’t know what she wanted. She wanted to wipe the smug grin off Colt’s face, that’s for sure.

That annoying face she hadn’t seen in days which she maybe, kind of, possibly miss- Shit.

Riya raised an eyebrow as Tala cursed to herself. “What’s wrong, Tala?”

“Ri, I think I’m in trouble.”

--

Tala went straight to the garage after the last bell. She brought along the jacket Colt had left with her a few nights ago, in case she needed an excuse to talk to him.

She was going to give it back to him eventually (maybe) so it might as well be today.

“Hey, have you seen Colt?”

“Hello to you too.” Mona greeted her with a smirk.

Tala burned red and stumbled on her words.

“Sorry, I- his jacket, I mean-“

“He’s in Kaneko’s office.” She jumped as Logan stepped up behind her, arms crossed against his chest.

“Oh. Then maybe I should just leave his jacket here-“

They were interrupted by shouts coming from the back room. Everyone held their breaths and froze in place.

“You ungrateful boy! I’ve done everything I can to- to save you from all this. I sent you to the best schools! Just so you can have a better life.”

“That’s the thing, pop. You’ve always decided the path I’ll take. I need to choose what’s right for me. And that means staying here in L.A. – with you.”

“You are still a child, son. You do not know what is right.”

After a few more seconds of heated arguing, Colt stormed out of his father’s office, Kaneko hobbling after him.

Colt snatched his helmet off the table and dashed towards the door, locking eyes with Tala on his way out. His expression softened as he saw her, and Tala’s heart skipped.

She felt her body move on its own and before she even realized it, she was holding Colt back by his arm.

He looked down at her with raised brows.

“I’m coming with you,” She said softly.

She didn’t have a chance to second guess herself as Colt grabbed another helmet from a nearby shelf and took Tala by the hand into the late afternoon sun.

--

Tala had never been on a motorcycle before.

The second the engine roared to life, she clung on to Colt’s torso and she heard him laugh as she did.

“Damn, Tala. You’re stronger than you look.”

“Shut up.”

She wanted to thump him in the shoulder, but the cold breeze swept through her hair and she felt her anger melt away.

Colt sped up as he felt Tala relax. She found herself enjoying the way the world passed them by in a blur, like they existed outside of it and none of their worries could catch up to them.

Tala gasped as they drove up the coast and the setting sun came into view over the horizon.

They stopped at a secluded spot by the beach with a clear view of the sunset.

“How’d you find this place?” Tala couldn’t hide her amazement as she took in the rolling waves and the salty ocean breeze.

Colt helped her out of her helmet, laughing at the mess her head had become.

“You should see your hair.” Tala laughed along with him before remembering that she was still very pissed.

My god, Tala, have some restraint.

“What?” Colt raised an eyebrow at her sudden silence.

“I’m still mad at you.”

Oh boy, here we go.

Tala was well past restraint. She couldn’t stop the words even if she wanted to.

“You act like you care one second and you ice me out the next and I am so tired of trying to figure out what the hell is going on inside your head! If you think, for even one second, that I’m going to play this stupid little game of yours, then screw you!”

Tala let out a ragged breath and braced herself for Colt’s retort. But it didn’t come.

Instead, he offered her his hand and gestured towards the water. She took it despite still fuming and they walked in silence until they found a nice spot and Colt laid down his jacket for her to sit on.

That’s two jackets I already took from him, Tala thought as she wrapped the one she had on around herself.

They watched the sky melt from orange to purple until Colt spoke up.

“You’re right, Tala.”

“What?”

“I said you’re right-“

“Oh, I heard you. I just want you to elaborate.”

“You’re impossible.” He shook his head with a chuckle before turning to face her.

“I’m sorry I’ve been… inconsistent.”

Tala scoffed. “If it’s about Logan, how many times do I have to tell you-“

Colt winced at Logan’s name. “It’s not that.”

Tala raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, well, not just that.”

“Then what is it?”

Colt looked back out to the water and took a deep breath before meeting her gaze.

“Tala, your dad’s a cop.”

Tala had spent the past few nights running through a list of possible reasons for Colt’s guarded behavior, but she had somehow forgotten the most obvious one.

“And your dad, Kaneko – he’s-“

“Yeah.”

The realization hung heavy in the air. Tala could hear the thumping of her heart mix with the roaring of the ocean and the birds crying overhead.

“I’m not gonna sell the crew out, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Maybe not. But I don’t want you to have to make that decision.”

Colt motioned to reach for her hand but when he didn’t, Tala met him halfway.

“Getting bold, Tala?” He smirked.

Tala rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything.

Really, what was there to even say?

Colt absentmindedly rubbed his thumb against her palm as he continued.

“We barely know each other, Tala. And family is important. You should quit while you’re ahead.”

Tala knew he wasn’t just talking about her. This was about protecting his family as much as hers and, in that sense, they were very much alike. But Tala had heard this speech before and one thing Colt must not know about her was that she is not a quitter.

“You don’t get to make that decision for me.”

“Yeah?” There was something hopeful in his voice. “Then what is your decision?”

“This.” Tala summoned all the confidence she had and leaned in to place a kiss on Colt’s lips. She felt her blood rush to her head until it was over all too quickly.

When she pulled away, Colt burst into laughter at her red face.

She punched him lightly in the arm and pouted. “Jerk.”

Colt smiled softly and traced his thumb against her lips.

“Did I do it wrong?” She bit the inside of her cheek.

“No, I-“ Then Colt’s smile shifted to a smirk. “Does this mean I’ve won the bet?”

Tala swatted his hand away and crossed her arms.

“I’m gonna say yes just so you can keep your bike.”

“How kind of you.” Colt laughed again.

He looked lighter than she’d ever seen him.

Sometimes Tala forgot that Colt was barely older than her. He walked around with the weight of his family’s legacy on his shoulders and Tala wondered if he had ever let himself be happy.

“Just name your price, you ass.” But regardless of how she felt about him, Tala still wasn’t about to give him an easy time.

“Ok, then.” He looked at her thoughtfully for a second. “My prize is… this.”

Suddenly, his mouth was on hers – gentle at first, giving her time to pull away. But Tala wasn’t about to pull away – not anymore.

She grabbed him by the shirt to deepen the kiss and Colt responded in kind, pulling her on to him.

The sun had fully set but neither of them noticed. There were no stars in L.A. but Tala swore she could see twinkling lights shining bright against her lids as her lips danced against his.

A thousand things raced in her mind – her father, his father, the crew – but they were all pushed away by thoughts of Colt.

The rest of the world can wait until tomorrow, Tala decided as she let herself get lost in the moment.

Tags:  @alegria1580 @itsbrindleybinch @frugalchoicer @brightpinkpeppercorn @orpheus-make-your-choice @lilmissperfectlyimperfect @allykrane @explorer-of-gems @deimosensblog @cordonianwaltz @pixieferry @emomoustache @kendrasgue @awkwardalbatros @jasieschoices@mistersinclaire @client-327 @aworldoffandoms @rachelsrothh@teenytinymagician @zaffrenotes @fairydustandsarcasm @fluffywhitehair @eileendannie @schizhoephrenic 

#colt kaneko #colt x mc #playchoices #choices rod #long post #long fic #TACOM fic

[atsumiye]

Hello, Riya! May I take a part in your game?

It actually made me get really reflective, and realize I don't have an exactly ultimate & unique happy memory. Hmm, feelings are quite strange for me to translate and I've been recovering from depression, so I don't know why I got so surprised about it!

I think I have a collection of happy feelings, not only one memory, and a handy of them have the participation of my friends from my past school, the one I was from before I had to move out from my country. Our laughing (ah, the moments where we wouls just BURST into laughing about we don't know what while brushing our teeth after lunch...), our random chatting that gave us the funniest outcomes, the ultimate platonic affection that my friend resting her head on my shoulder during a sunny day gave me, the happiness of discovering a friend likes Pokémon games a lot just like me, some of the best hugs anyone could wish and they gave me... I miss them deeply, and frequently wish I could be gratuating with them. It's a happiness that hurts.

Don't know, I just really love my friends and colleagues, they don't have any idea of how much.

Oh, I wrote so much... and I'm so sensitive about it again, ah... I'm sorry!! Ah- 🥺

But, really, I hope you can have better times coming soon in your life. You deserve that. Remember, the happy moments aren't the only ones to have an end, the bad ones also have it too. All the best. <3

BOKUTO KOTARO: you guys met at a convenience store when you were paying at the register and he offered to pay for your items instead

#PLS THIS IS ADORABLE #i know what you mean about having trouble to translate #your feelings after going through depression #but i’m glad to hear you are recovering!! and #i hope that it’s only up from here for you #i’m also sensitive so pls don’t apologize heeh #and thank you for the message:(( #it means the world to me #and everyone’s little memories made me feel better #in the fishnet #><>.anon #fishing games!

[sincerelyella]

Everything Has Changed Chapter 6

Book: The Royal Romance (AU)

Song inspiration: Everything Has Changed by Ed Sheeran & Taylor Swift

Pairings: Liam x MC (Ella)

Characters belong to Pixelberry; MC Ella Brooks belongs to me

Summary: What if Liam was promised as a child to another kingdom’s princess?

Warnings: angst, tw: gun violence

Words: 1265

Four years ago

Liam & Ella’s last summer together

Ella wandered through the palace while Liam was in his classes during the day. It was a boring place when she wasn’t hanging out with him; a moment away from Liam was quiet and somber. She passed by a door that was glass and she was able to see inside - a large piano in the corner, several stands for sheet music either opened or closed, three acoustic guitars, and a cello. Ella smiled and pushed open the door, kicking a door stopper underneath it. She ran her hand across the baby grand and sat on the black bench in front of the keys. The piano was covered in dust and Ella sneezed, making all of it fly up in a big puff. Her fingers splayed over the keys and she began to play.

All I knew

This morning when I woke

Is I know something now

Know something now I didn’t before

And all I’ve seen

Since eighteen hours ago

Is blue eyes and freckles and your smile

In the back of my mind making me feel like

Suddenly, the door to the music room slammed shut so loudly that Ella thought she peed her pants. She turned and saw a smiling Liam.

“You scared the shit out of me! And aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

“I’m sorry,” Liam moved to grab a guitar and sat next to her on the bench. “Classes are done early.”

“Early?” Ella’s eyes narrowed. “You mean you left early.”

Liam shrugged. “Tomato, tomato.”

“You really do this every week?”

“Only when you’re here,” he flashed her that charming smile and Ella could only roll her eyes. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I was listening to you sing. I shut the door to give us privacy.”

Ella arched her brow. “Privacy?”

Liam chose to ignore her question. “I know that song you were singing.”

“Really?”

He nodded.

“I like singing in my spare time,” Ella smiled. “I don’t have any siblings to do this with.”

“I’ll play with you.”

Ella’s eyes widened in surprise. “You know how to play that?”

Liam smiled. “I know how to play everything. Keep going please.”

Ella’s fingers danced over the keys once more.

Cause all I know is we said, “Hello”

And your eyes look like comin’ home

All I know is a simple name

And everything has changed

All I know is you held the door

You’ll be mine and I’ll be yours

All I know since yesterday

Is everything has changed

Liam smiled as he watched Ella play the piano. Leo hated playing any instruments so he didn’t have anyone to jam with while growing up. If he had known Ella loved doing this, he would have asked her to play a long time ago.

He strummed his guitar to life and began to play and sing along with her.

And all my walls

Stood tall painted blue

But I’ll take ‘em down, take 'em down

And open up the door for you

And all I feel

In my stomach is butterflies

The beautiful kind, makin’ up for lost time

Takin’ flight, makin’ me feel like

Ella had stopped singing as soon as Liam started, she smiled as she played and listened. Both of them had feelings for each other for a long while now, but this jam session made them fall in love.

An hour later

The pair walked out and began to stroll down the hallway towards the kitchens.

“That made me hungry,” Ella said as she curled her arm through Liam’s.

“Me too,” Liam stopped at the stairs and turned to face her. “I know this is arranged and everything … you and me. But, I love you.”

Ella’s jaw slacked. “For real?”

“For real,” he gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Since you were like, 12.”

Ella let out a laugh, even though tears ran down her cheeks. “I love you too.”

Liam leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. It was their first kiss, and it was glorious.

**

Present-day

It had been four years since Ella last saw Liam; four years since her family fled from her home country to California. Her father, now in law enforcement and working for the LAPD, still follows the anti-monarchy group that attacked them all those years ago. The group’s leader, Rodrigo, and his second-in-command, Andres, who was Danilo’s head of security, spoke openly about finding the royal family. They claimed that if the heir to the throne was still alive, she still had all her rights to the crown.

Danilo always had a plan should people come after him and his family. He had passports with their new names ready for the three of them as they arrived at the airport; the family snuck through an underground tunnel to avoid security and video cameras inside. Unfortunately, once on the tarmac, Flora saw one security officer approaching them with his glock pointed at Ella. In an act of pure instinct, Flora yelled at her family to run and dove to take the bullet. Ella screamed and attempted to run towards her mother but her father pulled her away towards the plane.

“Anak, we must run!”

“Daddy, she’s dead!” Ella shrieked as she watched security lean over her mother’s lifeless body.

Danilo didn’t respond and just hauled his daughter onto the plane and ordered the pilot to take off. As he sat across from Ella, he felt the tears begin to fall. His wife of 35 years was gone in a split second. All their memories flashed through his mind as he pulled Ella onto his lap. The two of them cried the entire plane ride to America.

Once they arrived in the States, Danilo quickly found a job with help from his cousin. Burying himself in work helped him with the immense grief he felt from losing his wife.

‘Daniel’ and his daughter ‘Ellie’ arrived in California on a Tuesday, and by Thursday afternoon, they had purchased a home in Carson. It was a large two-bedroom house that was newly built and fully furnished. Ella figured they got such a good deal because of her dad. Even though no one knew about their past except for her uncle and aunt that lived down the street, Ella still knew that her dad had planned an escape route since before he got married. She had no idea what his plans were, but she knew that house was part of it.

Four years was a long time, but Ella still thought about Liam every single day. She knew he had probably forgotten about her, but she couldn’t help where her mind took her. She buried herself in school work and going out with her friends. Her father had no idea of course.

“Dad, I’m going to Riya’s,” Ella hollered as she grabbed her bag and ran out of her room.

Danilo quickly ran after her and stopped in front of the door. “Ella, we talked about this.”

“Daddy, we’re in a totally different country, with totally different names,” Ella folded her arms across her chest and pouted.

“Don’t,” Danilo shook his head. “Don’t do the face, Ella, I’m your father and I’m always going to worry about you. Hinahanap pa nila tayo!” 

Ella let out a sigh and dropped her arms. “I know they’re still looking for us. I’ll be careful. I’m always careful.”

Danilo smiled and leaned down to kiss his daughter’s forehead. “That’s all I ask.”

Ella skipped out the door and waited for her dad to lock it behind her.

“Hey, Troublemaker.”

#Everything Has Changed #trr au #trr #trr fandom #trr fanfic #trr fanfiction #Liam Rys #Liam x MC #Liam x Ella #the royal romance #the royal romance fandom #the royal romance fanfic #the royal romance au #the royal romance fanfiction #the royal romance fandom

[lovehugsandcandy]

I Still Been Mobbing on the Low

A/N: I am so worried about the ROD prom on Friday. (For my prom, I went with a friend because my boyfriend at the time had planning on going with someone else and I STAYED WITH HIM WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!) PB, please, can we just have a nice night with kissing and 30 diamond scenes? (No murders? No Brotherhood? Please? Please?) Also, I accidentally deleted the first draft of this and I am so pissed off that I am just posting this. Apologies for any mistakes.

Pairing: Colt x MC

Rating: PG-13 (Swearing?)

Length: 1306 words

Summary: It’s prom but Ellie needs to come clean about how The Brotherhood was able to spoil Colt’s plan.

Tags: @deimosensblog @alegria1580  @choicesarehard @thefarrari @client-327 @moonlit-girl-wonder @going-down-downtown @soniadotalves @jolietmaraud @hazah @flowerpowell

Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is only for fun.

This, this was the best night of Ellie’s life. The fairy lights sparkled around the walls of the hotel ballroom the school had rented and the giant windows overlooked a small pond with a gorgeous fountain, glowing in the moonlight, the scene straight out of a movie. Riya and Darius were huddled in a corner, talking intently; even if they weren't on their way to reconciling, at least they were being civil. And, in her arms, with his hands clutching her waist, holding her so gently, as if she would break and fade away, stood Colt, as close as he could be.

She had almost fallen over in shock when she opened the door and he stood, clad in a fitted suit, on the steps of Riya’s home. Silhouetted in the streetlights, he looked ethereal, inhuman. Was he an angel? A devil? Both, sent to take her to heaven and hell, at the same time? She didn’t care, couldn't care, when she leaped into his arms and kissed him on the doorstep, trying to communicate every word she could not say and every worry she could not share in the back-and-forth of lips and tongue.

He had been the perfect date. She was amazed when he had charmed Riya (though she had always been swayed by a pretty face). She was astounded when he actually, finally, agreed to dance with her, spinning her around the dance floor like she was a princess. But he was no prince; instead, he was the troubled antihero and she was his desperate love and she would follow him until the end of the earth, the end of time, for one more night like this.

It was a perfect, perfect night.

And she was going to ruin it.

She took a deep breath. She could do this. She had to do this.

“Colt?”

“Hmm?” She felt his hands tighten on her waist and took a deep breath, trying to enjoy this last moment through the dread in her stomach.

“I...” Her throat caught. She started again. “I need to tell you something.”

He pulled back to look at her and his face fell. She was sure he could tell, by her face and her voice and the tears starting to form in her eyes, that this was not good. “What’s up?”

She took a deep breath. She could do this. “I know how The Brotherhood knew about the plan.”

“What?” Colt’s eyes widened. He glanced around, quickly, then leaned closer. “How?”

“Jason, I knew him, he was my dad’s partner and I thought he wanted to capture The Brotherhood.” Colt still looked confused. “He kept calling me and texting me. He said he wanted intel on them. I..... I just....”

She could pinpoint the moment he realized, when his eyebrows raised and his mouth dropped and his hands fell from her waist. “What?”

The tears had started running down her cheeks. “I only told him that you guys were planning something at the stadium and-”

“You told them?” He took a step back and Ellie immediately felt colder.

“I didn’t know he was...I’m so so sorry, I only thought....” She trailed off when Colt took another step back, running his hand over his face.

They stood there, staring at each other, and she watched as the the shock fade slowly faded into anger. He looked at her, eyes narrowing, and Ellie wished the floor would swallow her as moments passed, minutes, where Ellie couldn’t find her voice and Colt seethed.

“I trusted you.” He took a step closer, emphasizing each word by pointing a shaking finger in her direction. “I fought for you. If it wasn’t for me, your dad would be dead. Dead.” His eyes flashed and he shook his head. She cringed at the fury in his eyes.

He was right. He had fought with his father, the most important person in his life, to save her dad, the most important person in her life. Her dad might be dead, if it weren’t for him.

Colt hung his head. “Instead, mine is.”

“I’m so-” Ellie’s throat closed up and she couldn’t finish the sentence. She didn’t think it mattered anyways. He wouldn’t even meet her eyes.

“I have to go.” With that, he turned on his heel and took off, darting through the dance floor, past the tables, picking up speed the further he went until he was out the door and gone.

Ellie dropped her head and covered her eyes, tears still seeping out and falling onto her dress, onto the ground, onto the fancy heels she borrowed from Riya. She deserved that.

She took a deep breath, then another, and made up her mind. She didn’t know if she would be welcome but she just couldn’t let him run away again. She took off, sliding across the dance floor in her heels, dodging happy couples swaying the night away, almost falling a few times, until she hit the carpet and was able to run faster. 

She could see the door, so close now. She spun around a table and stopped short as she almost smashed into a figure in a gorgeous blue dress. Of course. Ingrid.

“Hello, Ellie. Leaving so soon?” She looked amazing, as always, silk artfully draping down her body, arching a perfect eyebrow in her direction.

“I’m sorry, I have to go.” Ellie looked around for Ingrid’s entourage but, of course, they were nowhere to be found, right when Ellie could actually use a distraction.

“But where did your date go? Chase him off already? Cuz he was handso-”

Before she could think about it, Ellie reacted, taking two hands and pushing Ingrid into a table. She didn’t even have time to appreciate the “oof” that came from Ingrid’s mouth before she took off, racing through the ballroom and out the front door of the hotel.

She at least let out a halfhearted “Sorry” over her shoulder as she finally cleared the last few feet and was able to run out the door.

“Colt? COLT?!?” She emerged outside and raced down the front steps, losing a shoe like a criminal Cinderella.  She couldn’t see him and continued down the walk, past the tall hedges and antique streetlights, making her way towards the lot, to the limo. She was halfway there when a strong hand intercepted her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her, hard, right into the bushes.

“Owww.” She yanked her hand back, rubbing it gingerly. When she looked up to confront her assailant, her blood ran cold.

“Hello, Ellie.” Jason grinned at her. “How’s prom?”

“You....” Ellie glared at him. “What are you doing here? Looking for another stab wound?”

Jason smile turned menacing. “Ha. Funny. I just wanted to say that it looked like you were having fun in there, dancing with your date. He sure cleans up well.”

Her heart stopped. “Where is he?”

Jason stepped closer, leaning over her. “Do you remember threatening me? Saying you would ruin me?” He paused, staring at her, shadows on his face making him look even more threatening. “You forget that I can take everything from you. Everything.”

He cuffed her chin and brushed by her, his shoulder hitting her just too roughly to be accidental.

He stopped to turn to her and, flashing a grin and a wink, said, “Have a great night.” 

With that, he sauntered up the front walk, whistling, before walking around his cruiser and opening the door. There he paused to look at her and, with a smirk and a mock salute, he hopped into the car and drove away.

Ellie looked around. The shadows seemed more frightening now, when you knew what could hide in them. There was no one around, only the wind, rustling the hem of her dress. She had never felt so alone.

“Colt?”

#colt x mc #colt kaneko #colt rod #playchoices fanfic #choices rod