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#i could not delete my works from ao3 or my ao3 account it would have solved my problems better but i just couldn't (:

blueparadis · 11 months

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hi. just poppin' to say that I'll be back around the 2nd week of July even tho my exams will be done by the first week. i really can't wait to be back and write again. i miss writing, i miss it like crazy ( so crazy that i eventually gave in and started writing a ran fic. it won't leave my mind till I wrote it. anyways....) but I'm a little afraid to post or continue sharing or even write l like i used to before; since ai going at par with it. it's just makes me sad,,,,

#paradistalks #i was looking forward to comms cuz i need to save money to buy a tab for myself #but ai really kills my enthuuuu #idk how long will i be able to continue writing at this rate #im so sad over this #oh btw i locked all my fics in ao3 and you can read it if you are an ao3 user ( sorry but ao3 scrapping really scared me lol )#i could not delete my works from ao3 or my ao3 account it would have solved my problems better but i just couldn't (:#there was this one thing that made me feel okay ( validated )and now it can be done with ai. woah great #also i'm so sorry to put all these in dash #now a days it feels like i'm coming here just to complain #sad.sad.sad. everything is just so sad !!!!#tw vent #tagging just in case

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olderthannetfic · 29 days

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I thought it would be interesting to see if I could easily determine which ships had the most works updated in 2023.

It turned out to be fairly easy, though a little time consuming. I think these results should be reasonably accurate.

Some points to note:

I did this on my own account, and I have like 2 people muted. So I am capturing the effects of archive-locked works, but my numbers might be off by one or two works due to muting.

Works updated in 2023 is a number that constantly changes as works are deleted or updated again in 2024.

I didn't scrape the entire archive or anything like that, so it's possible I missed a ship that would bump one of these down below 100. I'd take the last few at the bottom there with a grain of salt. But I think we can be reasonably sure the top ones are accurate and that the kinds of numbers that we see at the bottom there (eighteen hundred plus works updated in 2023) are about where the cutoff will be even if we find a ship I missed.

As for how I did this, I went to the category tags and the rating tags, filtered for updating in 2023, then excluded ships in the sidebar till I got to 130-150 ships excluded. I also grabbed ships that are big in general from tag search, which you can use to find all relationship canonicals, ordered by frequency.

I combined those lists of ships, cleaned off the works numbers, and generated a list without duplicates. That got me three hundred and something (yes, they were mostly duplicates). I generated the relevant AO3 URLs, opened them in batches with Open Multiple URLs, and copied the works totals into a spreadsheet. Not as tidy as using a script but honestly pretty easy if you know a few spreadsheet formulas to clean up data.

The key here is that if you're only going for pretty good and not accurate beyond a shadow of a doubt, all you need to do is generate a list of likely ships, then check them.

It's possible that there's some much-updated ship that is so evenly spread across these various other tags that it just missed showing up in the sidebar. Hopefully, grabbing more than just the top 100 avoided this problem.

This method also doesn't take into account backdated works. If a whole archive was imported in 2023 but all backdated, there could be some ship that didn't have new works but where AO3 users experience in 2023 was of an influx of content.

I also did this just now, in late March/early April, so some 2023 works have inevitably been deleted or updated again. So the exact work counts don't represent the experience of using AO3 throughout 2023. A fandom active in early 2023 might not have much updating in early 2024, while a fandom active in late 2023 would. This could demote the latter a few places in the rankings since I didn't grab numbers on January 1st.

Even if a person scraped AO3 every day or was monkeying around in the databases, you also have to ask what conceptual answer you're after. Is it works a user could have read at some point during 2023, whether they were deleted by the year's end or not? Is it new-to-AO3 works or only newly-created ones, not including imported archives? Does it matter if the works are fic? If they're in English? What about accidental double-uploads or translations of a single work?

I hope this makes it clear why a definitive ranking is not actually possible.

However, despite these drawbacks, I am confident that the rankings above accurately represent the broad trends on AO3 in 2023. Just don't get too fixated on whether a ship should be at number 73 or number 74.

And, of course, I excluded these from the top 100:

Original Character(s)/Original Character(s) - 20,026

Minor or Background Relationship(s) - 16,187

No Romantic Relationship(s) - 8,052

Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s) - 7,195

Original Male Character/Original Male Character - 6,283

Other Relationship Tags to Be Added - 5,618

Original Female Character(s)/Original Female Character(s) - 3,990

Original Character(s) & Original Character(s) - 3,210

Here's a spreadsheet if you want to see the actual numbers not as a shitty screencap. I left the next few below 100 for context.

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muzansfangs · 5 months

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You always wanted me.

Starring: Rengoku Kyojuro x f!reader; mention to past relationship with Sanemi;

Format: one-shot;

Warnings: nsfw, modern au, vaginal sex, creampie, unprotected sex, language, use of alcohol, drunkness, drunk sex but consensual, breeding kink, semi-public sex, mention to past relationship with Sanemi, cheating thought in past relationship;

Plot: A night in a pub and a failed date led you to drink away your sorrow. Unfortunately, the main reason behind your problems shows up and your tipsy state does not help you to keep your tongue tied. Too many shots of tequila, the man you have always wanted so ardently and a restroom were the ingredients required to make your heart burn that very night.

Author note: it is rare for me to put the author note on top of a one-shot, but in order to prevent possible drama to happen, I needed to clarify a thing: this fic is an old work of mine posted on my old Ao3 account and my old Wattpad profile. While I cannot log anymore into Ao3 for some reason, I can still log into my old Wattpad profile and I will try to gradually delete my old works as I fix and rewrite them! Do not worry and enjoy this little scrap!

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

“Another one!” you slurred, slamming the empty glass on the counter before you. It was your fourth shot. You were not used to drink that much, especially in a public place. The thing was you definitely had a good reason to drink down almost a whole bottle of tequila alone. You had just been stood up by a guy you had asked out to forget about your crush.

Your real crush. Or in other terms, the reason behind the loop of failed dates you had fallen into because he was so unapproachable. You wished you could forget about him, but nothing and no one could ever take his place in your heart. Why did he have to he that kind of guy that literally ruin your rationality and the chance to enjoy the company and the small attentions other men could provide you?

Disheartened, you sighed and propped your elbows on the counter in annoyace, waiting for the barman to fill your glass once again. No matter how hard to tried to ignore him, you always found yourself back at daydreaming about his piercing orange and red eyes.

Why could you not forget about him and his dazzling smile?

Whenever someone else had a chance to pick your interest and finally make you move on, something methodically went wrong. Maybe you had been jinxed.

A small smile curved your lips, when the guy in front of you carefully slided the drink in your direction. As soon as the smile appeared, it dropped, though. Someone hastily grabbed your glass and elegantly brought it to his lips, preventing you from enjoying your feast. How dare him steal your drink in such a dreadful night?

You were about to throw a punch at that rude man, but when your head snapped towards him you gaped in shock. Blinking skeptically, you gawked and your mind went blank for several seconds. That must have been a joke.

“What the Hell?” you babbled out, rolling your eyes in despair. If bad luck had a name, it would have definitely been yours. Those combined phenomena were indeed persuading you to believe some witch had cursed you for real.

“Fancy meeting you here, Y/N! Mind if I join you? You seem pretty upset. What's happened?” Kyojuro casually asked, sitting right next to you.

“You happened! - you asserted, darting your eyes on the barman - Another one, please” you asked, or better pleaded him, folding your arms over your chest.

Now you truly were irritated. Not only he pestered your mind day and night, but he also had the audacity of stealing your drinks and clubbing in your favorite place.

The blonde man chuckled and shook his head at you “Come on, don't hold a grudge. I have actually done it on purpose. I have to confess that I have been watching you for a while now. I don't think you should drink that much, you know?” he said softly, his eyes trailing up to your face. For a second, he seemed genuinely concerned.

Kyojuro Rengoku had always had a crush on you. He would have asked you out, if Sanemi had not messed up his plans by fooling around with you. After your break-up, he had noticed some changes in your behavior. You seemed not to care about anyone anymore. It was like you were running away from feelings and Kyojuro could not stand the rumors of you sleeping around with tons of strangers to possibly fill a void in your heart. It hurt him.

He was meant for loving you, not those bottom-dwellers you occasionally spent your nights with.

“So you're a watcher now! How cute! I don't need a babysitter, I can take care of myself” you blurted out, squinting your eyes and trying your best to act cool.

Unfortunately, your body had had enough. Your vision was getting blurry. You hated to admit it, but you were actually glad he was there to watch over you, even if you wanted to rip his face to shreds.

But just like your body, your mind began to wander in the very places you were trying to keep it awat from.

You glanced at him, your heart sinking into your chest at the sight your eyes had been blessed with. Kyojuro, drink in hand, was moistening his lower lip with his tongue. He seemed to be mulling something over. Maybe, he was just offended by your arrogance, or maybe he had a date and he was regretting having approached you.

Actually, you did not care. Happy, sad, angry or thoughtful it was Kyojuro. It was him, the only one your heart desired.

Oh, the things you wanted him to do with his tongue.

It was not a good time for fantasizing, though. You clenched your jaw, reaching your hand out to grab your glass, but you lost your grip on it and the shot slipped from your hand. The liquor inevitably spilled on Kyojuro's white shirt, making him stand up in shock. You wanted to apologize, your mouth was already opened, but you gawked when you spotted the outline of his toned, chiseled chest underneath the material of his shirt.

“Uhm... I— Kyo, I'm sorry! Let me help you” you stuttered, searching for a tissue in your purse. How stupid of you.

He was soaked, how could a tissue solve his problem or make it better?

You groaned in frustration, frenetically rummaging through your bag when Kyojuro's voice stopped you.

“Wait, it's okay, really! Let's go to the restroom. The dryer might help me” he reasoned, suddenly encircling your waist and pulling you towards him. Was it real? You blushed and tried to distance yourself from him, but the only reaction you got in return, was being held even tighter.

You frowned and shot him an interrogative glance, which was returned by a bright smile “Hey, you know, I can walk without you leading me around like a toddler” you pinpointed, rolling your eyes in feigned contempt. How could you deny you loved the feeling of being in such a close proximity with him?

Kyojuro, on the other hand, sighed and pushed the door of the restroom opened to let you in first “If you were fine, we would have not had a problem now. Why do you always have to be a bitch, anyway?” he asked you, undoing the first buttons of his shirt right away.

Not even firing something back, you froze solid and turned your face to the opposite side of the room, trying to ignore the urge to contemplate the celestial vision dazzling you in the restroom of a pub. You were not capable of saying a word. Your brain was fuming.

'What the fuck, Kyojuro?! Can't you just leave?' you thought, rubbing your temples to ease the pressure a tad bit.

“I’m talking to you. Look at me” he said then. You felt his gaze boring holes on the back of your head, but you knew that facing him meant losing your self-control.

“You know, I am fine staring at the wall. Don't you—…”you tried to talk back, but Kyojuro forcefully spun you around. He was done with you and the childish attitude of your drunk self.

Your hair whipped your cheeks, as you found yourself lost into a pair of orange and red orbs scrutinizing your face. Well, that was your end.

Your lips parted and you gulped nervously at the sight before your eyes. A shirtless Kyojuro was holding both your wrists in his huge hands, your eyes travelling down his toned chest and abs. Could it be even worse? Yes, it actually could.

“I'm still waiting for an answer” he stated, arching a thick eyebrow up.

You cleared your throat and shook your head “I'm not going to give you one” you murmured. Was it really that hard to understand that your behavior was your only defense against your love for him?

After all, you had screwed up your long-lasting relationship for him.

Kyojuro stared at you for a few seconds, then he swiftly pushed your back against the wall. Your hands were easily pinned up above your head, as he towered over you in a iron grip. The message was crystal clear. He did not want you to move.

You were stunned in silence, your breath hitched, as his face was now dangerously close to your mouth.

“What the fuck are you doing?” you breathed out, your voice betraying you. You liked this physical contact way too much to keep on fronting.

The blonde man in front of you cracked a smile “I'm trying to solve the problem once and for all. I know why you and Sanemi broke up. — he started — He told me you screamed my name, as you climaxed around him”.

He knew.

You blushed and gawked at his words. He had just thrown facts at your face. You had been exposed. Was it really necessary denying the truth any longer? No, it was not. What about your sense of shame? It was long gone, after the amount of alcohol you had gulped down. You were not even mad at Sanemi for having blabbed out your little secret. This was just above you.

You glared at Kyojuro, tilting your head to the side to contemplate his face properly. He was handsome as Hell. You wanted him and you wanted him now. You had always wanted him.

“Well then, I guess the comedy is over. I should be thankful to Sanemi for having exposed me like that. I finally can get what I wanted from the very beginning” you said, before hungrily smashing your lips against his ones.

It took a moment for him to realize what you were doing, and maybe you were pretty shocked too by your boldness, but once your taste indulged on his tongue he gained courage and kissed you back.

Your tongues danced together, soft moans left your mouth, when Kyojuro inevitably began to lead the way.

You felt like you were on a burning ship, without any lifeboat you could jump in to escape your fate. Still, you did not fight for your life. You were happily embracing your destiny. You had chosen it yourself. You had broken the curse affecting you for years.

When his lips left yours, your breath was uneven but your eyes sparkled with a savage lust he could not ignore and it was enough for him to unbuckle his belt and slip his calloused hand underneath your dress.

Words were superfluous, you both needed your release. Your hunger was fuel to his burning desire. Kyojuro was usually the calm and collected guy everybody got along with. Getting to see what laid underneath that cheerful and respectful façade was sending you straight to cloud nine.

The moment his fingers made their way beneath your panties and reached your slit, he sighed and began to stroke your bundle of nerves in circluar motions “We won't need much foreplay. You are so damn wet” he whispered, drawing invisible circles on your clitoris.

You were breathless. Whimpers and whines erupted from your throat as you bucked your hips against his hand. You were such a mess he envied Sanemi for having got you before he did.

“Please, please, Kyojuro, I need you... Don't waste time” you breathed out, grinding your hips against his hand.

Hearing those words falling from your lips, the blonde man shoved two fingers into your core and slowly pumped them in and out of your entrance. You loved how dominant he was, you loved the way he seemed to ignore you and your needs. Everything he did was magic.

“Gosh, you're such an impatient brat” he joked, watching your mouth resembling the shape of an o. Sinful moans erupted from your throat and you digged your nails onto his shoulders not to collapse onto the floor. You were close and he knew it. He could feel it by the way your walls squeezed his fingers, almost sucking them in. Therefore, he hastily pulled them out of you, much to your dismay.

You whined for the sudden emptiness you were experiencing and your eyes locked with his one in a pleading glance. Kyojuro unzipped his pants and pulled them down enough to allow his member to spring out of his boxers.

You blushed, as his hand found its way to your dripping core again. He easily pushed your panties aside and hooked your right leg up on his hip for a better access.

You could feel his hot breath fanning your lips and his bulge pressing against your entrance, collecting your juices as a lube.

“Are you okay? Can I go ahead?” he asked, kissing you gently then.

You nodded and cupped his cheek in your hand, pressing your forehead against his one “Drunk or not, I love you” you whispered, confessing your feelings after years of fears and tears.

Kyojuro held you close to him and finally entered you, earning a loud moan of pleasure from you. He waited for you to adjust to his size, a strained moan rumbling from deep in his chest as he pushed himself into you slowly, inch after inch. Gasping and moaning softly, you felt your walls adapting to him and once he was buried deep into you, Kyojuro gently pulled out a bit. He started pounding into you slowly but passionately, filling you in places no one had ever reached before.

You screamed his name, not worrying about being in a public place and Kyojuro muffled your moans with his tongue anyway.

“Tell me how badly you wished it was me and not him back in time. Tell me. Tell me how many times you wanted to fuck me on your shared bed” he stated, slamming into you a little faster now.

You moaned his name, your legs shaking as you lolled your head back in ecstasy “Countless times” you said, as he gripped your face by your jaw, forcing you to look at him.

“I'm not pulling out, you know that?” he rasped, hitting the perfect spot inside you as your eyes locked.

It was the perfect ending, something long overdue. You kissed him enjoying every minute of it until the very end. You came with a loud moan, he following right after you. You felt his seed filling you up to you cervix, as he peppered your face in small, affectionate kisses. He was perfect, this was perfect.

“You're coming home with me tonight” he breathed out, caressing your cheekbones before pulling out of you.

You were finally his.

AUHTHOR NOTE.

Hello there! Welcome to ‘AUTHOR NOTE PART TWO’, lmao. I intended to post this yesterday but I really fell asleep after dinner on the couch. I only woke up when my boyfriend came back home and his dog began to run and bark to tell me he was opening the door. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one! I love Kyo with a passion and I wanted to show him some love too!

As per usual, likes, comments and reposts are greatly appreacited!

TAGS: @doumadono @electronicwitchcollection @mrskokushibo

#rengoku kyojuro x reader #kyojuro x you #kyojuro x reader #rengoku smut #rengoku x reader #rengoku x y/n #kyojuro x y/n #kyojuro rengoku x reader #rengoku kyojuro #demon slayer smut #demon slayer fanfic #demon slayer x reader

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ltleflrt · 1 year

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This whole backlash against printing fics irks the fuck out of me, and I got some shit to say about it. Mostly "Fuck You" but here's some nuance:

On the surface, I understand where the naysayers are coming from. It's a legitimate fear that making a profit from fanworks will bring down the C&D Hammer on fandom. I get that. Do not put on the One Ring, or you'll risk the Eye of Sauron.

But here's the thing. Fuck capitalism. Fuck digital only. We're living in the digital dark ages, and 100 years from now huge swathes of our history, fact and fiction, will be lost to our descendants because there will be no physical copies of our lives for them to find in old libraries and boxes in the attic, etc.

Creators deserve physical copies of their creations, and so do the other people in the world who love them.

I don't want to profit from letting people print my fics. That's why I use Lulu, since they have an option to set zero profit and make the links hidden so only fans in the know can get a copy. Other printing sites I've looked at in the past don't have those options. In fact, the first time I ever even thought about printing one of my stories was when I won NaNo for the first time and one of the prizes was a coupon for 3 free printings of your story. HELL YEAH, that's a copy for me, a copy for my beta, and a copy for the artist who made the cover for me. Perfect! But I ended up not using that coupon, because the site required I set a profit margin, and did not have an option to make it private. Ummm, no thanks. Not worth the risk. And even though the profit margin could be set as low as ten cents, I did not want to make ANY money from my fic, because I know that would be breaking Fair Use rules. I found Lulu instead, and decided to let other people get copies too, because I'm nice. And if I don't, it's not like I can stop them from doing it themselves, no matter how much I'd rather they not do that.

But that's not good enough for the Reporting Trolls. Their argument is that it's not possible for it to be completely profit free, since Lulu makes a profit on the printing costs and the shipping carriers make a profit off the shipping costs. Someone is making a profit, and that's unacceptable, even if that someone is not Me, The Person Who Made The Printing and Shipping Worth Paying For.

I would like anyone who thinks that to delete your accounts where you read fanfiction. AO3, Wattpad, FFNet, LJ, Dreamwidth, hell even Tumblr for the short ficlet stuff that only gets posted here. Because even if the website it self isn't profiting, (AO3 for example), the companies that sold them their server hardware made a profit. Since utilities are privatized, the electric company that runs those servers are making a profit. IF YOU PRINT IT ON YOUR PRINTER AND PUT IT IN A 3 RING BINDER, the paper, printer, and ink manufacturers made a profit from your dinky little print out. The companies that build all the parts for your computer or your smartphone made a profit on your portal to the internet, who profits from your monthly subscription, just like your electric company profits from the power it takes to run your pc or charge your phone battery. IT'S A SLIPPERY FUCKING SLOPE, AND YOU NEED TO LEARN WHEN TO BACK AWAY FROM THE LEDGE.

We live in a Capitalist Hellscape, and if a company could figure out how to charge you to breathe and for every single beat of your heart, they'd fucking do it. So get off your goddamn high horses with this "wELL SoMEonE iS makINg PrOFit" bullshit. Or if you truly believe that, shut off every account you own, turn off your utilities, and go live in the woods and make up your own goddamn stories, which you can only share orally to the local wildlife. They give kudos by biting you and giving you rabies.

(not to mention; these assholes don't go after fanartists who are ABSOLUTELY making a profit off their work. but noooo, Flirty can't format a fic for print and allow other people to pay for the printing service and shipping, while never seeing a penny of that herself, despite all of the GODDAMN WORK I HAVE PUT INTO IT, WRITING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE INCLUDED FUCK YOU VERY MUCH. fuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufuckyoufucky--)

#ltleramblings #printed fic

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ofmermaidstories · 1 year

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there’s something so bittersweet and lovely about fanfic, at it’s core. it’s so impermeable, because it’s so individual. fics don’t get finished. fics get lost because they were typed out and sent to friends, in the 70s, and somewhere along the way someone packed it up in a cardboard box and their kids shuffled it to the attic. websites go down. archives get built, but then people lose faith in the story or the canon or the creator and delete them. you read it at like, 3am, and can’t remember the title months later when you look for it again.

the tiktok these comments are from was lamenting about the loss of a favourite fic—it (the tiktok) had 85k+ likes, and over 700 comments, mostly similar to these. people talking about downloading fics to read on a tablet only for them to disappear the next day. using the wayback machine and combing through results, just to find something they loved. i think it’s sweet because it’s so human—how easily we love something, and how easily we lose it. i used to print out my favourite fics, as a kid—i still have a binder of them, buried under yearbooks and the old journals i kept during those topsy turvy preteen years. i could tell you the overarching plot to a Cardcaptor Sakura fantasy AU i read (and loved; it became my personality for months afterwards) but i can’t remember how it ended, or if it even did. i finally broke down and signed up for an account on AO3 specifically to bookmark an old, old fic that i had read somewhere else, years and years and years ago and found again on AO3 only because i accidentally stumbled on the author here on tumblr (i had only found the fic in the first place all those years ago because of a playlist). i used the same shade of lipstick for years purely because a fic i really liked had the main character apply it (it was a limited edition one at the time; i bought my first one from a ebay seller in the UK at double the retail price, lmao) while the love interest watched them, but i can’t remember the name of it, only how it made me feel (and how, for years afterwards, i would wear that shade whenever i felt like the day had something promising to it).

one of the first anon’s i ever got, in the early days of this tumblr, was someone who asked me if it was okay if they downloaded surrender—and of course it was. of course it is. there was a point, during the final stretch when i was trying to write the last chapter, that i almost lost the entirety of what i had written for that fic—and i mean, it was on AO3 by that stage so it would’ve only set me back a chapter or so, but it goes to show how fragile things can be. how sometimes fics only last in tiny ways—because of the unfinished PDF file someone downloads. The patchy memory of someone’s who’s jumbling it and three other fics together. Because someone wore the same shade of lipstick you mentioned, off-hand, for years afterwards.

(this is a love letter to the silent readers; the silent savers. the lurkers. fandom and the internet at large is made of lurkers (eighty-five thousand likes. seven hundred comments). people who saved fics and waybacked them and will reread them, even uncompleted. telling each other we did a good job, that we liked this or we liked that is wonderful, and fun, and a great (and important) way to build a community and has also given me my current friends—but sometimes something you make will matter and live on in a way you will never, ever know. and it’s just how it is. it’s part of the fun and it’s part of the charm. it’s just how we work as people.)

#floating rubbish island: mermaid spam #shall i do a part two for the opposite end of the spectrum? the readers who tell you as they’re rereading?#the ones that come back to point out details that have stuck with them?#sometimes i worry i don’t give enough to those of us in the community who do that #today i got a comment on surrender and it made my whole day—which otherwise would’ve been spent being miserable trying to sweat out my fever #people are so sweet and i feel so empty-handed for them sometimes #because time is so valuable—people don’t *have* to comment #people don’t *have* to note the tiny details #i share these fics because i *want* to—that is a choice i make knowing that maybe people won’t like it or respond to it #no one asks me to spend the time i do on these fics and so no one owes me for it #which makes the time someone *does* spend commenting or tagging or saying hello even more precious

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brcnze · 2 months

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unexpected, yet so welcome.

a/n: the next works i’ll be uploading were on ao3 but i accidentally deleted my account….so here i am again!🫣

word count: 19.8k

unexpected, yet so welcome.

the day of her best friends wedding was supposed to be one of the happiest days of her life. lucy had known lucy staniforth since they were kids and they had both spoken about this day since forever. both girls had promised the other that they would be one another’s bridesmaids and share their happiest moment together. however, what lucy didn’t expect was to be feeling so low on her longest friends’ big day.

it had been only two months since lucy bronze’s world had come crashing down. two months since her seven year relationship had come crashing down to be precise. it came out of nowhere really, keira had signed for barcelona shortly after her and nothing had been the same between the pair since. they argued constantly, showed no affection towards one another and were overall happier apart.

keira had been the one to end it. put the final nail in the coffin as such. lucy had known it was coming and had cried all the tears she had in her before keira had even said the words.

she was feeling somewhat better now. keira had moved on, fast, she thought but overall she was happy for her. they had ended on relatively good terms, they weren’t friends as such but still got along just fine when they had to. but right now, sitting in this church and watching two people declare their undying love for one another was not leaving her feeling too great.

she was thirty one years old, single and alone and being at a wedding right now was not exactly ideal. she felt better after the vows were over, all the lovey dovey part was finished and now she could focus on getting absolutely wasted in order to forget about what her life had become.

she was sitting in a booth, alone again when she heard a familiar voice and felt a presence in the form of jordan nobbs slot in beside her “alright luce?” the smaller girl asked.

lucy responded with a nod, glad to see her other best friend and fellow bridesmaid to whom she greeted with a smile.

“this must be hard for you. i know you miss keira…”

the defender jumped in at that, sick of people pitying her “it’s really not that. i loved her, i’ll always have love for her but it’s over and i’ve accepted that.”

the smaller girl furrowed her brows and couldn’t hide the confusion on her expression so stayed quiet so her friend could elaborate further.

“i think the whole break up thing has just made me question myself. i mean, im thirty one years old and im single and here i am at my best friends wedding by myself” she looked around at all the couples on the dance floor, arms wrapped lovingly around one another. “i guess it’s just made me think there might be something wrong with me. i know i’ve always been very career minded, and so with keira it was easy. we made our relationship work around football because we were both the same. i just worry now that i’ll never find anyone because they won’t be able to understand the demands of being a footballer.”

jordan’s face softened, not used to seeing one of her longest friends this vulnerable. she placed her hand on her friends knee, offering support “you don’t need to rush into anything lucy. i know it may seem that way because keira’s already with laura, but take your time. there’s not a time frame on these things. you will find someone, and when you know you know.”

lucy looked jordan dead in the eye, a huff of a laugh leaving her lips at the unusual seriousness between the pair.

“what you laughing at?” jordan questioned, confused.

the defender shook her head, a smirk still visible “just not used to the deep and meaningful advice from you jord, that’s all” to which the younger girl gave her a playful nudge.

“fine then, i’ll let you carry on being a sad sap. now come on and let’s have a dance” the smaller woman laughed, pulling lucy up and over to the dance floor.

lucy spent a good hour or so enjoying the music and dancing with her friends, her earlier turmoil dissipated. she found herself at the bar, having offered to buy a few of the guests a round of drinks when she saw someone slip in next to her.

“im glad you’ve cheered up” the voice, with a spanish accent stated.

lucy looked beside her, her eyebrows furrowing “im sorry?”

“i’d just noticed all day that you didn’t look very happy. i know how close you and lucy are so i knew it must be something pretty bad to have you looking so lost on your best friends wedding day.” the younger girl explained, flipping her hair over to one side.

lucy narrowed her eyes, taken a back a little by the girls observations of her and the spainard clearly noticed this, taking it upon her to introduce herself “oh gosh, sorry. you must think i’m completely insane. i’m ona. i used to play with lucy at united.”

“oh, i know who you are” lucy responded, somewhat bluntly.

“you do?” ona asked, nothing short of surprised that the right back she had always admired knew of her.

“course i do. ona batlle, right back. spains number two” lucy began listing “i just didn’t expect you to have been keeping an eye on me all night” she finished with a smirk.

ona blushed, suddenly turning a shade of pink and stuttered over her words “i- i mean i wasn’t…”

“you don��t have to explain yourself. it’s nice to finally meet you properly and not be playing against you” lucy said, putting the girls mind at ease but still revelling in her flustered state.

ona met her with a smile “it’s nice to meet you too. lucy’s told me a lot about you.”

before lucy could respond, the bar lady came back over to take her order and as she listed the drinks the group had given her to purchase, she nodded towards the spaniard next to her “and for you? can i get you a drink?”

“just a martini, please. as long as you’re sure?”

lucy nodded, placing the order and grabbed the tray of drinks “im just gunna go and give these to the guys over there and then i’ll be back. unless you want me to go of course.”

“i wouldn’t mind your company” ona smirked to which lucy returned and quickly went to drop off the drinks.

lucy really didn’t know all that much about ona. she’d heard lucy mention her a handful of times and, of course she’d played against her, but other than that she knew little to nothing. something about the younger girl intrigued her tonight though, she hadn’t expected her to come up and start a conversation but she now found herself handing out these drinks faster than ever in order to get right back to her.

“that was fast” the smaller brunette asserted when lucy arrived back at the bar.

“clearly i missed talking to you” lucy shot right back, managing to pull that same blush out of ona that she had earlier.

ona couldn’t contain her shy smile as the two walked over to a booth and sat beside one another. they somehow ended up chatting back and forth, uninterrupted for hours, with them both partaking in a lot of low-key flirting.

“so, you’re playing for barcelona now, right? how’s your spanish coming along?” ona asked, well into their conversation.

“muy buena gracias” the defender replied, clearly proud of herself.

ona met her with a smirk “well, id say im impressed but you’ve been there a while now and i think i’d expect something a little more advanced.”

lucy pondered for a moment, mirroring the smirk “okay then, how about this… te ves hermosa esta noche.”

the younger girls eyes widened all of a sudden, taken aback by the other woman’s boldness, but a huge smile tugging on her lips “do you even know what you just said?”

lucy nodded “i said you look beautiful tonight.”

two weeks had passed since the wedding, and both lucy and ona had exchanged numbers and had been talking ever since. they had just clicked, which was surprising to them both due to the only thing them having in common was football and mutual friends.

lucy was back in barcelona and ona was in manchester, the pair sending each other messages morning, night and even in breaks at training.

it wasn’t like lucy to be on her phone at all during training times, she usually stuck to the rule book like glue. her phone was typically locked away in a locker, removing all temptation and maintaining her full focus on football. however, with messages from a certain manchester united player coming in every second, she kept it firmly by her side.

“oh, lucia, who has got you smiling at your phone like that?” a voice with a broken english accent asked her during lunch.

lucy looked up to see alexia looking at her with a smirk, eyebrows raised.

“no one in particular” the defender shrugged off, her eyes returning to her lit up phone screen where she had just received yet another text message.

“doesn’t have anything to do with a certain one of my international team mates then? possibly going by the name of ona?”

lucy’s head snapped up, her eyes widening and looked at the midfielder in bewilderment.

“us spanish girls talk, you know lucia” alexia grinned, evidently very proud of herself.

the defender was suddenly very intrigued, what had they been discussing? what had ona said about her? she was also very silently excited about the fact that ona had mentioned her to her friends “what did she say?”

alexia chuckled “now, that would be telling.”

lucy rolled her eyes, the hint of a smirk on her lips.

“anyway, before you were too invested in your phone, i was going to ask if you wanted to come to a party im hosting for my girlfriend? i’ve invited most of the girls and a certain someone will also be there.”

“we’re just friends, you know, we met at lucy’s wedding and have just texted a few times since, that’s all” the defender tried to assure the blonde.

alexia couldn’t stop the grin from forming on her lips “mmhm, i never said anything about being more than friends.”

lucy suddenly felt her face turning a deep shade of pink, wanting to change the subject as soon as possible “i’d love to come, thanks for the invite.”

lucy wasn’t quite sure what it was about ona that had her feeling this type of way. she thought she was beautiful, anyone would have to be blind to think otherwise. however, they’d only met once, and yet she still found herself thinking about her all the time, wondering what she was doing, constantly waiting for the next text to come through. it was weird to feel this strangely giddy again at her big age, but she loved it.

the pair continued their constant messaging, with even a few added phone calls, right up until the party. they both had been very focused on their own training, but still managed to make time for their daily chats.

lucy was getting ready with mariona. someone whom she had grown very close to since she joined barça. someone who also was a good friend of onas.

“ahh lucia, you look guapa” mariona smiled at her, as she returned from the bathroom.

lucy was wearing black slacks, with a white tshirt and a beige blazer over the top. one thing she took huge pride in was fashion, and so compliments on her outfits always left her feeling good.

she smiled towards her friend “thanks, and you look great also.”

a message pinged through on her phone and the defender reached for it, not being able to prevent the small smile that tugged on her lips when she saw who it was from.

‘just landed, and very much looking forward to seeing you soon. now, i just hope that your spanish has improved ;) - ona x’

the look on lucy’s face didn’t go a miss by mariona and she couldn’t help but tease the older woman “im guessing you’re very excited for tonight then?”

lucy nodded “yeah, definitely. it’ll be nice to spend time with everyone outside of a football setting and properly meet alexia’s girlfriend.”

“mmhm” the spaniard responded, taking a sip from her drink and not being able to mask the smirk that was staring lucy straight in the face.

“what are you looking at me like that for?” lucy asked confused, completely unaware of the other woman’s knowledge of her friendship with ona.

mariona laughed, handing lucy another drink “oh nothing chica, here have this and then we’ll get going shortly.”

the two women finished off their drinks before hopping into the taxi that took them to the party. it was at alexia’s house, which was already insanely beautiful but somehow even more so with all of the added decorations that had been carefully placed. lucy looked around in awe as she stepped inside, admiring the way the whole place looked.

she made her way over to the makeshift bar that alexia had set up, carefully choosing what she wanted out of the endless options.

“well, it seems that we always end up meeting at bars” a voice, that lucy instantly recognised said.

the defender turned to her side, a wide smile growing on her face when her eyes met onas. the smaller woman looked amazing, her hair flowing past her shoulders and her cream trousers and black top hugging her body in all the right places.

“guess it’s just a blessing that we have so many mutual friends” lucy responded, her smile never faltering. ona returned the smile and pulled the older woman into a hug, her petite frame fitting into lucy’s perfectly.

lucy’s arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders, breathing in her scent “im really happy to see you again.”

the hug lasted a long while, with neither woman really wanting to let go, but as they clocked on to a few suspicious pairs of eyes on them they pulled away and lucy went back to making the drinks “martini, again?”

ona nodded “you remembered?”

the defender handed her the drink, her hand lingering on top of the smaller woman’s for just a moment “you’ve been pretty unforgettable since we met.”

a blush crept along onas face as she grabbed tightly onto lucy’s free hand and pulled her over to a group of their friends. the pair spent the evening chatting to everyone, never once leaving one another’s side. luckily, everyone else was too drunk themselves to make jokes about the twos sudden close friendship, a factor that lucy was grateful for.

ona too, was also very drunk which was unusual as the girl was typically good at managing her alcohol intake. the two were currently sat on one of the many sofas in the house, chatting with alexia, olga, mapi and ingrid. the pair were pressed very close together, with ona slumped against lucy’s side and lucy’s arm wrapped lazily across her shoulders.

“you alright, guapa?” alexia asked ona, looking into the girls eyes and noticing how glassy they looked.

the younger girl nodded, her head lolling to the side and laying on lucy’s shoulder “yep, totally fine.”

as the others resumed their conversation, lucy looked to her side, noticing the change in the younger girls voice “are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, rubbing her shoulder.

ona didn’t respond, and instead her face turned a worrying pale colour which didn’t go unnoticed by lucy, who quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her into the bathroom. as predicted by lucy, ona began throwing up into the toilet as lucy held her hair back and rubbed her back, mumbling comforting words to her.

when the sickness had finally subsided, ona slumped her back against the toilet and put her head in her hands “im so sorry, you must think i’m a total mess.”

“hey, don’t be silly. it happens to us all. are you feeling better now?” lucy asked as she sat beside her on the bathroom floor.

ona nodded, unable to look lucy in the eyes “im just really embarrassed.”

lucy shook her head, a faint smile on her lips “listen, you don’t need to be embarrassed it’s completely fine. as long as you’re feeling better now, that’s all i care about.”

ona smiled up at her and rested her head back on her strong shoulder, just like she had done back on the sofa. she let out a content sigh and felt her heart swell as lucy grasped her hand and began stroking it with her thumb.

“i was thinking…” lucy began, breaking the comfortable silence.

“that sounds dangerous” ona butted in with a laugh, causing lucy to nudge her in the side before carrying on.

“do you want to, i don’t know…maybe, go out sometime? before you go back to manchester.”

ona snapped her head off of her shoulder and looked her dead in the eye “you mean, like a date?”

lucy nodded, the shyness evident on her features “if you want it to be. don’t feel pressured to say yes or anything, i know this is probably really random and you might think i’m completely insane, but i just…”

the smaller girl launched herself into lucy’s lap and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, the widest grin tugging on her lips “i would love nothing more.”

lucy grinned into her shoulder, her arms wrapping around her waist and breathing in onas perfume. the pair remained in that same position before lucy let out a small chuckle.

ona pulled away to look her in the eyes, mirroring the grin “what’s so funny?”

“i just can’t believe i asked you on a date sitting on a bathroom floor.”

lucy was nervous, to say the least. only three days had passed since the party at alexia’s and tonight was the night she was taking ona on the promised date. she wanted it to be special, but she’d just gotten out of a seven year relationship so dating wasn’t something she was used to doing.

she had spent her time over the last few days, desperately searching up the nicest restaurants in barcelona, and when she finally found what she considered the perfect one she didn’t hesitate to book a reservation.

she had messaged ona, who was staying at mapi and ingrids apartment, only a few details as she wanted to keep a majority of her plan a surprise and was now only left with two hours to get ready and meet the younger woman in the designated spot.

the defender found herself digging through her entire wardrobe, internally cringing at how badly she wanted to look good for this date. however, as her desperate searching continued she was interrupted by her phone ringing.

she groaned at the inconvenient interruption, but accepted the facetime call when she saw it was from cupid herself, lucy staniforth.

“im not gunna lie, this isn’t the best time.”

the midfielder widened her eyes in feigned offence “hi lucy, yeah im good thanks. so nice of you to ask.”

lucy sighed, not appreciating the sarcasm dripping from her tone “im sorry, im just a bit stressed. i’ve ummm, got a date tonight and i’m trying to decide what to wear.”

the defenders best friends grin couldn’t be contained after hearing those words and so she couldn’t help but almost scream through the phone “a date?! why am i only hearing of this now? who is she? what’s her name? how did you meet?”

“woah, woah. slow down” lucy smirked, interrupting the girl on the screen.

“just answer my questions!”

lucy took a breath, feeling slightly nervous to explain who it was that she was taking on a date. she knew that lucy wouldn’t mind at all, but it felt a little awkward for her to tell her that it was her ex team mate and one of her very close friends “well, you know her very well. we actually met because of you and she’s spanish.”

the aston villa player narrowed her eyes, trying to piece together the details lucy had given her and as she realised her mouth fell agape and a huge grin plastered itself across her face “not ona?!”

lucy could feel her whole face turn a bright shade of pink and couldn’t hide the small smile tugging on her lips.

“oh my god! i can’t believe that, that’s amazing. i knew you’d hit it off at the wedding, i could instantly tell” the woman practically screamed, overly excited at this information “woah…onas gunna be absolutely over the moon”

the defender narrowed her eyes, confused on the last part “what’d you mean?”

“oh luce, she’s always had the hots for you. i always thought it was so sweet when she’d go all red whenever someone spoke about you, and when she found out we were close she asked me about you all the time and said how great she thought you were.”

“really?” lucy questioned, her smile widening, but quickly fading as she noticed the time “shit. luce, im gunna have to go. i’ll message you later, yeah?”

“have a brilliant time. i expect you to tell me everything though bronze. oh and you’re welcome by the way, for being the matchmaker in this situation” the midfielder winked, before her face disappeared as the facetime ended.

lucy shook her head, smiling to herself and continued her hunt for the perfect outfit.

she was eventually ready, eyeing her chosen clothing up and down a multitude of times before finally biting the bullet and walking out her front door. she made her way towards her regular coffee shop which is where the pair had agreed to meet and waited for ona to arrive.

the defender could barely stand still, picking at her nails in attempts to distract herself and when she finally looked up she saw the girl in question standing no more than two feet in front of her.

“hi” the smaller girl said in a small voice, smiling up at lucy as she approached.

lucy mirrored the smile, her jaw slightly dropping from its hinges as she took in how beautiful the woman in front of her looked “you look incredible.”

she pulled ona in for a hug, and the pair began the short walk to the restaurant lucy had chosen, chatting non stop along the way. it was a very classy, and very expensive restaurant located right on the beach, above the ocean.

as the waiter lead them to their seats in an area that lucy had reserved just for the two of them, placing a bottle of champagne down on the table, ona looked around in disbelief “i don’t even have any words. this is just, so amazing.”

“you like it?” lucy asked, needing all the reassurance in the world.

“it’s like something you see in the movies, it’s perfect” the spaniard smiled, not being able to take her eyes off of the setting around them.

lucy released a breath she hadn’t even realised she’d been holding, and poured them both a glass of the bubbly liquid.

“you know, if someone told me i’d be here right now a few months ago i would’ve laughed in their face” ona revealed.

lucy smirked taking this as an opportunity to tease the younger woman “oh yeah? funny that actually, because a friend of mine earlier, lucy to be exact, was saying how apparently you’ve always fancied me?”

onas face turned the deepest shade of red, her eyes looking anywhere but into lucy’s as she stuttered “i-ummm, have no idea what she’s talking about.”

the defender chuckled, loving the blush she could pull out of the woman across from her and leant across the table to take her hand into her own, stroking it with her thumb “i think it’s cute.”

the pair ate their food and drank endless glasses of champagne, all the while enjoying each others company. when they left the restaurant, neither wanted to leave yet and so they both decided on taking a stroll along the beach.

“i’ve had the most amazing time tonight lucy, thank you” ona said turning to look at the older woman beside her.

“you don’t have to thank me, it’s been my absolute pleasure” lucy replied as their hands brushed against one another.

ona took the opportunity to grasp lucy’s hand and intertwine their fingers, pulling lucy over to a spot rid of people. they sat down next to one another on the sand, onas head resting on lucy’s shoulder.

“lucy might’ve been telling the truth a little bit with what she said, actually” the spaniard mumbled.

“is that right?” lucy smirked, remembering how she had teased the girl beside her earlier.

she felt ona nod into her shoulder, and so she took the chance to turn to face her, lifting her chin to look into her eyes “well, for what it’s worth, i might fancy you a little bit too.”

the younger girls smile widened, her eyes sparkling as she looked into lucy’s “seriously? you’re not just saying that?”

“you don’t really think i just take random girls on dates do you?” lucy smirked “if i didn’t like you like that, i wouldn’t be here like this right now.”

“i just didn’t want to get my hopes up i suppose” ona explained, as lucy placed her hand on her knee and began to trace patterns.

the pair just sat staring at each other for a moment, taking in how the spanish moonlight illuminated both of their faces. ona began to chuckle, overwhelmed by lucy’s intense gaze and nudged her in the arm “what are you looking at me like that for, lucia?”

“just trying to resist from kissing you right now” she replied in a whisper.

the smaller girl felt literal butterflies erupting in her stomach at that, her eyes widening and swallowing deeply. lucy staniforth had been right in what she had told lucy earlier, she really had always thought lucy was so unbelievably attractive and so she couldn’t believe she was here with her like this, right now.

“why would you need to resist?”

lucy smiled, all the confirmation she needed to do what she had wanted to do all night right there. she placed her hand on onas cheek, slowly leaning in and closing the gap between them.

as their lips collided for the first time, they both immediately felt sparks flying. ona placed her hand on the back of lucy’s neck, deepening the kiss and pulling them both impossibly closer to one another. lucy still had her hand resting on her cheek, stroking it with her thumb as they kissed.

the older woman took the opportunity to deepen the kiss even further, their tongues fighting for dominance and eliciting a muffled moan from the spaniard. lucy made a mental note that she wanted to hear that sound over and over again.

when they both eventually had to pull away for air, much to both of their dismay, they looked into each other’s eyes with goofy smiles like giddy school girls. lucy tucked a loose strand of hair behind onas ear “so, does this mean i get to take you on a second date?”

ona wrapped both her arms around the older girls neck, moving her face closer to lucy’s and mumbled into her lips “only if you kiss me like that again.”

they’d spent the rest of the evening in that very same spot on the beach, enjoying one another’s company and a few more passionate kisses. lucy had walked ona back to mapi and ingrids apartment, the pair parting ways with a tight hug and a promise to see each other as soon as it was next possible.

ona had had to fly back to manchester early the next morning, ready to be back in training and had sent lucy a text just before her flight took off.

‘good morning lucia, i just wanted to thank you again for the amazing night last night. i’ve just boarded my flight and i can’t stop thinking about it…i can’t stop thinking about you. i can’t wait to see you again already, i hope it’s not too long

ona xx’

two gruelling weeks of training had passed since that message, two weeks since the two footballers had seen each other in person and two weeks since they had begun missing one another.

lucy had just got in from training, greeted by her favourite little westie at her feet as soon as she had opened the door. the defender went about her usual nightly routine, preparing dinner for her small pup and then herself and settling down on the sofa to eat it with some silly tv show on in the background and a fed narla passed out beside her.

she was usually content in her own little bubble, happy to come home and just relax after socialising all day with her teammates. however, since meeting a certain spanish girl, she craved ona’s presence all the time. that was a factor that was weird to lucy, her and ona really hadn’t known each other long at all, and for someone that struggled to be comfortable around new people, the defender found it odd how much she wanted to talk to her.

little did the older woman know, that ona was feeling the exact same way. she would come home from her long training days and constantly replay the date night the two had shared in her mind over and over again. she found herself checking her phone every other second to see if there were any missed calls or messages from the defender who was consuming her mind.

the two had gotten into a consistent routine of face timing each other. although it definitely wasn’t the same as seeing the other in person, it managed to ease the longing in both of their hearts.

“you seem, i don’t know, on edge” lucy had said during one of their calls.

“on edge?” ona repeated back to her with a furrowed brow, the phrase not quite translating.

“like stressed or worried about something, are you okay?” lucy had noticed there was something off with the younger girl, she kept catching her staring off into space or biting at her nails, her usual happy demeanour seeming unsettled.

ona sighed “i’ve just got a few things on my mind, that’s all. i wouldn’t want to bore you.”

“don’t be silly, talk to me.”

the truth was, the man united player was worried about an upcoming fixture they had against city. she was always anxious playing in the derby, the expectations were sky high and the fans were pretty rowdy to put it lightly.

“it’s the manchester derby tomorrow night, it always just makes me a little nervous.”

lucy met her with a sympathetic look, sensing her nerves through the screen and remembering her own anxiousness towards this particular match when she played for city.

“i remember the feeling, but you’ll do great. you’re amazing and you’ve got nothing to worry about. are your family coming to watch?”

ona shook her head “they can’t make it this time, which just makes it worse. i like knowing i have the support in the crowd, you know.”

this gave lucy such a great idea, she had a few days off after her match against athletico the next day and had originally planned on spending them searching for a new flat. however, what better to do than fly to manchester for a couple of days, to watch onas game and also spend some time with her. the defender wanted to keep it a surprise though, not wanting to get the younger woman’s hopes up just incase something interfered with her plan.

“you’ll have loads of people routing for you, just you wait and see how many shirts with your name on it there’ll be.”

ona responded with a smile, the smile that lucy loved to see and the pair carried on chatting for the rest of the evening before having to get some sleep before they both played the next day.

the next morning, lucy had spent frantically packing some stuff, enough for a long weekend into her suitcase after booking a flight for that afternoon. she then headed off to the johan for a 10am kick off where barça won 5-0 against athletico.

the defender quickly made it back to her flat, taking a shower and then shoving all of her luggage into her car boot. she had no time to rest today whatsoever, and so whilst she was in the car with narla in tow on the way to keira’s apartment she released a huge breath which she hadn’t realise’d she’d been holding.

as she got to her destination, she knocked on the door to the apartment, she met keira with a half smile and breathlessly said “hey. you’re not going to rome this weekend are you?”

“umm no, why? why do you seem so worn out?” the ginger replied, an obviously confused look plastered across her face.

“just wondered if you could have narla for me for the next few days?” she replied, completely forgetting to answer keira’s last question.

“yeah, course that’s fine. where are you going though?”

“just back to manchester for the weekend” the defender said nonchalantly as she handed the small dog over to the girl opposite her.

“why?”

lucy let out a huge huff “god, why so many questions?”

“im just taking an interest” keira said with a huge smirk on her face, knowing her ex was hiding something “are you going to see someone?”

lucy rolled her eyes “bye kei, thanks for having her” to which the midfielder shook her head, letting out a laugh before closing the door and taking narla inside.

the next time the defender took a moment to breathe, she was on the plane on her way to manchester. staring out the window, all she could think about was that she would get to see ona in just a couple of hours, the girl who had been on her mind constantly since the day they met.

once she’d been through security, she took a taxi all the way to the stadium and as the vehicle approached the outside of the etihad she decided to send the man united player a message so that she’d know she had someone there.

‘just wanted to wish you luck for tonight, you’ll be amazing i know you will. i’ll be watching, a lot closer than you think ;)

~luce xx’

ona picked up her phone at the sound of her message tone, her mouth instantly curving up into a smile as she saw who it was from. however, when she read the text and realised what lucy meant she raised her hand to cover her mouth in utter disbelief.

she was here, watching her tonight, and she couldn’t believe it. as she went to type back a reply, marc came into the changing rooms and got all of the girls to line up in the tunnel before she could press send.

lucy was sat in the stands, wearing a dark hoodie and joggers combo, making herself as unrecognisable as possible to crazy fans. she enjoyed watching the match, getting to see her old team mates play left her with a comforting feeling of nostalgia but her eyes were constantly drawn to a certain someone in red. ona was an incredible player, lucy had always known that, but getting to watch her knowing she was just as an incredible person as well made it all the more enjoyable.

the game ended 2-1 to united and although a city fan at heart, the look of pure joy and rid of worry on onas face made the defender melt a little. she knew how nervous she had been for this and to see her smile, even if it was from afar filled her with so much pride. she could see the girl in question looking around the stadium quite a bit, clearly looking for someone and the thought that it was her she was looking for made her just want to see her right this second.

the defender made her way out of the stadium, sending ona a quick text to meet her outside. as she waited for her she was spotted by a few fans, signing autographs and taking photos which she knew would find their way to instagram in less than an hour.

“lucy?” she heard a voice say as all of the fans had departed.

when she turned around and was met with what was now her favourite smile, she couldn’t help but smile widely back “surprise.”

ona took a few steps closer, throwing her arms around the brunettes neck as lucy melted into her embrace “i can’t believe you’re here.”

“i knew how worried you were, and i wanted you to know you had someone there supporting you.”

ona took a deep breath, inhaling the older woman’s scent and mumbled into her neck “thank you.”

as the two pulled apart from their hug, still very much aware of the many football fans that could spot them at any moment lucy asked “i’ve got a few days off and was wondering if i could stay with you? no pressure or anything, i can go stay at my families if-“

the spaniard immediately cut her off with a grin “lucia, of course you’re staying with me. you don’t seriously think i could stay alone at my apartment knowing you’re here do you?”

lucy reciprocated the grin, walking over to onas car and placing her bags into her back seat. as the two got into the car, ona in the drivers seat, she reached for lucy’s hand and intertwined their fingers “i appreciate you coming so much. knowing you were here made me feel so much more at ease and im so grateful.”

lucy turned to look directly in her eyes, lifting her hand up to her lips and delicately placing small kisses across her knuckles “i wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

a blush made it’s way across the younger woman’s face and she couldn’t stop staring at the defender beside her with a huge smile, until lucy said something breaking her out of her trance “shall we get out of here? i don’t want to wait any longer to give you a proper hello” she winked.

with that, ona drove out of the car park and headed to her apartment, lucy’s hand placed on her thigh the entire time.

as they arrived, ona opened the door and the pair walked inside. lucy looked around, taking everything in and admiring the obvious amount of effort ona had put in to get this place looking as amazing as it did.

“this place is so nice” she commented as ona busied herself with making two cups of tea for them both, feeling so content with having the older woman here in her apartment.

with the smaller woman’s back turned, lucy took this as a perfect opportunity to slowly come up behind her and wrap her arms around her waist from behind. ona lay her head back onto her shoulder, smiling up at her as lucy began placing small kisses onto her cheek, cascading her hands up and down her waist.

“i missed you” she whispered into her ear, causing a shiver down onas spine.

the spaniard turned around in her arms, placing her hands on either sides of the defenders cheeks and leant in so she was just inches away from her lips “how much?”

“i could show you, better than i could tell you” she responded, biting her lip and leaning in to close the gap between them.

their lips met in a hungry kiss, both of them deprived of the other and wanting to be impossibly close. ona wrapped her arms around lucy’s neck, pulling her in even further and playing with the baby hairs that had escaped her bun.

lucy gripped her hips even tighter, pushing her backwards until her back hit the kitchen counter and lifting her up on it to stand between her legs. onas legs wrapped around lucy’s waist, and the older woman broke the kiss to leave little nips and kisses across her jawline and down her neck. the pair were interrupted by the sound of kettle finishing brewing and both let out a chuckle as lucy breathlessly said “told you i missed you.”

ona let out a huff of a laugh, jumping down from the counter and pouring the tea into two mugs before adding “but i still missed you more.”

she carried the mugs over to the sofa, placing them down onto the small table in front as lucy sat down beside her. she passed lucy the remote, encouraging her to find something she wanted to watch on tv and rested her head on her chest, her arm draping lazily across her abdomen “i’ve been thinking about this for so long, you know.”

lucy smiled down at her, wrapping her arm across her shoulder and pulling her closer into her side as ona continued “ever since our date i haven’t stopped thinking about you. we’ve never had the chance to be like this yet either, just cuddled up on the sofa together.”

lucy placed a kiss on the side of her head “well i don’t have to be back in barcelona until monday, and i plan on spending every single second with you.”

as the pair finished drinking their tea, wrapped in each others arms with a soap opera on in the background, ona sat up from her position in lucy’s arms.

“im just going to get changed, i’ll be right back” she smiled, pressing a chaste kiss to lucy’s lips.

as ona went to change into some pyjamas, lucy took her own hoodie off, the heating in the younger woman’s apartment having heated her own body up and placed it down beside her, leaving her sitting in her black joggers and a man united shirt she had gotten earlier for the match.

when the smaller woman returned, she stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of the english woman in red, her eyes widening. she stood in the doorway to the living room “a united shirt? i thought you were a city girl?”

“thought i’d switch it up a little, just for today” lucy shrugged as she smirked at the spaniard before her.

she sat up, leaning forward from her position on the sofa and turned her back to ona so that she could see the back of the shirt where it indeed read ‘o.batlle 2.’

the younger woman’s jaw literally dropped as she eyed the shirt, looking lucy in the eyes with a huge smile as she turned back around to face her. she thought lucy was hot all the time, she’d always thought that which was now a known fact thanks to lucy staniforth, however, right now she couldn’t be more attracted to the woman sat on her sofa if she tried.

she took a few big steps towards her, sitting down on her lap and straddling her hips. she looked down at lucy who was smirking up at her, before biting her lip and meeting her in a passionate kiss.

“you are literally everything” ona said between kisses.

lucy woke up that next morning to the sun peeping through the curtains, and the all too familiar feeling of the cold air of manchester hitting her body. she rubbed at her eyes, picking her phone up from the bedside table to check the time which read 9am.

she looked beside her to see ona still sleeping peacefully, wrapped up in the cream white duvet and hair splayed across her pillow. she was wearing one of lucy’s pyjama tops which she had brought with her and some small black sleep shorts and although her face was turned away from the defender, lucy thought she was the most beautiful sight ever.

she couldn’t help but smile to herself whilst staring at the spanish beauty beside her, overwhelmed with how amazing and naturally beautiful she was. placing her phone back down, she slowly wrapped her arm around her waist, taking up her favourite position as ‘big spoon’ and pulled the younger woman in so that her back was pressing against her front. she then began placing delicate kisses across the exposed skin of her shoulders and tracing her fingers along her abdomen.

ona began to stir beneath her, letting out a content sigh as she felt lucy’s lips graze her skin. as she reached up to rub her own eyes, she turned around in the older woman’s embrace, sleepily smiling up at her in the process and snuggled deeper into her. she buried her face in the crook of lucy’s neck, placing lazy kisses on her collar bone as lucy wrapped her arms impossibly tighter around her.

“good morning” lucy croaked out, her voice groggy from sleep “how did you sleep?”

ona mumbled into her neck “good morning, lucia. better than usual actually.”

lucy smirked to herself, running her fingers through the spaniards hair and tucking it behind her ears so that she could see her face clearer. she took a moment to just admire her, memorising every freckle on her face “you are insanely beautiful, you know.”

ona opened her eyes properly, blinking a few times as her eyes adjusted to the morning light. she looked lucy in the eyes, the sweetest smile dancing across her lips and brought her own hand up to rest on the defenders cheek. her thumb began to stroke across the smooth skin there, tracing across the little features on her face “waking up with you is like a dream.”

the two stayed staring at each other for a few minutes, with giddy smiles plastered across their faces and tangled up together under the sheets.

“what’s the plan for today then?” lucy mumbled into her hairline.

ona shrugged, her smile never faltering “anything you want.”

after much discussion, the pair decided on going for a nice lunch together in the city and then treating themselves to a spot of retail therapy afterwards.

they ate some breakfast, got themselves showered and changed and lucy waited in the living room as ona finished doing her hair. she felt so happy right now. coming here and spending her days off in manchester was just what she needed and spending time with ona was easily becoming one of her most favourite things. the defender couldn’t believe how easily they both had fallen into this situation, they’d known each other not long at all and yet were already all the other could think about. she knew her feelings for the younger woman were growing rapidly by the second, every minute she spent with her she could feel herself liking her more and more and for once she didn’t feel terrified. she felt excited, and couldn’t wait to see what was to come with this amazing girl who had been thrown into her life.

lucy was broken out of her trance by the girl who consumed her every thought entering the room. she put on her coat, looking over at lucy with a smile, signalling she was ready to go and lucy happily obliged, standing up from the sofa and reaching a hand out.

ona happily took the offered hand, pulling lucy towards her and leaning up on her tip toes to press a kiss to her lips “ready?”

lucy nodded, squeezing her hand and heading out the door, never once letting go.

as they got into the car and headed off to a sweet cafe that lucy had recommended, ona turned on the radio and it automatically connected to the spanish station she listened to every day. a relatively niche song came on, which the spaniard hummed along to but stopped in her tracks as she heard lucy singing it word for word beside her.

she turned to look at her, a grin plastered across her face as lucy carried on singing quietly “you know this one?”

lucy nodded, meeting her eyes and mirroring the grin “i told you im practically fluent now.”

ona let out a huff of a laugh, peeling her eyes away from the road to look at lucy properly as they came to a red light “i never thought someone speaking my own language would be so attractive to me.”

“gracias guapa” lucy winked, as ona nibbled on her bottom lip and pulled her in for a searing kiss.

lucy melted into the kiss, both of them smiling into it and ona only managed to tear herself away as the light turned green. the older woman placed her hand on her knee for the rest of the journey, continuing to sing along to the spanish tunes.

the pair enjoyed their lunch together, chatting non stop about anything and everything and neither being able to stop smiling throughout the whole ordeal. once they’d eaten their food, they headed into the trafford centre and began looking around the shops. ona dragged lucy into one of her favourite clothing stores, desperately grabbing at everything she wanted to try on and although lucy was much more of a shoe person she enjoyed nothing more than the excitable look on the girls face.

the barcelona player mindlessly scrolled through her instagram as she sat outside the changing rooms on one of the stools whilst ona tried on the clothes she had picked out. her eyes only adverted from the screen as she heard her name being called from behind the curtain “lucy, i need your opinion on this.”

lucy shut off her phone, standing from her seat and walked over to the curtain, stepping behind it and taking in the sight in front of her.

“woah” was all she managed to splutter out as her eyes widened and her jaw hung low.

ona was wearing a tight black top with an open back, revealing the many tattoos that were scattered there paired with matching leather black shorts and she looked nothing short of incredible. after about twenty seconds of simply just staring at her lucy realised she still hadn’t said anything and took to grabbing her waist. she slowly pushed ona back against the wall of the changing room, not being able to take her eyes off of her as the younger woman wrapped her arms around her neck and then had the audacity to ask her “you like it?”

lucy let out a huff of a laugh, leaning in to her lips, mumbling against them “so fucking hot” before smashing their lips together.

lucy literally could not get enough of her, everything the younger woman did made her weak at the knees and crave the feeling of her body against hers. she kissed her with even more passion, her hands coming up to stroke against her hips as she gently slipped her tongue into her mouth.

ona let out a breathy moan, her own hands tangling into the defenders hair as she slid her firm thigh inbetween her legs and gave lucy something to grind her hips on.

the older woman placed her hand on onas chin, tilting her head up and began placing desperate nips to her neck slowly sucking at the sweet spot that she had discovered last night as she rolled her hips into her. lucy’s hot breath against her skin was sending a shiver down onas spine. she was addicted to the older woman already, her smell, her taste, her touch, everything about her drove her crazy and so when they heard voices entering one of the changing rooms next to them she let out a grumbly noise and rolled her eyes once lucy had pulled away.

lucy let out a small laugh at her frustration and whispered a small “later, i promise.”

with her hands still placed on onas hips, she turned them around to face the mirror, her head resting on her shoulder from behind her.

“i really like it by the way. if you couldn’t tell.”

ona let out a giggle and smiled at lucy through the mirror infront of them. the defender placed a delicate kiss to her cheek before exiting the changing room and giving the spaniard some space to get changed again. ona couldn’t help the smile that made its way across her face as she traced her own, now swollen, bottom lip and thought of nothing else but the woman waiting for her behind the curtain. god, she really owed lucy staniforth everything, she thought to herself.

the pair finished their shopping trip, opting to have a small dinner back at onas apartment since they were still relatively full from their big lunch. ona was scrolling through the tv channels, trying to find something to watch whilst lucy took a shower and was startled from her searching as the doorbell went.

she furrowed her eyebrows, not expecting anyone to be coming around and tried to remember if she’d ordered any deliveries that were due. her confusion was soon dissipated as she opened the door and was face to face with her united teammates, ella and alessia.

“hey, ona. we just came to drop these boots in for you that you left at training the other day” ella said, handing her her blue football boots.

“oh, thank you. i completely forgot to pick them up” she responded, smiling at them both.

“me and el are just about to go for some dinner and wondered if you wanted to join us? we’re only going down the road” alessia offered

ona thought for a moment, wondering how she could get herself out of this one “thank you for the offer less, but i-“

and with that, she was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming from behind her. she turned around and was faced with lucy dressed in a tracksuit with a towel wrapped around her hair. she looked at lucy with wide eyes as the older woman stopped in her tracks, looking her lionesses team mates dead in the eye.

“oh…hey guys” lucy greeted, a hint of awkwardness in her tone.

“what are you doing here?” ella asked her, blatantly very confused at the unexpected cross over that was happening right in front of her eyes.

lucy thought for a moment, coming to stand beside ona and not really knowing what to say “i had a few days off and wanted to watch the derby match and ona kindly said i could stay at her place.”

“i didn’t know you two were close. didn’t you want to stay with demi or something luce?” alessia questioned, her eyebrows raising.

lucy shrugged “well..no..i just- what’s it to you two anyway?”

the two best friends sniggered at each other, finding the two women’s flushed faces and stuttering all too hilarious “oh, nothing. we just came to see if ona wanted to come for dinner with us but clearly she’s a bit busy.”

the duo were now in fits of silent giggles as they wiggled their eyebrows at ona who had gone a very deep shade of red and was rubbing at her temple in attempts to feel less awkward.

“right, well we best be off anyway. we’ll see you at training ona and see you at camp luce” alessia said pulling her best friend along with her who shouted a loud “have fun!” as the blonde dragged her away.

the man united players could be heard giggling like children all the way to their car as ona shut the door behind them. she turned to look at lucy, nibbling on her bottom lip not knowing what her reaction would be “im sorry about them. i didn’t know they were dropping by.”

“don’t be silly, it’s fine. i know what they’re like. i’ve known them long enough” lucy chuckled.

“they’re going to tease us both like crazy now that they know about our ‘friendship’” ona said in air quotes as she came and sat beside lucy on the sofa.

“our friendship huh” lucy smirked.

ona suddenly became very shy, a small smile and crimson blush covering her face “well, i don’t know what you want to call this. it’s obviously way more than just a friendship to me” she said before swallowing deeply “i like you, a lot. like a lot a lot. i know it’s not been that long of knowing each other but it’s how i feel.”

lucy took her hand into her own, intertwining their fingers and moving her position so that she was facing ona “i like you a lot a lot too.”

they both smirked at each other before ona opened her mouth to speak “so we’re friends who like each other a lot then?”

“for now, but i promise you there’s so much more to come” lucy smiled, placing a kiss to her knuckles.

if lucy had it her way she would’ve asked ona to be her girlfriend there and then, but realistically it was still very early days. despite how much they both liked each other, she had not long come out of a seven year relationship and she liked and cared for ona so much that she wanted this to work. she wanted everything she did and said to be meaningful and to make her feel like she was the most special girl in the world, because that’s exactly what she deserved. they also had the world cup coming up very soon and with all focus being on that they most likely wouldn’t get to see one another for about three months.

ona smiled at her, but stiffened a little as she asked lucy “does that mean you’re still open to seeing other people…?” the nervousness evident in her tone.

“no” lucy immediately responded, shaking her head “my eyes, my head, my everything is only with you.”

although she didn’t feel like she should put a label on anything just yet, lucy didn’t want to see or speak to anyone else. she was so certain of that, her heart was purely reserved for ona now.

ona sighed a huge sigh of relief, relieved that she wasn’t interested in dating anyone else “thank god, me too.”

the world cup came around fast. it was like in the blink of an eye the champions league final was over and everyone was back with their international team mates. lucy loved playing for her country, it gave her a buzz she couldn’t experience with any club and she knew she played her best football with the girls she’d grown up with her whole life.

everything was going well for lucy at the moment, she was happy and everyone around her could see it. it was nice to see the woman, whom had a usually solemn expression grinning from ear to ear all the time and enjoying what would hopefully not be her last world cup. england were amazing throughout the whole tournament, they had made it to the final and despite having so much faith in all the girls around her, lucy couldn’t comprehend that she would be playing in a world cup final.

of course her happiness wasn’t just down to england’s success though, it was also due to the spaniard who she’d be playing against in the coming days. everything was going so well between them, they hadn’t seen each other since their weekend in manchester because of their completely hectic schedules and the world cup but that didn’t stop them from speaking at every available opportunity. lucy was constantly glued to her phone when the australian days turned into evenings and the first person to notice was none other than her close friend katie zelem.

herself and katie had been roommates for the first half of the tournament, something lucy had been hugely grateful for as the pair had grown super close in the recent months. it had only taken katie to the night before england’s first match against haiti, where she’d noticed the defender completely ignoring her, to question who she was constantly talking to.

“luce, im not being funny but you literally haven’t put your phone down all evening. don’t you want to chat?”

“sorry, what was that?” she said, barely tearing her eyes away from the screen.

katie rolled her eyes, a slight smirk tugging on her lips “who are you talking to?”

“just a friend.”

the manchester united player, not believing a word, lunged forward onto lucy’s bed and got a good enough glance to see who it was she was messaging before lucy instantly turned the phone away from her.

“ona? no way!” katie squealed, relishing in the deep shade of red lucy had turned.

the defender rolled her eyes “why’d you have to be so nosy for, can’t a girl have her secrets?”

“erm shes my friend i’ll have you find, and i thought there was something weird going on with her recently. ella & less kept teasing her about something as well, god it all makes sense now!”

lucy shook her head, a grin tugging on her lips at how excitable her team mate appeared to be upon hearing this information.

“so, go on then tell me everything. you must be well excited about her joining barça.”

that was another thing that had kept the smile on lucy’s face recently. it had come as a huge shock to her, she never really read about transfer rumours or contract renewals. she just left all of that stuff to the people it concerned, figuring she’d find out when or if she needed to. so, when ona had facetimed her the day before she headed to england camp and told her the news she was shocked, over the moon, and every emotion possible.

they hadn’t had any time to celebrate it of course, but lucy was planning so many things to congratulate her after this was over. they had already spoken about taking a vacation together, celebrating onas return to barça and one of their world cup victories and they both absolutely could not wait.

the three months they had spent apart had proved the absence makes the heart grow fonder theory. lucy had found herself swooning over every picture ona posted on her instagram and couldn’t help but send her cheeky text messages after every story upload.

‘i swear you’re the most beautiful woman on the planet’

whenever her phone pinged, the spaniard would pray it was from lucy and when she read the sweet messages she would send her it made her heart full and crave the english woman’s presence.

‘nothing in comparison to you my love, i miss you so much’

‘as much as i love seeing them, the pictures you post just make me want you even more’

‘just a few more weeks, and i’ll be all yours’

‘all mine? i like the sound of that’

there was still no title on the relationship the two women shared, both of them keeping up the ‘friends that like each other a lot’ term. but they both wanted more, they both acted like they were together and ona even had lucy saved in her phone as ‘my love’ but neither would drop the girlfriend bomb until they were reunited in person and they had both silently agreed on this.

the night before the final, lucy hadn’t facetimed ona. not because she didn’t want to, but she wanted both of their full focus to be on tomorrow and pulling through for their own countries. it would be weird playing against her in such a major game but lucy was prepared to do anything she could to make sure england came out with the win.

she was so ridiculously excited to see ona tomorrow as well, it had literally been over three months since they’d seen one another in the flesh and although it was under strange circumstances it didn’t dampen the excitement she felt one bit.

she was going into the biggest game of her life tomorrow and she planned on giving it her all. a world cup was all she had ever wanted and the fact this dream could come true in less than twelve hours made her feel all kinds of feelings.

just as she was about to turn over for the night, about to get some much needed sleep she heard her phone buzz and checked to see it was from her favourite person.

‘i know we’re not supposed to talk tonight but i couldn’t help myself sending you a good night text. get some rest and don’t stress too much about tomorrow, what will be will be and everyone will be so proud of you no matter what. i know how much this means to you lucia, and i’m so proud of you already. i can’t wait to see you, i don’t know how i’m going to resist you to be honest. good night my love, may the best team win ;)’

the next morning was filled with quick breakfasts and stretches before the england team bus departed to the final stadium in this tournament for the final game. lucy was sat beside jordan, someone whose constant chatter could easily distract her from the anxiety building up in the pit of her stomach.

“excited to see your girl?” jordan asked her.

lucy had told her best friend about ona from the very beginning, jordan had got wind of it from the wedding anyways but she was more than happy to tease lucy about it.

“we’ve been through this, she’s not my girlfriend, but yes i am excited to see her. i’ve missed her a lot.”

jordan scoffed “and don’t i know about it, you’ve been pining over her and talking about her since before we even got to australia.”

lucy rolled her eyes at the dramatics “i have not.”

“and don’t think i don’t see you sending her flirty messages all the time” jordan added, nudging her in the side.

“well maybe you shouldn’t be snooping over my shoulder when i’m talking to someone then” lucy shook her head, secretly grateful for jordan’s teasing taking her mind off of what was about to be the biggest performance of her life.

“im only messing with you, luce. i’m happy for you, it’s nice to see you like this. we’re still on for going away after this though, yeah?”

the two best friends had planned a few days away in ibiza together after the tournament was over. ona, and a couple of the arsenal girls were coming along to before lucy & ona would go off and spend just a day or two alone in menorca. lucy was really looking forward to it and couldn’t wait to just relax and not have the stress of another game to win on her shoulders.

“yeah, course. it’ll be a nice way to end this experience…after we win of course” lucy winked, going back to her music for the remainder of the short journey.

when they arrived at the stadium, all of the girls were overwhelmed by just how many fans were already waiting outside. they hadn’t expected to have half as many lioness fans here as they did and they were so grateful to the amount of people who had traveled across the globe to come and support them.

the girls walked out onto the pitch for their ritual pitch inspection and were surprised to see the spanish team entering the pitch shortly after them. lucy hadn’t expected to be faced with any of them until the beginning of the game and so she had to busy herself with talking to jordan before she let her nerves get the better of her. she wanted to see ona, of course she did, but the younger woman made her feel nervous and gave her huge amounts of butterflies that she hadn’t been prepared for until later on.

as she was mid conversation, lucy felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her waist and as she turned around she was met with none other than her captain, alexia.

“hola, lucia! it’s been too long.”

lucy smiled at the barcelona captain, giving her a tight hug “i’ve missed you, how’ve you been? congratulations on making the final.”

“congratulations to you too, it’s crazy isn’t it. i can’t believe we’ve made it to the final. it’ll be weird to play against you though, but go easy on us sì?” alexia smirked, giving her club team mate a nudge.

“never. you know i’m in this to win it” lucy replied with a smirk, her eyes suddenly leaving the woman’s infront of her and focusing on a smaller woman slowly approaching behind alexia.

she immediately knew who it was just from the smile that was etched onto her face. lucy had memorised every detail of onas face and so as she came to stand beside alexia, her eyes never leaving lucy’s, lucy’s smile instantly widened.

“fancy seeing you here” was the first thing ona said, her smile never faltering.

lucy couldn’t quite believe she was right in front of her now, she had spent so many months missing the spaniard and now she was just right here and she couldn’t even do any of the things she wanted. if they were in a different situation and not in the middle of a pitch surrounded by their team mates, she would’ve instantaneously wrapped her arms around her, embraced her in a tight hug and kissed her senseless.

but she didn’t, instead she settled with a choked out “hi.”

lucy mentally kicked herself, she was a typical flirt any other day of the week but after not seeing ona for so long and now having to act as though they were simply just mutual friends in front of everyone left her not knowing how to act at all.

alexia clearly got wind of the crazy sexual tension in the air and let out a small cough before excusing herself “im just going to say hi to keira, i’ll see you both in a while.”

as she turned and left, leaving both women standing there staring at each other, lucy opened here mouth to speak “im sorry, that was a shit welcome.”

ona giggled, raising her eyebrow “it’s okay, i didn’t know i made you so nervous.”

lucy shook her head, looking down at her feet with a smirk on her face before mumbling “if all these people weren’t around i would’ve given you a better hello.”

“i don’t think anyone’s going to be suspicious if you just give me a hug” ona replied, stepping closer to her and craving the feeling of lucy’s arms wrapped around her.

the defender looked deep into her eyes, getting lost in the pretty pools of brown and reached to subtly intertwine their hands before pulling her into her chest. ona sighed at the contact, her arms coming up to wrap around lucy’s neck and instantly melting into her. lucy wrapped her own arms around her waist, resting her head on top of onas and breathed in the scent of her shampoo that she had missed so much.

“ive missed you so much” ona whispered into her neck, placing the tiniest and softest kiss there.

lucy felt her body shiver at the feeling, desperately craving more “i’ve missed you more beautiful.”

begrudgingly, they pulled away from each other, not wanting the hug to linger on too long that it made people suspicious. of course there was a handful of their team mates that were aware of the growing connection between the two but there was also the majority that had no idea. keira was one of them, and out of respect and with ona joining barça in the new season, lucy wanted to tell her herself when the time was right.

“god, i can’t wait to kiss you later” lucy whispered just as they’d pulled away.

ona let out a small chuckle, biting down on her own bottom lip “it’s all i can think about, having you all to myself.”

the pair continued their conversation, trying their hardest to concentrate on the game ahead and not get caught up in any more flirting. lucy took the time to go around and speak to all of her barcelona teammates, wishing them luck and having miniature catch ups before they all had to return inside. as sarina summoned her inside, she turned around to get one more look at ona, finding her to already be smiling widely after her before going in to get ready with the rest of the girls.

lucy was feeling motivated as she stepped out onto the pitch, last out as always, never messing up her tradition. the crowd was full of energy and she took in the atmosphere as much as she could before the first whistle blew, this was it. this was the very moment she had dreamt of her whole life and she couldn’t mess this up.

1-0 olga carmona scored in the 29th minute, and although frustrated lucy didn’t let it get to her. england still had time on their side and could equalise if they pushed on hard enough.

penalty for spain, a completely unfair handball from keira made the referees decision to hand out a penalty. lucy desperately tried to argue it, never once leaving keira’s side but it was no use the decision had been made. she worried about how this would affect keira mentally, she had been there in the last world cup and watched the midfielder struggle with ridiculous amounts of hate once the tournament had ended and saw what a negative impact it had on her mental health. she tapped her shoulder mouthing ‘don’t worry’ before taking their positions.

the crowd erupted when mary made the most impressive save that lucy and everyone in the stadium had ever seen. it filled the defender with a tiny bit more hope, but as the minutes ticked on and spain were still dominating with the ball she started to lose all faith.

when the final whistle blew, signalling the end all lucy could do was collapse to the floor and attempt to drown out the loud cheers of the spanish players. she had given it her all, and yet it still wasn’t enough. this had been her biggest dream throughout her whole life and it had been snatched away from her just like that. she layed there with her face in the ground for what felt like forever, feeling the pats to her shoulder from her team mates but not having the physical or mental strength to even speak.

she could hear the small cries of her teammates around her and as she looked up, she saw ona only two feet in front of her. she was looking down at her with a soft expression, one that showed she genuinely cared but all lucy could do was immediately stand up and walk off in the opposite direction.

ona was hurt by the reaction, opening her mouth to call to her but immediately closing it again as lucy walked off into the distance. she understood the pain she was feeling but that didn’t make her feel any less shit about being ignored. she understood that lucy needed space right now, despite wanting to comfort her so she gathered the best thing to do right now was leave her for the time being and go and celebrate with her team.

lucy felt terrible for how she had just acted, it wasn’t onas fault but right now she needed to be alone. she needed for no one to be around her whilst she collected her thoughts and so once the team huddle was over, she opted for heading straight back inside.

“wait, luce” a familiar voice called out to her.

she stopped in her tracks and turned to face keira, who had tear stains all down her cheeks. the ginger stepped towards her and wrapped her in a tight hug, which although lucy didn’t actively engage in it allowed it to happen.

“don’t shut the world out okay, i know this will hurt you more than most but don’t go into yourself. let your loved ones try and make you feel better” she whispered into her ear.

lucy looked at her with a confused expression, did she know about her and ona? she blinked a few times not even being able think about that right now, and whispered a tiny “thanks, kei.”

although their relationship hadn’t worked out, keira was still lucy’s best friend. they had been through so much together and the midfielder still knew her better than most people.

the broken hearted defender decided to take her advice and not completely shut away from everything, she put on one of the lioness puffer coats and made her way to the dug out. placing her head into her hands, she silently sobbed as she took in the days events.

she was there for a good few moments alone, no one daring to go near her, knowing no words would ever be enough to make her feel better. until, she looked up once again and saw ona coming towards her, fiddling with her hands nervously.

“i know you probably don’t want to speak to me and i get it, but please don’t run away from me” she said in a small voice, breaking lucy’s heart just that little bit more.

ona had seen the whole interaction between lucy and keira, it made her feel all kinds of jealous, with the knowledge of the seven long years they had spent together and knowing that keira knew how to comfort lucy in a way that she was yet to discover. however, there was no way she was going to bring that up now, she was glad that lucy had been comforted in some way, even if it was from her ex girlfriend but that wasn’t important right now.

“i can’t imagine what your feeling right now, so i won’t even try but i told you that no matter the outcome everyone would be so proud of you, and they are…i’m so proud of you.”

lucy looked up and met the younger woman’s eyes, her outline blurred by the tears filling her own eyes. ona bent down to kneel infront of her, stroking up and down her legs before lucy muttered out “it’s all my fault. i fucked it up for all of us.”

ona shook her head “no, absolutely not. i won’t let you blame yourself for this. football is a team sport, sometimes you win together and unfortunately sometimes you lose together but this is not on you.”

the defender shook her head as another fresh wave of tears escaped her eyes and silently cascaded down her cheek. it broke onas heart to see her this broken, so she wrapped her arms tightly around her neck and held her tighter than ever as lucy sobbed into her shoulder.

they stayed like this for a long while, neither caring about the cameras constantly coming round to snap pictures of the moment. lucy pulled away for a moment and ona came up from her position kneeling infront of her to sit beside her. she took full advantage of lucy having her coat on her lap and intertwined their hands together underneath it, rubbing her knuckles with her thumb.

lucy sighed, her sobs finally subsiding before she spoke “im sorry. i shouldn’t have acted that way and walked away from you i just couldn’t face the pain of talking about it.”

ona shook her head “don’t apologise, i understand.”

“go celebrate with your team, you deserve it you don’t want to miss out on that moment being sat here with me.”

the spaniard gripped her hand impossibly tighter “im exactly where i want to be right now.”

lucy met her with a genuine smile, wondering how she ever got this lucky to have someone like the woman beside her in her life “im so proud of you too by the way, you were amazing out there, you have been this whole tournament and you deserve this more than anyone.”

ona reciprocated the smile, grateful that lucy seemed to be calming down a little now “gracias mi amor.”

“i just can’t believe it’s all over now” lucy began “all these months of preparing, the years of build up just for it to all be finished with just like that. i don’t know what i’m supposed to focus my energy on now.”

the spaniard decided to try and lighten the mood a little, and with a smirk said “me?”

lucy let out a huff of a laugh, shaking her head but grateful for the way ona could instantly lift her mood.

“im serious, it’s been a long few months without you, im going to need a lot of attention” she added on, her smirk never leaving her lips.

“well there’s definitely something i can do about that, i mean you are a world cup champion after all you deserve only the best” lucy replied.

the two stayed grinning at each other, unable to take their eyes off of one another and lucy was so grateful that ona was here to help her take her mind off of the pain. it would hurt for a while, she knew that and to have come so close will always be something that hurts her yet also brings her so much pride. she was so proud of this team and also so proud of the spaniard beside her and she would make sure she knew that, oh boy would would she make sure she knew that.

the party after the final was something lucy was hugely grateful for. at first, the thought of celebrating englands loss was completely mind blowing to her, she was completely against the idea and couldn’t comprehend how anyone would enjoy that. however, after some convincing from jordan she agreed to attend and was pleasantly surprised on how much it lifted her mood. it took her a good few hours longer than everyone else to accept the result and also realise that second place was damn impressive. as a team, the lionesses had won the euros the previous year and now come second in a world cup and after a stern talking to from sarina, she realised how impressive this was and how proud she was to be a part of this team.

the drinks were flowing and the entire team were on a high, which was a welcome contrast from the tears that were being shed earlier. a majority of the girls’ families were there too, including lucy’s which was another added bonus and after speaking to them for the majority of the night, she then found herself in the corner of the room with jordan. it wasn’t surprising, whenever the pair attended anything together they almost always ended up just chatting amongst themselves and with a lot of alcohol in their system they ended up having one of their classic drunk debriefs.

“you’re okay now though luce, yeah?”

lucy nodded “it’s what i’ve always wanted and it’s undoubtedly going to hurt for a while but like sarina said earlier, second place is still incredible. as a little girl, i never even imagined coming this far in my career so i’m pretty proud right now.”

jordan smiled at her friend, happy that she wasn’t taking this loss as terribly as everyone had expected. she was proud of lucy and although she could talk about the tournament for days, she wanted to change the subject and talk about something a little more lighthearted.

“so, i couldn’t help but notice a certain someone abandoning her own celebrations to look after you” jordan said, her eyebrows wiggling up and down.

“jord, i felt terrible. i kept telling her to go be with the spanish girls but she wouldn’t leave my side” lucy explained, thinking back to her moment with ona in the dug out.

“she obviously cares about you a lot, i’ve seen some of the pictures already and, you know i hate to be mushy but they’re incredibly sweet.”

lucy sighed, a soft smile coming to her lips as she thought back “that’s just her though, she’s incredibly sweet.”

jordan let a huge smirk wipe across her face as she nudged lucy in the side “has lucy bronze gone soft? i never thought id see the day!”

“oh, shut up” she laughed rolling her eyes, and suddenly her tone became slightly more serious as she thought even more “i want to ask her to be my girlfriend.”

lucy watched as jordan produced the widest grin she’d ever seen and began clapping her hands like an excitable school girl “finally! i think it’s long overdue if you ask me, but you should ask her when we go away. spains a romantic place and she’s from there so it’ll be pretty special.”

lucy nodded, thinking of all the ways she could pull this off “im excited for you to finally meet her properly.”

jordan had met ona at the wedding very briefly and also played against her a few times in the wsl but they’d never had a proper introductory meeting. she evidently made lucy so undeniably happy and so the small woman was excited to get to know her properly “im excited too, it’ll be good for us all. she’s stunning as well i don’t know how you managed it” she said with a wink.

lucy rolled her eyes, a smirk playing on her lips “you better not start hitting on her or there’ll be an issue” she said sternly, her phone suddenly getting a ping from a clearly very drunk ona.

‘i hope you’re feeling better, i hate seeing you so upset it breaks my heart. ugh, im at the after party now and all i can think about is you. what have you done to me lucia roberta?!’

the defender chuckled at the message, her heart melting at the prospect of ona thinking about her just as much as she thought of her.

‘you should be enjoying your party, champ! i’m feeling much better now, all thanks to you. you make me feel so many ways i can’t even explain it.’

ona came back to that message by sending a photo of herself at the party, her medal hanging proudly around her neck as she captioned it ‘meet me after the party, at my hotel?’

lucy could’ve drooled at the sight of that picture, the spaniard always looking too good. the after party’s for both teams had been held not even five minutes across the street from one another and so knowing that lucy was so near, yet so far made ona antsy.

‘my god, you look good. gold suits you.’

‘i’ve always preferred bronze.’

the older woman’s jaw literally dropped at that response, her whole body heating up at the effortless flirting that came so naturally to them. it was becoming more and more obvious how deprived and desperate for one another they were and although lucy wanted nothing more than to go and see her, she needed ona to enjoy this once in a lifetime celebration with her team.

‘you’re making me need you so bad. i would love to come and see you, but i want you to enjoy this night with your team mates. i’ll come by tomorrow morning before our flight leaves, promise.’

it took a lot more messages and a lot of convincing to get ona to agree. she was very drunk, deservedly so, and very needy but finally came to the agreement if lucy kept her promise of seeing her tomorrow.

the night went on for both the english and spanish teams way into the early hours of the morning, every player enjoying themselves just that little bit too much.

lucy woke to the australian sun hitting her face for the last time and instantly craved a giant glass of ice cold water. she didn’t feel too rough, considering the 90 minute match she had played and alcohol she had consumed all in the last 24 hours. she would miss these mornings, she would miss the routine she had gotten herself into throughout these long weeks but she was also ready for a break. she needed some time to recharge after how mentally and physically demanding this tournament had been and so the only thing she could think about right now was getting off that plane and landing in spain for a well deserved holiday.

the lionesses’ flight left in a few hours and so they would be heading to the airport in just over an hour, but lucy knew she had a promise to fulfill before that. ona had pleaded and pleaded with her to go and see her last night but lucy had stuck to her word and wanted the younger woman to enjoy her night with her team. however, there was no stopping her now though, she got herself ready and threw on a tracksuit heading towards the spanish team hotel.

she prayed that none of the other players would see her, knowing she’d never get over the embarrassment of being summoned to what very much looked like a ‘booty call.’

she’d had ona send over her room number last night and so as she scanned along the corridors, she finally found the one she was looking for. taking a deep breath, she instantly knocked, she didn’t have much time at all until she had to be packed up and on the bus so she didn’t want to waste a minute.

it took a few minutes for the door to creak open, and lucy was met with the sight of ona stood there in pyjamas, rubbing at her tired eyes. when she clocked that it was lucy standing infront of her, her lips curved up into a smile and in a sleepy voice she said “finally.”

“you going to invite me in then, or what?” lucy asked with a smirk to which ona instantly mirrored as she opened the door wider.

as soon as she shut the door she turned around to see lucy stepping closer into her space, her hands came to rest on either side of onas hips as she whispered into her lips “i’ve missed you more than you can imagine.”

onas eyes flickered shut as she felt lucy slowly push her back up against the door, having her so close again was such an overwhelming yet extremely welcome feeling and she needed more “lucy, please.”

“please what?” lucy smirked, placing a tiny kiss to the underside of her jaw as she watched her squirm against the hard wood door.

“just kiss me or something.”

lucy happily obliged to the demand, smashing their lips together for the first time in months and instantly melting into the contact. she kissed her with as much passion as she could, trying her best to convey how much she had missed her and also how proud she was of her just in a kiss.

ona slipped her tongue into lucy’s mouth, swallowing the deep moan that escaped and began tracing her hands across the strong abs that lined her stomach underneath her top. she allowed both of her hands to roam over the powerful bumps and still couldn’t get over how athletically fit lucy was.

the older woman unattached herself from the spaniards lips, moving to press her mouth against her neck and placing little bites there which she soothed over with her tongue.

“im so proud of you” she whispered into her neck as she continued peppering rough kisses “so, so proud….you were amazing….the worlds champion….spains champion…..my champion.”

that was onas weak spot, whenever lucy referred to her as ‘hers.’ she was also so appreciative of the praise, knowing how hard lucy took the loss made it even more special that the english woman was genuinely so happy and proud of her.

“your champion?” ona mumbled out.

lucy nodded into her neck, whispering into her ear “all mine” before she nipped at her ear lobe.

ona grinned, her head rolling back as she enjoyed the feeling of lucy now pressing her lips to the hollow of her throat. she removed one of her hands from lucy’s toned stomach and intertwined her fingers with hers, trying to pull her over to her double bed. lucy happily followed her lead, pulling the duvet covers over them both as she pressed ona back into the mattress, arms bracketing around her head and holding her weight so that she didn’t squash her.

the smaller woman looked up at her with a look in her eye that screamed pure want and lust, so she took to kissing her deeply as she went about removing her shirt. she stared at the spaniard below her, taking in the beautiful sight of her bare chest and toned stomach, biting on her lip before she dived right in.

“fuck, you’re beautiful” she mumbled as she massaged her right breast in her hand and took her left nipple into her mouth, swirling it with her tongue. the noises ona made beneath her was like music to her ears, unable to contain the grin on her face.

“luce, i need you” she said breathlessly, from underneath her.

lucy placed delicate kisses down the valley of her chest, whispering “you’ve got me, baby.”

“no…like, i need you, right now” she tried again, removing lucy’s hand from off of her breast and placing it onto the top of her pyjama shorts.

the older woman, understanding exactly what she meant grinned into her stomach as she worked her mouth lower and lower down her abdomen, closer to where she wanted her most “well…as i said, anything for you champ.”

she placed a final kiss at the waist band of her shorts, before beginning to pull them down, ever so slowly. she dragged her hands down with them, tracing the woman’s inner thighs as she looked up to meet her eyes, grinning the entire time. as she flung the material somewhere in the midst of the room, she settled herself in between her thighs and began to pepper delicate kisses all the way up and around her thighs.

ona was an absolute mess underneath her, her mind filled with everything lucy and she was so turned on it was practically painful. it was what lucy said next though, which made her want to scream.

“are you sure you want to do this right now? i mean, this hallway is literally full of your team mates” she grinned, taking a nip at her strong thigh.

the spaniard let out a groan, grabbing lucy’s hand and pulling her up and atop of her so that she was eye level with her and said in a breathy voice “lucia, i swear to god. it’s been three months i can’t wait any longer. everyone had their girlfriends and boyfriends with them last night, it’s my turn now.”

lucy couldn’t help but feel her heart warm at onas slight slip up of subtly referring to her as her girlfriend, but she wasn’t going to tease her any more, she wasn’t that mean. she placed another passionate kiss to her lips, before kissing down her stomach again and eventually getting to where she needed to be.

she placed her tongue flat against her before dragging it through her folds, as onas hands came to grip onto her head and tugging at her hair. the spaniard let out a loud breathy moan, one that her teammates could definitely hear through the thin walls of the hotel room but right now she couldn’t bring herself to care.

her back arched off of the bed as lucy’s strong muscle came up to swirl around her sensitive nub, taking it into her mouth and sucking with intent. this only made ona tighten her grip in lucy’s hair, taking full control of where she wanted her to be and gently scratching at her scalp.

“i…i need..” she began to cry out, but lucy knew exactly what she needed before she even had the chance to finish her sentence and so quickly plunged two fingers into her deep heat. the new sensation caused onas mouth to fall agape, and with lucy’s fingers now working in and out of her at a record pace, her mouth continuing its work on her swollen clit the younger woman knew she wouldn’t last long.

and she was right, it wasn’t long at all before her stomach started to tighten and her thighs began to close around lucy’s head. her breathing quickened as she moaned out “luce…im gunna…”

“let go my love, you’re a winner, you deserve this” lucy said as she thrust her fingers into her one more time and increased the pressure of her tongue.

that was all ona needed to push her over the edge, her eyes screwed shut as stars erupted behind her closed eyelids and she bit down onto her own hand, desperately trying to quieten down the moans that were escaping her lips as she came. her chest heaved up and down as she rode out her high and when she let out a deep sigh lucy slowly removed her fingers and mouth, grazing a tiny kiss on her trembling thigh before coming up to lay beside her.

lucy lay on her side, propping her head up with her elbow, facing the girl next to her with a smile on her face. as ona finally managed to open her eyes, she turned her head to face lucy and met her with a shy smile “that was incredible.”

lucy smirked, pulling her into her arms under the duvet and cuddling up with her. ona placed a series of light kisses across her cheek before resting her head on her chest and tangling their legs together “im so happy to be back with you, in your arms.”

“me too, beautiful. the bus will be heading to the airport soon though, so i can’t stay too much longer” lucy replied, cascading her arms up and down onas bare back.

“don’t leave me” ona pouted, feeling so clingy to the older woman after being away from her for too long.

lucy let out a little chuckle, loving the needy side to her “it’s not for long, just three days and we’ll be in ibiza together.”

“it can’t come soon enough, im excited to meet some of your friends properly, and for you to meet my brother” ona said, playing with lucy’s fingers.

lucy smiled down at her, looking deep into her eyes as she suddenly felt overwhelmed with a feeling that could only be described as love “i want to give you everything.”

“lucia, you already do” she began, placing her hand on her face and stroking her cheek lovingly “there’s only one more thing i could possibly want from you but i know it’s to come” she finished with a slight smirk.

lucy knew exactly what she was referring to and wanted that more than anything to. after her conversation with jordan the previous night, she had thought of how she was going to ask ona to be her girlfriend during their trip to spain and as she lay in bed last night she came up with what she thought was the perfect plan and couldn’t wait to put it to use. it wasn’t anything extremely extravagant, lucy never had been the over the top type but it was something meaningful nevertheless and all she could do now was wait for it all to unfold.

stepping off of the plane and being hit with the familiarity of the spanish sun was just what lucy needed. she had spent a whole season playing in spain now, and the country had become like home for her, so returning after a long while in australia filled her with a sense of relief.

she was so excited to be in ibiza for the short week that the world cup finalists had off before the beginning of the new season, and wanted to soak up as much time as she could with jordan before they had to separate for however long again. the aston villa player hadn’t played a single minute throughout the whole tournament, and it left the two best friends fearing her spot on the national team. jordan had always been a rock to lucy, a constant in her life no matter where she played in the world and the thought of not even being able to see her at england camp made the defender feel pretty shit.

jordan was in high spirits though, immediately running around the villa they had rented out to decide what bedroom she wanted to claim. so far, it was just the two of them but they were shortly to be joined by jordan’s ex arsenal team mates katie and caitlin and also ona, her brother and his friend. it was an odd mix of people from an outsiders perspective, but lucy was familiar with katie and caitlin through all of the years jordan had known them and so had grown quite close to them.

“bagsy this room!” jordan shouted, as lucy trailed in after her, somehow being the one left to drag all of the luggage in.

“you’re such a child” lucy shook her head before she thought for a moment, “well, i suppose the least i can do is let you have first dibs. seeing as you’re practically the only single one.”

lucy let out a laugh, jordan giving her the side eye “yeah alright, thanks for reminding me.”

“when are caitlin and katie getting here?” lucy questioned.

jordan checked the time on her phone “their flight gets in any time now. what about ona and her lot?”

“she said she should be here just before lunch time, so a couple of hours i’d imagine.”

the two busied themselves with unpacking as they waited for the others to arrive. jordan had without a doubt picked the best room, but lucy had had second choice and managed to secure the next best one with a sea view. as she looked out at the ocean, she felt a wave of excitement about ona being there soon and also the big question she was going to ask her during the trip.

the whole situation between herself and the spaniard was so unexpected, and she never once imagined finding a connection with someone like she had with ona. it had come as the nicest surprise, she was so happy to have someone to feel excited to see, to cuddle with, to completely adore again.

the arsenal team mates had since arrived and had done nothing but interrogate lucy about herself and ona since their arrival.

“so, you’re dating the world cup champion i hear?” an irish accent asked her.

lucy rolled her eyes with a grin, “god, news travels fast around here…nothings official as of right now, but yeah i am.”

it was caitlin’s turn to pipe up now “jordy filled us in on how you started talking and everything, it’s very sweet. it’s actually nice to see the fans going crazy over you two now and leaving our messy situation alone for a bit” she explained, nudging katie in the side.

as soon as the photos of ona comforting lucy had been released, the fans had gone nothing short of wild. they were both popular players within their own countries and so seeing how intimate the interaction looked had sent many people spiralling. of course the speculation was made even worse through the fact that most fans were still under the impression that lucy and keira were still together, and lucy felt terrible seeing how many times keira had been tagged in the pictures.

she was fairly certain that keira wouldn’t care, but she had wanted to tell her about her and ona in her own time, especially with her joining barça. the defender also worried about ona, not wanting the sudden increase in attention on her personal life to freak her out. lucy was used to it, she had dealt with prying eyes throughout her entire relationship with keira and had grown to just accept that people wanted the ins and outs of her life. however, with ona being that bit younger than her she wanted to protect her from it and made a promise to herself to always check in on her in that aspect.

the lunch was beginning to be prepared, and the sound of the front door opening snapped lucy out of the day dream she had found herself in. the other three girls shared knowing smirks at each other as they watched their friend bolt inside and over to where the commotion of noise was coming from.

when she made it into the hallway, lucy was met with her favourite pair of brown eyes and her lips immediately turned up into a smile. it didn’t matter how many times they reunited, every time felt even more special and she felt more excited to see her each time.

when her eyes met lucy’s, ona immediately dropped her luggage, taking a few long strides until she was directly infront of lucy and jumped up into her arms. the sudden weight took lucy by surprise, but she caught her regardless, both hands gripping below her thighs as ona wrapped her arms around her neck and her legs around her waist.

“missed you, again” lucy said with a grin, feeling like that was all they ever said to each other. she was so excited to have ona with her on a more permanent basis now that the world cup was over and they would now be playing for the same club.

“hopefully that was the last time we’ll have to miss each other for a while” the spaniard replied, leaning her forehead against lucy’s before giving her a sweet kiss.

lucy kissed her back, smiling into it before she remembered onas brother was standing right behind them and they hadn’t even been introduced yet. she quickly pulled them apart, gently placing ona back down to stand beside her before turning to welcome her brother, feeling slightly awkward at the interaction he’d just had to watch take place with his sister.

“im sorry, we haven’t even met properly yet” she began as she introduced herself “im lucy, it’s nice to meet you.”

joan gave her a smirk, before responding “oh trust me, i’ve heard a lot about you. it’s nice to finally meet the girl my sister doesn’t shut up about.”

lucy watched as ona turned a deep shade of red, nudging her brother in the side before muttering “cállate!”

the older woman laughed, grateful to have something to tease ona about later on as they all moved outside to greet one another and wait for the lunch to be finished.

the day was going well. lucy couldn’t be happier and she was getting along with onas brother amazingly. as much as she had been looking forward to this break away so much, she had been slightly nervous to meet joan and his friend, daniel as she knew how close they were to ona and how protective they were of her. however, all of her fears had been put to rest as she spent pretty much the entire afternoon chatting with and getting to know them.

jordan had practically kidnapped ona for the last couple of hours too, being so excited to meet her properly and talking her ear off. the spaniard was overjoyed by jordan’s reaction to her though, as like lucy she had been worried to meet her best friend incase she didn’t think she was good enough or something, but jordan had been nothing but a sweetheart.

joan could see lucy watching his sister and jordan together, with a content smile on her face and it made his heart warm knowing how much she cared for her “she really, really likes you lucy.”

lucy turned her attention away from the two women with wide eyes, and a toothy grin plastered across her face “and i really, really like her. she’s the most amazing girl i’ve ever met.”

joan smiled at that, a glint of cheekiness in his eyes as he said “she’ll kill me if she knows i told you this but, she’s desperate to be your girlfriend she goes on about it all the time.”

“trust me, it’s coming. i was planning on asking her this week actually, in menorca, but obviously keep that to yourself” lucy said with a chuckle.

“don’t you worry, your secrets safe with me” he replied with a smirk, before both himself and daniel excused themselves to unpack their things.

ona had noticed that lucy was finally unoccupied almost immediately and instantly made her way over. the defender looked up from her position laid out on the sun lounger as she noticed something blocking the sun light and her eyes fell on a bikini clad ona, sunglasses covering her eyes and smile resting on her lips. she could’ve drooled at the sight, but as she opened her mouth to speak the younger girl got there first.

“i’ve been waiting to have your full attention” she said with a fake pout.

“trust me, you’ve got my full attention” lucy replied, eyeing her up and down whilst biting on her bottom lip.

ona smirked at the witty response “i hope my brothers not interrogating you too much.”

“nah, not at all it’s nice to get to know him properly he seems absolutely great” lucy assured before she added “now, c’mere you.”

the spaniard didn’t hesitate for a moment before taking lucy’s outstretched hand and climbing onto the sun lounger with her, laying in between her legs with her head laid back on her chest. ona let out a content sigh as lucy wrapped her arms around her, resting her hands on her torso and placing delicate kisses across her shoulder.

lucy started trailing kisses all the way up her neck and as she finally reached her ear she whispered “you look so good, baby.”

“you like the bikini, sí?” ona replied, feeling her whole body turn a deep shade of red.

“like it? i absolutely love it” lucy said, subtly sucking at the sweet spot behind her ear before mumbling “even if i do just want to rip it off you.”

ona let out a small gasp, feeling her whole body shiver with desire and wanting nothing more than lucy’s hands all over her body right now. there was no way they could escape for a few minutes though without at least one person coming to find them, so the smaller woman thought of the next best thing.

she reached down into the small bag that was placed underneath the lounger, out of the direct sunlight, and pulled out a bottle of tanning oil. she handed it to lucy expectedly, not saying a word but donning a wide grin. lucy looked at the bottle that had been placed in her hands and then at ona, slight confusion on her expression before the spaniard leant into her ear.

“we’re not going to be getting any alone time anytime soon…and i miss your touch, my love.”

lucy smirked, recognition now plastered across her face as she nodded, popping open the lid. ona turned her back to her, her eyes closing shut and a content smile on her face. the englishwoman poured a generous amount of oil onto her hands, rubbing them together before placing them onto onas tattooed back. ona couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh as she melted into the contact, the way lucy massaged her back making her feel so light and warm.

lucy’s strong hands continued their movements across her back, and ona could feel herself slipping into an almost sleep like state before she jumped at katie’s booming voice “lunch is ready guys!”

“how was that for you miss?” lucy joked, leaning forward and resting her chin on her shoulder.

“perfect, so so good. you’ve got talented hands, lucia” ona said with a smirk.

lucy checked around them to see that everyone was occupied with plating up their food before she whispered into her ear “i’ll make you feel even better tonight…with my talented hands.”

the spaniard nibbled on her lip, her mind flitting back to the last night the pair had spent together in her hotel room. lucy reached her hand around, placing her hand on her chin and tilting it so their lips could meet in a passionate kiss.

ona kissed her deeply, letting out the quietest moan that sent lucy’s body into overdrive. they almost forget their surroundings, getting lost in each other before another shout, this time from jordan, broke them from their trance “oi, come have some lunch before you end up fucking on the sun loungers.”

both girls turned a deep shade of crimson, ona unable to look her brother in the eye as they went over to get some food that katie had cooked.

their time away as a group had been nothing short of incredible. everyone had gotten along so well and it was so nice to spend time together as friends, rather than footballers for once. the group had spent their time partying, lounging on the beach, watching movies outside together and it had been literally perfect.

lucy and ona had spent the time completely lost in each other. the trip had been fantastic and had solidified their strong feelings for each other even more so than before, and they both could confidently say they were in love. the pair couldn’t be happier and as they now sat in a tapas restaurant in menorca, just the two of them lucy stared deeply into her eyes and couldn’t be more certain of asking the question that had been on her mind for so long.

“what are you looking at me like that for, lucia?” ona shivered under her intense gaze.

lucy let out a small chuckle, placing her fork down as she finished her food “i’ll just never get over how beautiful you are.”

ona smiled, a genuine, happy smile. it didn’t matter how many times lucy told her that, it turned her into a human puddle everytime. meeting lucy had been everything she’d ever dreamt of and more. she’d always had a little crush on her, realistically who wouldn’t? but the defender had turned into her favourite person almost instantly, and she fell in love with her in every way possible. she’d dated many girls before, but not one of them even slightly compared to the woman sat in front of her, no one had ever treated her with as much care as lucy did and no one had ever made her feel so special.

when they finished their food, lucy diverted them in the direction of the beach, hands intertwined as they came to sit on the sand. it mirrored their very first date perfectly, all those months ago in barcelona and they both turned to look at each other with content smiles on their faces.

this was the moment, and lucy knew it. she reached for onas hands, holding them tightly in her own before she took a deep breath and began to speak.

“you look beautiful tonight, you always do and i know i tell you all the time but im just so in awe of you all the time.”

“you are the sweetest, mi amor” ona replied, placing a delicate kiss on her knuckles.

“you’re probably wondering why we’re here at this time of night, especially considering we spend most of our days here at the beach” lucy began with a light chuckle, reaching into her pocket to hand ona a box.

“i wanted to give you this.”

ona looked down at the jewellery box, a wide smile dancing across her face “you’ve already treated me with so much, you didn’t have to get me anything. thank you, so much.”

she slowly opened the red box, lifting up the top to reveal the most beautiful necklace. her hand instantly covered her mouth as she realised exactly what the piece of jewellery was, a cartier love necklace. she looked lucy deep in the eyes, her hand remaining over her slightly open mouth and pleaded for her body to stop shaking.

lucy met her with a smile “you’ve been the most unexpected, yet best surprise to come into my life. i wasn’t looking for any sort of relationship whatsoever but when i first saw you properly at lucy’s wedding, i couldn’t get you out my head. your texts and facetimes were the best parts of my day, and now being with you is my favourite thing in the world.”

she took a deep breath before continuing, “i can’t even put into words how i feel about you to be honest. you’re just incredible in every single way, stunning, funny, kind and i could literally go on forever. i’m so excited to spend more time with you and play together at barça, it makes my heart race at the idea of spending everyday with you and not having to say goodbye after just a couple of days.”

ona had tears in her eyes now, willing for them not to fall as lucy lucy tightened her grip on her hand “i brought you to the beach because, it’s where we had our first date, it’s where i first kissed you and ultimately it’s where i realised just how much i was going to like you. but now, as i look out into the same ocean i did all those months ago…i’ve got a lot more feelings, a lot more memories with you and…so much love for you.”

the spaniard couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down her face now as lucy brought her thumb up to wipe them away “so, i brought you this necklace to symbolise that love because if there’s one thing that im certain of in my life it’s that…i love you, so much and i would love nothing more than for you to be my girlfriend.”

ona desperately wiped at her eyes so that she could look at lucy more clearly, before launching herself into her and forcing her to lay back in the sand. she hovered over her, placing her hand on her cheek and stroking her face before smashing their lips together, mumbling into them “sí! yes! in every language i’ll be your girlfriend. i’ve been waiting for this.”

lucy smiled up at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before ona spoke again “that was the most beautiful moment. no one has ever made me feel the way you do my love, i love you so much.”

“te amo más.”

#lucy bronze #ona batlle #lucy bronze x ona batlle #fluff #smut #woso fanfics

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nancy-reads · 7 months

Text

you belong with me

pairing: fred weasley x reader

summary: fred wakes up after a wild night with his team to his phone buzzing nonstop after his latest tweet. Turns out he accidentally invited his old chemistry partner (and long-time crush) to the second game of the season. pining and fluff ensue.

warnings: a tiny little bit of spice at the end (it's really not that much i just want to warn you guys)

authors note: i promise the sequal to am i the one you think about will come out, i just got a bunch of inspiration to write this all of the sudden and wanted to share it with you guys!!

CROSSPOSTED TO AO3

As soon as Fred woke up, he regretted everything. His head was pounding, his throat was dry, and his muscles ached. Every part of him wanted to lie back down and never get up again.

His memories of last night were fuzzy at best. He was hanging with some of the boys from his team, celebrating after their first game of the season. Many beers were passed around, and for some reason, Fred had a vague memory of the team shouting at him over and over to do it.

Strange. They probably wanted him to take a bunch of shots or something. Usually, he’d be down, but not during football season. He had games to win, and Superbowls to play at.

Fred opened his eyes and blinked sleepily. As the world came into focus, he realized that his phone was buzzing, and had been for a while. He rolled over, chugged a glass of water, and grabbed his phone.

His jaw dropped as he saw the flood of notifications.

Fred Weasley’s Secret Crush?

Fred Weasley Invites Mystery Girl to Sunday’s Game Over Twitter

Football Hearthrobb Fred Weasley Has a Girlfriend?!

Holy shit.

There was only one person this could be about, and he might just die from embarrassment if he was right. You had probably completely forgotten about him, while he still liked all of your Instagram photos on his private account.

Fred scrolled through his notifications to see what looked like a million from Twitter alone, and a text from nearly everyone he knew.

Taking a deep breath, he tapped the Twitter app and clicked on his profile.

Fred Weasley @thebetterweasley

never would have gotten to the nfl without my college chem partner @ynln… tickets to the next game on me?

Fred’s eyes widened as he reread his tweet over and over again. He could feel his entire body heating up as he fought the urge to bury his head in his hands.

He just blew it. Entirely. You would never be interested in him now. You’d just think he wanted the attention, or worse, just for a quick fling.

Fred couldn’t imagine ever only wanting a fling from you. You and your gorgeous hair, beautiful eyes, and the way you talk way just mesmerizing. He could never focus during Intro To Chemistry because you’d be sat right next to him, eyes sparkling and pen flying as you took notes.

And he saw your grades. You were basically a genius, acing every test and perfecting every project. You were probably in grad school right now or in some sort of job for brilliant people who are saving the world.

You probably had no idea who he was.

After an embarrassingly long time spent moping, Fred got out of bed and reluctantly headed to the gym to work out. In between reps, he responded to the thousands of texts that he received, either congratulating him or calling him an idiot.

He definitely knew which ones were right.

His tweet had millions of likes by now, so there was no chance that you’d missed it. He’d been contacted by loads of news outlets, asking for a quote or an interview or anything about you, and he’d denied all of them. The passive-aggressive text from his manager, Alicia, was enough to make him want to delete every social media account he owned.

Fred had just finished his last stretch routine and was headed toward the showers when he got a notification.

Y/N L/N @ynln

maybe i’ll swing by…see if we still have chemistry

Fred could feel the heat spread from his neck all the way to his hairline. He wanted to giggle and kick his feet like a lovesick teenager. Maybe he didn’t ruin everything after all?

You tweeted it a minute ago..would it be weird for him to like it immediately?

Yes. Yes, it would.

That didn’t make him want to do it any less.

As Fred headed to the shower, a massive smile adorning his face, he immediately hit the call button because he had to tell someone about this. You responded to his tweet. He wanted to jump around and squeal like a kid with a crush.

Which was pretty accurate, to be quite honest.

“George,”

“Freddie, I just finished my workout, is this really that imp-”

“She responded to my tweet!!” Fred nearly shouted. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, eyes shining with excitement. He didn’t recognize himself as he looked in the mirror. His smile was too big for his face, and his ears were bright red.

“It did have more than a million likes, Fred. I think she kind of had to.”

“Don’t ruin this for me George. I’ve liked her for so long, what do I even do now?”

Fred could hear George’s exasperated smile from miles away. “First, you are going to take a deep breath. You are a cool NFL football player, not a horny teenager. “

“Right. Yes.”

He took a deep breath, but his heart was still racing and the butterflies in his stomach would not go away. Come on Fred, you are gonna be normal about this. You can do it.

“You got that Fred?” George asked. Fred murmured an affirmative. “Okay, now you are gonna get tickets to the VIP booth, four of them.”

“Four? Why-”

“Because one of them is for Mum, as you know she will get there somehow if you’ve invited a girl.”

“That’s fair, actually.”

“Also, the public loves her so I assume that your girl will want to meet her too.” Fred pointedly ignored how his heart raced at the words “your girl.” George continued, “You’re also not going to be the asshole who makes her go alone, so give her a couple tickets for her friends.”

“When did you get so smart with girls?”

George chuckled. “Oh this is all Angelina. I don’t know anything.”

“Yeah, that makes a lot more sense, Georgie.”

“Hey!”

Fred hung up as he orders four VIP tickets for the game. He immediately sends one to his mum, but he pauses before sending it to you.

see you at the game! you better be wearing red and gold…

Fred added a winky face, then immediately deleted it. He didn’t want to seem too juvenile or worse, weird. His thumb hovered over the blue send button, rereading the DM over and over. At last, he admitted defeat and sent a screenshot to Geoge.

F: does this sound okay?

G: yes. stop worrying.

F: you act as if you were not the same way when you asked angelica to the yule ball

G: shut up

Fred snorted as he switched back to Twitter. He took a deep breath, steeled himself, and pressed send.

For the rest of the week, Fred practiced harder than ever. All eyes were gonna be on him this week, and he needed a win. More importantly, you were gonna be at this game, and he knew who he wanted to dedicate his touchdown to.

He’d been thinking about it since that freshman year chemistry class when he was nothing but a rookie tight end, and the NFL was nothing but a dream. The crowd goes wild, but the only person he’s looking at is you.

Christ, when did he become such a romantic?

He felt a smile split across his face when his phone buzzed during a break.

Y: i looked through my closet and i don’t know if i have any red and gold…might have to steal something of yours

F: stay after the game and maybe we’ll see

The two of you didn’t text often, maybe a couple of times a day, but it was always a highlight. Locker room talk had devolved into just making fun of Fred’s puppy dog eyes and lovesick smile whenever he opened his phone.

Someone from the press got a picture of him smiling at his phone, and the internet exploded even more.

Fred Weasley Caught Blushing At His Phone During Practice

Fred Weasley’s Smile Has the Internet Swooning

Fred Weasley’s Mystery Girl: Who Is She?

Part of him wanted to feel embarrassed with all the attention, but he was too grateful that you had finally given him the time of day to really think about it. He was laser-focused on every play and worked extra hard at the gym. They would win the game this week, even if it was purely by his will.

Fred had never been this nervous for a game before. Every single playoff game, championship, or even the Superbowl hadn’t prepared him for this feeling.

His girl was up there, and he had to impress you today.

The crowd screamed louder than ever as he ran onto the field with his team. There were signs everywhere, asking if you were here and making jokes about Fred being a loverboy. He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face as he looked around the stadium, taking it all in.

There was nothing he loved more than football, and having other people love him for it was even more special.

Still, Fred tried to catch your eye in the VIP booth, and his smile widened when he saw you talking to his mum. Embarrassing as it was, everyone loved her, so she was probably the quickest way to your heart. Eventually, though, his mum took pity on him and pointed him out to you.

And shit, your smile when Fred finally looked into your eyes. The two of you were far away, so it was hard to tell, but he already knew it was beautiful. He stared at you, probably for longer than was considered normal until the whistle blew and he was forced to follow his team.

This was probably the best game his team had ever played. Everyone was in sync, and the plays they’d worked on all summer were gaining them yards across the field. Everyone could feel the energy in the stadium as people cheered his name.

The only problem, Fred hadn’t yet scored a touchdown. Halftime had just ended, and the team was up thirty-one points. He could feel the coaches wanting to pull him out and let the best people rest while they had such a great lead, however, he silently begged them to let him stay in.

Just one good play and I’ve got this.

And his chance finally came halfway through the third quarter. They were only a few yards away from the endzone, and Fred knew that this was his chance as Oliver called the play.

The whistle blew, and Fred didn’t even see the other players as he sprinted into the endzone, dodging anyone who attempted to get in his way. He and Oliver were in perfect sync as he threw the ball straight into Fred’s hands, securing another six points for the team.

The crowd screamed as the touchdown was announced, and Fred couldn’t stop himself from doing a little victory dance. His eyes found your booth as he headed to the sideline, and he blushed from head to toe at your reaction. You were jumping around and screaming with joy (he hoped) and you looked adorable.

In a moment of confidence, he caught your eye, placed his hand on his chest, and held out half a heart, mouthing “This one is for you.”

Part of him wondered if he was coming on too strong, but the other part was enamored with you as you clasped your hand over your beautiful smile and held half a heart back.

The crowd let out an “aww” as you showed up on the screen beside him, and he couldn’t stop himself from beaming at the nearby camera. He could feel people tapping away at their phones to post on social media, but he didn’t care. You were cheering for him.

The game continued, and Fred was mostly put on the sidelines to give some of the rookies a chance to play, as it was looking pretty good for his team. He couldn’t stop himself from stealing glances at your booth, so much so that the team was beginning to notice.

“Fred, loverboy, the game is this way,” Lee Jordan teased.

“Staring at your mom, Weasley?” Andrew Sloper asked.

Even Oliver, who usually had a stick up his ass, joined in on the fun. “God, Fred, you’d think Taylor Swift was here or something.”

Fred was happy to laugh with them. He hadn’t remembered feeling this giddy in a long time, and he couldn’t push the smile from his face. Part of him was eager for the game to be over, so he could go see you.

Still, his hands shook and butterflies erupted from his stomach when he thought about heading up to your booth. Would conversation flow? Would you even like him in person after all these years? Did you only come for free tickets or for internet clout?

That wasn’t it, he knew. You were too kind, too good to do that when it was obvious how head over heels he was for you. Still, part of him worried.

Fred was sure his team was sick of him by now. He’d been agonizing over his hair for the past thirty minutes as he prepared to leave the locker room and finally see you. He’d blown you a kiss as he left the field, and he was wondering if he’d come on too strong, and clearly if his hair was wrong it would ruin everything.

Maybe he was panicking a little bit. He’d texted you a few minutes ago, giving you instructions on how to get to the family and friends area outside the locker room. He hoped his mum would guide you there, as the last thing he wanted was for you to get lost and attacked by rabid football fans. You didn’t deserve that.

After a few more minutes, he realized that his hair was hopeless (it looked fine) and decided he would rather not leave you waiting. With a last look in the mirror and a deep breath, he headed out of the locker room.

The area was crowded; full of girlfriends, wives, children, and all sorts of family and friends of the team. There was a buzz in the room of people talking, laughing, and generally celebrating the win. The sounds got even louder as he entered, and Fred could see people acting like they weren’t staring at him.

Still, he wasn’t paying attention to anything but you as you locked eyes across the room. You gave him a shy smile, and he couldn’t stop himself from beaming as he headed straight for you.

“Hey,” you said. Your eyes were piercing, and very distracting. He couldn’t seem to form a thought as he stared into them.

“Hey,” he said back, stupidly. He hesitated for a moment as the butterflies felt more like stampeding wildebeest in his stomach. “Did you enjoy the game?”

There was a teasing lilt to your voice as you responded. “I don’t know. It was alright, I suppose.”

“Alright?” Fred asked in mock annoyance. He placed a light hand on your back as he guided you out of the family area. “I guess next time I’ll give my free VIP tickets to someone else.”

You snorted. “As if you have someone else to give them to.”

“Hey! I have plenty of people to give tickets to.”

“Like who?” you asked. “Your mom?”

Fred smiled and placed a dramatic hand on his chest. “You dare insult Mother Weasley?”

You smiled and stared at the ground as you shook your head. “Never. We had a great time hanging out tonight.”

He gave you a soft smile. “I’m glad. I have a feeling that you’re going to be her new favorite.”

As the two of you neared the press area, Fred straightened and pressed his hand slightly closer to your back. He didn’t want to be too forward, however, he knew how aggressive the press could be. “For this next part, just be careful of the reporters. Our security is really good, and honestly,” he chuckled a bit, “I could take most of them, but I don’t want anyone making you uncomfortable.”

You nodded and pressed a bit closer to him, making him blush even harder.

It was a small hallway, and the press was kept behind some silver barriers that allowed the two of you some space to walk. Cameras flashed and videos recorded Fred and you walking past. You had the prettiest smile in the world, and Fred couldn’t stop looking at you as you gave an especially beautiful one to the cameras.

He’d have to find that photo later.

Fred was desperate to grab your hand as the two of you walked toward his convertible, but his hands were sweaty and shook at the thought. You looked gorgeous in the moonlight, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from dropping to your lips.

As the two of you sped off, you looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “I believe I was promised a jersey after the game.”

He smirked. “I’m pretty sure I said we’ll see.”

“So you don’t want to see me in your jersey next game?”

“Who said you were getting invited to my next game?”

“Seemed like someone enjoyed having me there tonight,” you said, looking away from him, a teasing smile on your face.

Fred smiled. “When did you get so confident? I remember it took forever for us to actually talk when we met.”

“I know it may surprise you Freddie, but some of us grew up a bit after college.”

“Really?” he gasped, dropping his jaw. “That's crazy.”

“And,” you added, “some of us have learned how to tell when someone is flirting with us.”

That's when Fred’s jaw dropped for real, and red spread all the way to his ears. He turned back to the road, focusing on driving as hard as he could. Letting you see the giddy beam on his face was not an option. Your hand moved toward the center console, right next to his, and every part of him itched to hold it.

He cleared his throat. “So, uh…how have you been?”

He listened to you describe your life and your job as if he had not been stalking you on Instagram since he met you. It seemed like you had thrived since college, and Fred felt his heart soar when he heard how happy you were. You deserved everything, and Fred silently hoped he would be there to see you get it.

As the two of you pulled into the parking lot, Fred caught you staring at him, biting your lip as he backed into the spot. He smiled to himself as he got out of the car and opened the door for you.

“Dinner?”

Dinner was perfect. Fred couldn’t stop laughing and smiling in your presence, and it seemed like you were having a great time as well. Every so often the conversation would lull, and he would catch you staring at him as the two of you enjoyed your meal.

He did his share of staring as well, but he hoped that he was less obvious about it.

(He wasn’t.)

Fred finally found the courage to grab your hand as the two of you were leaving the restaurant, with your head thrown back in a laugh that rocked his world. You just looked so adorable that he had to hold you, even if it was just your hand.

He knew it was the right choice when you immediately squeezed his hand. He squeezed back, which caused you to do it again, beginning an all-out hand-squeezing war that only ended when the two of you were laughing too hard to continue.

Christ, your laugh was just so beautiful. You looked so free and so happy when you simply threw your head back and laughed, letting your joy overtake your entire body. Fred could feel himself staring, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to be a part of your sunshine.

Too soon, you stopped laughing and just stared back at him. He held your gaze for a moment, letting his eyes flick to your lips every so often. He stepped closer to you. Close enough to touch you. Close enough to lean in…

Close enough to kiss you.

You’re eyes slid shut as Fred leaned in and placed a hand under your chin to tilt your face up to meet his. Slowly, so terribly slowly, he leaned in and pressed his lips to yours.

Your lips were soft, and they seemed to meld with his perfectly. Fred could feel his pulse racing as you tugged on the lapels of his jacket to get closer. Christ, he just wanted to be closer to you, closer, and closer.

You opened your mouth slightly, and Fred took that opportunity to part your lips and deepen the kiss. He felt you inhale sharply and panicked for a moment until he heard your small moan at the movements of his tongue. All Fred knew was that he wanted to hear that sound again, and again, and again until you couldn’t make it anymore, until you were tired and sick with pleasure-

You gasped as you pulled away from him. Your lips were raw and red, matching the blush that colored your cheeks. It was silent for a moment as the two of you gazed at each other.

Fred smirked. “So…do you think we still have chemistry?”

#this isn't inspired by recent events at all #nope #not me #fred weasley x reader #fred weasely x yn #fred weasley #harry potter #fanfic #xreader #writing #sports romance

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esmeriandreamer · 2 years

Text

Just saw someone call AO3 a "cp-website" and I'm gonna just-

Like I know every time the Archive has a fundraiser some people will crawl out of the woodworks and spout bullcrap, but geez-

If you don't like AO3, fine, that's your opinion. But don't call it a "cp-website", nor demonize people who donate to their fundraiser, from which a large part of the funds goes to KEEPING THE SERVERS AND HAVING PROPER LEGAL PROTECTION.

You know one of the main reasons why AO3 was created? Because in the "old days", if someone didn't like the fact that you, I dunno, wrote some wholesome gay fic online, they could report it and you might just lose your whole fic without warning, because think of the children, right? And to really put icing on the cake, your account might be deleted too. 🙃

Or, like I experienced, it won't just be one or three reports that get your fic taken down. Critics United for example was a group of these ~lovely~ people who would go on people's fics and suggest (harass) the author on how to change their fic to be "improved upon" (aka sanitize the fuck out of it so there is no trace of what they saw as gross/bad/wrong/cringe/sinful/etc.). If they didn't manage to harass you into deleting, they'd just mass report you.

I got literal death and rape threats for writing a Spamano version of Beauty and the Beast, told I was a criminal and that my parents should've killed me in my crib.

ALL OVER A STUPID LITTLE SELFINDULGENT FIC.

They even went so far as to track my username down from Fanfiction.net to Wattpad, and only once I got it on AO3 was the story able stay up because they had no way of harassing or reporting me like they could before, because I could easily turn my comments off to "registered users only" or even to "moderate comments." and that scared them off.

This was in 2016 by the way. Not even a decade ago. Now I could even block people if I want on AO3, so it gets harder to harass me, even if I did care.

But like yes, I agree on the fact that fics with cp are allowed on the site is rather gross. I would never write nor read it. But you know what helps with this?

AO3 HAS THIS TAGGING SYSTEM IN WHICH YOU CAN TAG AND FILTER OUT THE THINGS YOU DON'T LIKE, SUCH AS FICS WITH THE UNDERAGE WARNING :D

And guess what? It works great! I never have to see fics with cp in it, because I filter my fics. And even if I see that I accidentally clicked on a fic like that? I click out of the page and move the fuck on.

People on AO3 can and have written the most repulsive shit known to man, but more often than not, it's tagged with big warnings in the description. I have read cringy and horrifying fics that still made me nauseous to think back on, that have changed how I look at certain characters. And guess what?

THEY STILL DESERVE TO EXIST AND BE READ BY OTHERS.

Besides, there is a very fine line as to what some people define concepts like cp. Like I define it as minors being forced/manipulated into sexual situations, while others might look at an adult anime character who looks like a little kid and say that they shouldn't be sexualized. We are both correct in our own digital space there.

I don't like "shota/lolita" nsfw stuff, others do, and so I am just letting those people be and I avoid that content. Same with scat, or watersports, or cnc. Avoid, click away, goodbye. I don't demand that all "they look young but they're actually an adult!" types of media should be banned, nor that people who enjoy (reading about) sex with bodily fluids should be publically shamed, or that people who consentually enjoy the dark fantasty of being forced should be treated like an actual rapist.

And that's really what this is about. Don't like it, don't read/look at it. This whole "but they are allowing xyz and I don't like that!!" argument is basically becoming the same right-wing argument as "but I see xyz as wrong/bad/a sin and therefor nobody should be allowed to enjoy it."

If AO3 were to be forced to ban one thing, like people dealing with their childhood SA by writing a fic about it, who is to say they won't be forced to ban something like CNC next? What about kink? Queerness? Because that is the road a lot of right-wing people want you antis to take.

It's a main reason AO3 has fundraisers. For the servers to stay up. For legal support when a company claims fanfic is bad. For times that those things might get more expensive to maintain.

And because AO3 is of the few websites that allow everyone, especially queer people, to make art and have that art be protected from those that wish to destroy anything they do not like. And yes, that protection includes protecting work made by "bad" people.

So chill, skip over that fic you don't want to see, don't donate to or interact with AO3 if you don't want to, and maybe touch some grass? That would be great.

Rant over uwu

#marije rants #ao3 #ao3 fundraiser #long post

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thesparklingwriter · 10 months

Text

a technological affair

" And thus, his email was lost to the grips of hackers."

tags: modern au, pet names, gn!reader (use of wife), established relationship, zhongli cannot use a phone for the life of him, reader is an Apple enjoyer,

ao3 link | taglist | masterlist | next

As far as you’re concerned, Zhongli is the closest thing to perfection a man could ever be. Except for one very minor detail. He cannot, for the life of him, use a phone.

Which could be blamed on his 30,000 year old android, with a screen that barely functions and a cracked camera, and you really can't let him go out like that. So one day, as an advance on your anniversary gift for him, you decide to welcome him to the wonderful world of the iPhone.

“What’s this?” Zhongli says, opening the box carefully. “What have I done to warrant such a gift?” he holds the phone in his hands as if it’s a baby chick—you bought him one of the bigger phones, knowing his hands are large, and even still he could do with something bigger.

“You dropped your phone in the toilet and I can’t allow you to continue using it. You have to understand.” You grin. “So I got you a new one that actually works and when you tap the screen, it actually registers it.”

Zhongli looks at you with gratitude but also an inkling of confusion. What’s he going to do with this fancy, characterless lump of metal that he couldn't do with his old phone? “I appreciate this, my love, I really do. But I don’t know if this is going to be as good of an idea as you think it is.”

You scoff, pulling him into a hug. “Zhongli, I would like to actually hear my husband when I call him. I would like to understand the texts he sends to me. And I would also like to send him pictures of cute cats on Instagram.”

And of course, Zhongli couldn’t possibly deny you anything you ask of him, so he agrees to try to navigate this new phone with as much positivity and faith as he can possibly muster.

In the few weeks since you bought him the phone, he has managed to:

(1) Lock himself out of it. For a whole week. You asked him how he managed to do that and he didn’t seem too sure as to what he’d done. So you asked him if you could know his password and promised only to use it in situations like this. (And promptly cried when you realised his password was your birthday.)

(2) Get his email hacked. He’d approached you with excitement, saying: “Dear, look. I got an email saying I’ve won a Macbook.” To which you replied: “You can barely use your phone, we might need to leave the macbook on the back burner for a while. Who sent the email?”. The email was sent by [email protected] and contained a link, which Zhongli had happily pressed. And thus, his email was lost to the grips of hackers.

(3) Find the dictation and voice note feature, which is great. He gives you encyclopaedic updates to his day, which you read or listen to with genuine enthusiasm. This was what you bought him the phone for at the end of the day, right? The extra chance to connect with your husband?

(4) Get into the habit of sending you pictures of things that make him happy or that remind him of you. Which is essentially the same thing as far as he is concerned. You’ve also got used to sending them back.

(5) Make an Instagram account. He’s not great at it, but with some guidance, he manages to post some of the pictures he sends you.

(6) Accidentally message the group chat (you, Xiao, Ganyu, Madame Ping and some others use it to invite each other to dignified tea parties and movie marathons) his shopping list. The shopping list included all the things he was getting for you as part of your anniversary gift, so Xiao had to teach him how to delete the message so you wouldn’t see it.

But by the time your next anniversary comes around, he’s actually really good with it—he can use instagram better than you can (though he read the terms and conditions from start to finish and became very careful about how he uses it), orders things from amazon at least three times a week, and has a facebook group for fellow birdwatchers with about two hundred people in it.

Yes, he has all of his icons and text at the largest size possible, and yes, he refuses to use TikTok and favours Instagram reels, but when he’s on work trips or you’re visiting friends elsewhere in the world, it’s nice to be able to video call him and not feel as distant as you used to.

“I think this phone might have been the best gift you’ve ever gotten me, dearest.” he says one night, after discovering the kindle app, where he can find all the classic novels he loves so much without having to clear out bookshelf space.

You sit in bed together, simply talking about your respective days, both your phones banished to charge in another room. Of course, being able to use a phone doesn’t mean that you should at all times—the phone banishment rule had initially just existed for you, but the rules had to accommodate the new technical whiz in the house.

“What about the gift that is me?” you counter, nuzzling into his chest gleefully. He kisses you deeply, a smile on his lips as he pulls away.

“Nothing on this earth is better than the gift that is you.”

“Not even your group of birdwatchers?”

“I did get to see a wonderful example of a nearly extinct sparrow with beautiful colouring last week,” he teases. “But no, they could never be better than my beloved.”

notes: you all have cael to thank for this hilarious prompt idea. this is why you should always make friends with people on tumblr they always slay.

taglist: @medusuu @aixaingela @thelonelyarchon @ainescribe

#[🌷]—sponsored by cael #tswzhongliflufftober #zhongli #genshin impact #zhongli fluff #genshin fluff #zhongli x reader #fanfiction #zhongli fanfic #zhongli flufftober #flufftober #genshin impact fluff #genshin impact fan fiction #ganshin fan fiction #genshin zhongli #zhongli genshin x reader #zhongli genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader

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palmofafreezinghand · 19 days

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Carlisle joins a "J. Platt Fan Club" group on Facebook. on ao3 here.

201—

In his nearly four hundred years Carlisle had seen countless radical earth-altering changes; social media had proved to be the most irksome.

He had once dismissed the new applications as a fad, nothing to worry about; until he went ’mildly-viral’ as Alice put it. An emergency room patient had posted a candid, unauthorized, photo of him on an application called Twitter with the caption “my doctor is hotter than my fever.” It was quickly, miraculously, not at all the result of a bribe, deleted from the internet, only after ten thousand people had “liked” the post.

The incident forced him to move, take a year off from medicine, and have a lengthy conversation with a man and leader he once called a friend. When he did return to the human world it was with precautions, accepting a night shift position that was largely surgical. It was difficult for patients to reveal a centuries-old secret if they were under anesthesia. Every contract he signed included a contingency his photo would not appear on the online staff directory or in any promotional material. For extra precaution he held fake indiscrete social media accounts, using them to track past coworkers and any time non-consensual photos of a “hot” medical professional trended, which was shockingly often.

One random afternoon of monitoring “Facebook” a group popped up under a tab called “Groups You Might Be Interested In,” ‘J. Platt Fan Club.’ He joined the group in an instant.

The group was full of various paintings by J. Platt. Many members posted their — often incorrect and unintelligent — interpretations, others posted photos of their own homes showing how they styled framed prints.

He stopped scrolling after twenty minutes, looked up, and snapped a photo of the painting hanging above his desk. A landscape of a small hunting lodge in Northern Wisconsin set in late Spring.

He posted the photo with the caption, “I have many Platt’s works hanging around my home but this one is my favorite.”

It was risky, someone was bound to realize he was the only one in the group who had ever posted an original, the only one who could afford an original. Yet, he felt the need to brag, especially to the random posters who claimed they were “J. Platt’s biggest fan.”

Before he closed the tab a comment popped up, it was one of the self-proclaimed ‘biggest fans,’ an older man named Chester Allen.

“I haven’t seen this one before are you sure it’s a J. Platt?”

‘Biggest fan.’ Sure.

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

It had been three weeks since he first discovered the online fan club when Esme peeked over his shoulder. She slinked an arm around his neck, resting her chin on top of his head.

“What is this?” She asked, looking at the comment section he had pulled up. His most recent post of three Platt paintings hanging in their hallway had garnered quite a lot of attention, as had most of his posts over the past three weeks highlighting his collection of one specific artist.

“I’ve joined a fan club,” he smiled, tilting his head to look up at her.

“Oh?” She asked, her eyes landing on his face and then immediately scanning down to his tee-shirt. “What is that?”

He laughed, breaking the embrace to show her his shirt. She scrunched her nose. “You do not like my attire?” He asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

“I do not think it is inconspicuous,” she said in feigned disdain, allowing him to gently pull her to sit in the chair with him, well more on his lap.

“Why ever not? J. Platt is a quite renowned artist,” he smiled, squeezing her side. “Ask the fan club I joined,” he said, closing out of the comment section and pointing to the group title.

“You started a fan club?”

“No, I joined a fan club, and then I bought their graphic tee shirt. I can purchase you one as well if you wish.”

“Wait, an unauthorized group is selling these ugly shirts and profiting from it?”

“I don’t know how much they’re profiting, it was an inexpensive garment.”

“Who owns this group?” She asked, squinting at the screen.

“Es, you are not sending them a cease and desist. They adore you. Look,” he said scrolling to the recent posts. “There’s your work in someone’s nursery,” he tapped on the screen. Her expression softened slightly.

“That wallpaper does coordinate well.”

He smiled to himself and scrolled on, quickly passing his own post.

“Was that our bedroom?”

“No.”

“Carlisle William Cullen.”

“Yes, it was, but I removed the identifying objects before I took the photo.”

“That bedroom has been in Architect Digest.”

“No one reads that,” he grinned. His joke earned him a slight smile that was quickly covered when she remembered she was trying to be irritated at him.

She gently took the mouse from him and started to scroll. She clicked the comments of one of his posts.

“A print?” She scoffed.

“Your originals are valued higher than most of these people’s houses.”

She shrugged and continued scrolling, he rested his chin on her shoulder as she read. “This man says he’s my biggest fan,” she said, elbowing him slightly. His proclivity to jealousy was her favorite button to push.

“Chester,” he said under his breath.

“He’s quite handsome. Don’t you think?”

“He’s sixty-seven, balding, lives in Illinois, and cheated on his past two wives.”

She turned, eyebrows raised. “How do you know that?”

“I’m guessing,” he lied.

“You are ridiculous,” she shook her head fondly. “Is Dr. Jones on this website?”

“Hush,” he said, tightening his arms around her waist. His tone, which she perceived as jealous but was absolutely not, caused her glee. She pressed a kiss to his temple through her laughter.

Eventually, she turned her attention back to the computer screen, reading various posts for a good ten minutes. He was content to sit there, watching her face as she read the hundreds of compliments. Her slight smile turned to scorn as she read through one of Chester’s comments.

“They think I’m a man?” She gasped.

“Oh yes, there are a few who point out ‘J’ could be disguising a woman’s name, but the popular belief is J. Platt is a man.”

She was already off his lap, and walking towards the door.

“Was that not your intention in picking that pseudonym?” He called as she walked down the hall.

“It was, but I thought people nowadays would catch on.”

He smiled to himself and closed the tab, switching over to his email inbox.

“I do want one of those shirts,” Esme said quietly, popping her head back into the doorway.

“Of course, love,” he smiled, knowing hers was sitting in his closet already. “I love you,” he called when he heard her studio door open.

“Not as much as Chester!” She laughed from across the house.

#carlisle cullen #esme cullen #my stories

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nimata-beroya · 4 months

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20 Questions For Writers

This was sitting on my notifs for a few days and i finally took the time to do it. Thank my darling @takadasaiko for the tag!! 💕💕

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I have 88 works in total, 31 of which are for Star Wars.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

574,873 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently, I'm only writing for Star Wars. But I used to write for Arrow and Supergirl, and ASoIAF, Dark-Hunters and Chronicles of Nick are in standby. I'm waiting for right motivation to come back to any of the last 3.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

I'm only talking about Star Wars fics here...

Kadala (The Mandalorian) [and 4th place in most kudos of all my works]

Rough Awakening (The Bad Batch) [and 5th place in most kudos of all my works]

Welcome to Yavin IV (Rebels)

An Explosive Situation (Rebels)

Rescue on Ryloth (The Bad Batch)

And the the rest of my all-time fics with most kudos are

Take Your Breath Away (Arrow)

Undisclosed Desires (Arrow)

Made For You (ASoIaF/Game of Thrones)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try my best, but sometimes I forget, and then it's been weeks and months since I got the comments that I'm embarrassed to reply them after so long. Even though, I think it's important that a writer let the reader/commenter that they appreciate it, even if it's with a simple "thank you" or an emoji. I know I'm being a hypocrite here since I fail to do what I preach, but it doesn't make it less true.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I think that would be Drifting, because it's kind of open ending, left to be interpreted, so it could end however the reader wants. Although, I left an author's note at the end saying what's my preferred ending, which always will be inclined to the happy side.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

High Above the Ground because is the happy ending i want for Commander Fox and Riyo Chuchi. They deserve only the best!

8. Do you get hate on your fic?

No, not really. I've gotten only 1 stupid message of someone criticizing a fic, but that was years ago when I still posted on FF dot net. The joke was on the reader because I moderated all the comments there so I just deleted it and nobody saw it but me. Honestly, I just laughed about it cuz their argument was just stupid.

9. Do you write smut?

I do, all kinds -from the most tame thing to the most perverted. But I used to wrote way more in my old fandoms, especially for Arrow. I think for Star Wars I've written just 1 or 2 smutty fics, and tamed at that.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I've tried a couple of occasions but never finished them. I'm not opposed to them obviously, but I do think the combination of fandoms has to be just right to work. Or at least, when it's me doing the writing.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes! Many, many years ago in the first fandom I ever wrote for. It was awful and hated it! You see, this was in the stone age of the internet when fandom specific sites abounded and not everyone had an account on FFnet yet (and Ao3 was not even a dream). The site I published on was split in 2 sections because the ships war in the fandom was bloody and ruthless, so to avoid the slaughter, I kept myself in my preferred side. But one day, a friend who read fic on both sides told me that someone stole my fics. Avoiding to get caught, the person who did it published them under a pen name that was almost exact to mine, she only added a period at the end, which could easily go unnoticed. Oh, and she interchanged characters names so it'd fit the other ship.

At first, my friend thought I had posted them but she knew I'd never write for that ship, like ever. In the end, it turned out that I wasn't the only one who had being plagiarized. Several people ON BOTH SIDES were. Thankfully, the person was caught and banned, but we almost burned the site down because of the whole shitshow.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

By me, yes, several. All into Spanish (my mother tongue). By others, not that I know of.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes! A couple of times for different fandoms, and I loved it. I hope I'll do it again. The thing is that you need to find the right partner for it, or it can be a nightmare.

14. What‘s your all-time favourite ship?

I don't appreciate this question, let me tell you. It's hard to choose. But I think I have to go with Olicity. I love them still (even if the show ending ruined it for me). Close second would be Braime (and I'm glad that there's still hope for them on the books, because as usual the show fucked them so but sooooo bad)

And as Star Wars specific, I don't think anyone will be surprised if I say it's Kalluzeb, right 🤣 They're my babies and I adore them!

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Anything for Arrow or Supergirl. I sworn off those fandoms after their respectively awful endings.

No promises, but there's still hope for all if my unfinished works for Star Wars 😅

16. What’s your writing strengths?

Coming up with ideas. So, so many ideas. All the time and I want to write them all.

17. What’s your writing weaknesses?

Finishing writing the above-mentioned ideas. I tend to splay myself too much when I'm writing, and it takes me forever to get to the portion I really want to write (usually the idea that sparked the whole writing process) and I lose steam. That's why I have so many unfinished WIPs. I wish they'd write themselves.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

It's ok if used sparingly. A word here, a phrase over there is fine, but if a wall of dialogue that the reader needs to scroll down to the notes or click on a tooltip to find out the meaning it's the worst!!! A better solution for a writer that really needs/wants to have a whole conversation in another language for plot reasons or whatever, then all they need to do is to say once that the characters are talking in the other language and put the dialogue in the same language they've been writing the rest of the narrative and in italic.

The characters who don't speak the language won't understand what's being said, but the reader will and their reading will be more pleasant and fluid.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

An Argentinian show called Floricienta. A modern retelling of Cinderella.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written?

I don't like this question either! All my fics are my babies! How do you want me to choose?!! There are so many I'm proud of. I guess I'll point the most recent one: Feed Me Poison, Fill me till I Drown I really like how this story is coming along. It's not done yet (what else is new? 😅) but what's coming is so so good!

Tagging (no pressure): @renee561 @thecoffeelorian @genericficerblog @airlockfailure @mistr3ssquickly @insertmeaningfulusername @fanfictasia

#20 asks for writers #ask game #the mandalorian #the bad batch #sw rebels #kalluzeb #braime #foxiyo #mare writes star wars #and other things #olicity #long post

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pastself · 3 months

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Want for Nothing: Deleted Scene (Joint Accounts - 1.3k)

So, part of the problem with being a discovery writer is that I have a good 20k of deleted scenes for Want for Nothing. Most of them are nothing special, but some I can’t quite let go of, even though they don’t work anymore — this is one of them.

It’s set in Chapter 3 (4 by ao3 logic) “Tabloid Junkie” and basically has Tony/Peter confronting their new financial dynamic head-on. It got cut because 1/ Peter was going through enough in that chapter, 2/ they were both just… not in the right place to talk about it without it devolving into an argument. It’s unfinished in that respect, because I was just not up to writing whatever new hell they were going to invent.

—

The bed was cold when Peter woke the next morning.

Cold, but not empty.

A pile of bank documents lay on top of Tony’s pillow. No note attached – unless several post-its with the words "sign here" counted.

Peter read over the documents alone in his multi-million dollar apartment with the blinds down. Signing would make him a co-owner of Tony's accounts. The balance wasn't listed, but behind the ownership documents were sign-offs for new unlimited lines of credit in Peter's name.

Peter hadn't even known there was such a thing as unlimited credit.

He called Tony.

"Hear me out," Tony said as soon as the call connected. "This is just like May’s medical bills."

"How?"

"Your Aunt's old boss screwed her out of what she'd worked for, so I fixed the damage. This is me doing the same for you."

"But I’m fine. I’m–"

“NYU is pulling your scholarship.”

The words hit Peter like a punch to the gut. His vision blurred and he felt the blood run from his brain. He sat down, hard, on a kitchen stool. Tony was still talking to him, but the words were indistinguishable. Completely obscured by the white noise of panic running through him.

His scholarship.

The one he’d spent years fighting for, pulling weeks of all-nighters to ensure he stayed in the city’s top percentile. Padding his resume with debate team and volunteer work, on top of his jobs and Spider-Man. His scholarship. The one he and May had cried over, together, when it had come through. The one that had been set to get him through college, miraculously, with ‘only’ 20 grand of student debt.

Gone.

“–but you told me to tell you before I pull shit. So I put the foundation on hold, and figured we could just pay this all out of pocket. Out of your pocket, if you’ll let me–”

“Wait, what?”

Tony was silent for a beat. “You missed everything I said, huh?”

“I… what?”

Tony let out a sad sigh, and Peter desperately wished they were having this conversation in person.

“The scholarship is gone, babe.”

“But why… how can they do this?”

“It’s the apartment. It’s legally in your name, and when they… found out about your change of address, they decided to re-evaluate your financial status. You don’t qualify for aid anymore.”

Oh.

“But an apartment doesn’t pay for, like, tuition. Or food. Or just… anything else. I quit my jobs. Just because I’m living here–”

“They don’t see it that way. So, either we fight them, which I’m happy to do, or we just give them money. In this case, I think paying them off is the better option.”

Peter squeezed his eyes shut and tried to swallow back the lump in his throat. He knew Tony was just trying to help but, fuck, if didn’t feel like someone had just pulled the rug out from under him.

“You said something about a foundation?” he said, trying to piece together Tony’s earlier rant.

“I uh-” Tony started, before clearing his throat awkwardly. Peter heard him fidget with something on his desk. “My first thought was to set up a foundation under SI that could just give you a new scholarship.”

“Are you kidding me–”

“But, I remembered you told me to just ask you before I did shit. So, I shelved the scholarship idea and instead I’m asking. This is me asking, okay? Let me do this for you. Let me fix this.”

Peter looked down at the bank documents Tony had provided. It was too much. He couldn’t imagine having total access to Tony’s money; he didn’t want the responsibility that came with that.

“Can’t you just… pay my tuition? And give me something for expenses?”

Tony made no reply for a long moment. Long enough for Peter to feel antsy. Because really, what kind of person said no to a fortune?

“Those documents would give you more security,” Tony said, eventually. “I wouldn’t be able to take away your access without your consent. So if… if things don’t work out, you’ll be able to look out for yourself.”

If things don’t work out?

“Are you breaking up with me?” Peter said instinctively, irrationally.

“Jesus, Peter, no. People don’t hand over billions of dollars as a parting gift. No. Definitely not breaking up with you.”

“Billions?” Peter let out a croak of a laugh. “Right, yeah, of course, right. Sorry.”

“I just– you should have the freedom.”

Peter understood Tony’s motivation, in theory – but he hated it. Because Tony was family, now, and Peter couldn’t imagine a world in which he wouldn’t be. Couldn’t imagine a world in which he’d choose to stop taking Tony’s support. Or in which Tony would stop giving it, even if they stopped dating.

But maybe Tony needed that reassurance. Maybe this wasn’t just about Peter. Maybe this was one of those points of compromise MJ kept talking about.

“Is that… is that ‘freedom’ important for you?”

“Yes,” Tony answered immediately.

Okay. Compromise it is, then.

“Alright, alright,” Peter tried to bring his mind into focus. Tried to think of a way this would work for both of them. “Could you set it up in a way that… I dunno, lets me have access up to a certain limit? And a set time-frame? That way you’ll know I’ll be able to cover tuition and expenses for… well, however long you think.”

“So no limits and forever?”

“Tony–”

“What?" Tony said stubbornly. "That’s what you deserve.”

Peter sighed. “I’m not saying no, Tony. But the idea of being responsible for, like, an infinite amount of money freaks me out. I don’t want to be on the Forbes list or–”

“Those lists are bullshit PR–”

“Well, whatever. You get my point. I get that you want me to have that extra cushion, but I– I’m trying to compromise here. I already trust you to support me — I don’t see why we need to do all this, especially since it will inevitably end up in the Bugle.”

Tony was silent, but for a pen tapping contemplatively.

“Is this a kink thing?” he said

Peter definitely hadn’t seen the conversation going this direction.

“What? A- a what?”

“You know,” Tony said, voice oddly detached and casual. “‘Pay for me, own me, control me.’ Are you trying to tell me you have an ownership kink? That you’re into the whole codependent, power transfer thing?”

“That’s a thing?”

Tony let out a gust of air, and Peter heard more rustling in the background. Peter genuinely has no idea how to continue this conversation.

“Yes. It’s a thing,” Tony said, at last. “Is it your thing?”

“Is it yours?” Peter volleyed back.

“Not necessarily.”

“Okay, well…” Peter still didn’t know what to say. “Ditto?”

Tony was quiet for another long minute. Peter started counting his breaths to keep himself from speaking.

“So,” Tony said eventually. “You want me to control your finances, but not in a kinky way. Honestly, that may be worse.”

Peter sighed. “No,” he said, emphatically. “I don’t want you to control anything. What I want is the scholarship I dedicated years of my life to getting. But, given that’s not an option, I am happy to accept your support – which doesn’t have to mean access to all your money. I love May, and I’d help her with anything, but we still have separate bank accounts. See where I’m going with this?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah — you want a daddy.” Tony’s voice was hard. Angry.

Peter genuinely wanted to throw his phone out the window. Actually, he could hear it crack slightly under his hand, so he put it down and just let himself breathe.

And breathe.

“Peter?” came Tony’s voice.

Peter finally picked up his phone. “If you were anyone else I would have hung up.”

—

Edit with my tags (lol making me change my tumblr ways): fwiw Peter still doesn’t know if the money thing is a sex thing for him, bc it is just so intertwined with the way Peter feels Tony’s love for him. Obvs that impacts the sex but not — directly?

#my writing #want for nothing #Peter still doesn’t know if the money thing is a sex thing for him fwiw #it’s just so intertwined with the way Peter feels Tony’s love for him #which obvs impacts the sex but not — directly?

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writeblrfantasy · 1 year

Text

around six years ago, i started writing seriously for the first time. it was fanfiction. (glee fanfiction if you're curious.) i wouldn't write something original for the first time for another year.

i loved writing fanfiction--i put my whole unashamed heart into it, i didn't even think about whether it was good or not, because i was having a blast. i wrote for many different fandoms, i wrote one (short) fanfic a day during december based on one word prompts, and i would send them to my friend each night--a routine which got me through a very hard week of my life. i wrote buckets and buckets of fanfiction.

and then, i'm not sure when and why that changed--i read and still do read something on ao3 almost every night for dozens and dozens of fandoms, after all. but the more i wrote original books, i stopped writing fanfiction, and over the years, writing fanfiction seemed like an impossible task.

i tried a few times, i wrote a customized fic for my bestie's birthday, but i could never get far usually. it felt alien and intrusive to try and write someone else's characters. it would always end in shame and this feeling of wrong, wrong, wrong.

i don't have any of those early fanfictions from six years ago because i deleted them, convinced they were hot garbage (and they were, but i still would've liked to have them!)

i continued to write originally, still reading fanfiction almost every night and participating in fandom in other ways. and then in late 2021, i wrote and finished a good fic as a herculean labor of love. in spring of 22, it took me an incredible effort, but i took one of my old surviving fanfics and edited it to new standards, and then encouraged by my victory, i wrote 2 more fics and started a bunch of others.

i made an ao3 account and posted these all, and was encouraged like never before by the comments i received, the love i had never received because i'd never posted my fanfics before. slowly, the shame wore off. i could write fanfiction again. it became something i could do while sitting on my phone in a waiting room having an anxiety attack, something to do before i went to bed, something i could do when a fic i wanted didn't exist--i could finally just write it!

and now, we come to this year. in 23 so far, i've written and posted 11 fanfics adding up to 100,805 words in total, in two fandoms, with several fanfic wips in the works. two weeks ago i wrote, without meaning to, 7k of a fic in one day to finish it, a week after finishing the source material. i'm still hesitant to share snippets of fics with friends not in those fandoms, but i did in this case and was told by a friend that it was some of my best writing ever--original and fanfic combined. period.

in january when i watched my favorite movie too many times to get anything more out of it, i turned to fanfiction, where i had a fic i mentioned was inspired by my favorite fic in the tiny ass fandom, which the creator then saw and was flattered by, and continued to read all my fics in that fandom!

this would turn into a 7 part series which i would post once a week, whipping up 5k minimum fics in a matter of days. i was shameless. i was carefree. i was living for the familiar usernames in my comments, and the serotonin of pushing that "new post" button. i was having fun.

in moments where i would wonder if the fic i was writing was cringe, if anyone would like it if i posted it, i reminded myself that i read fic every night. fic is often the first place i turn after finishing a source material, and what i look forward to while consuming that material. if everyone who thought like me about their fics didn't post, i would be without fanfics to get me through my fandom experience, and i would hate that. so i kept writing and posting.

now: my relationship with writing fanfiction has never been healthier. i am better than where i was at six years ago, because my overall writing skills have improved about 1000%, and because i'm posting now. writing fanfiction now often provides me a break from the stress and complexity of writing original novels, and it's a lovely wind down bedtime activity.

so, i suppose if there's a takeaway from this post, it's that fan content creators, no matter what you create, and no matter how small the fandom you're creating for, even if you're the first work in your fandom, keep creating. what you're doing is real and worthy and just as important as original content, and keeps the heart of fandom alive. i am so happy i repaired my relationship with writing fanfic, and it's made me happier this year than i thought possible, due in large part to the incredible commenting communities in fandom. i wish the same for all of you <3

#fanfiction #fanfic #a love letter to fanfiction #writing #writeblr #writers #this got much ramblier and longer than i intended but i'm glad i made this post #been ruminating in my brain for a long time :)#other writers encouraged to rb with their experiences!

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linka-from-captain-planet · 25 days

Text

Fanfic Writer Questions

thanks for the tag @siyurikspakvariisis!

Since I love compartmentalizing, I have 2 AO3 accounts I would consider "active": teefling (BG3 only) and Linka_From_Captain_Planet (Stardew Valley and Arcane) so I'll tally up the results for both so I sound more impressive.

How many works do you have on AO3? teefling: 8 (BG3) LinkaFCP: 24 (18 Arcane, 6 SDV)

What is your total AO3 word count? Teefling: 33,928 LinkaFCP: 209,399 Grand total: 243,327

What fandoms do you write for? Actively, just BG3. I could fall back into Stardew Valley at any moment (still eating up my new farms), but Acane is parked until Season 2 comes out, probably.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? - devil in disguise, snake with blue eyes (Arcane, caitvi) - An Anthology of Trib...ulations (BG3, shadowzel) - when my blue moon turns to gold again (BG3, shadowzel) - Goddess of the Hunt (Arcane, Cait/Brothel Girl) - come knock on this wood, get rocked by this thunder (Arcane, Cait/Sevika) These range from like 600 (high outlier) to 200. Honestly having a high kudos count is sort of embarrassing to me, as a mostly rarepair fan. My ideal amount of kudos is like, 50.

Do you respond to comments? Yes! I try to match the energy and give more detailed replies to more detailed comments, but I'll always respond to say thanks (even if it takes me a while). The only type of comment I might intentionally ignore is one asking for updates.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I think most people would say "when my blue moon turns to gold again" (BG3) because it involves a major character death, but for my taste it's pretty optimistic! I'd say it was "couldn't we reach inside and find that world of me and you" (Arcane), covering my take on Vi's time in prison and finding, and losing, her first love.

What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? "Courtship Traditions of the Stardew Valley: A Case Study", which was the last installment of my Haley Hates Prismatic Shards series. It's my designated tooth-rotting fluff fic.

Do you get hate on fics? Somewhat surprised to say no! I would just delete it/block without acknowledgement if I did.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yep! It really varies by whatever agenda the fic has. Sometimes PWP, but usually still with an elaborate setup/backstory, which I like-- I'm always hornier for a Concept and Why Are They Fingering than the fingering itself. Not to tell on myself, but sometimes I get annoyed at the meager and/or gross offerings whilst trying to cruise a kink tag, and just write my own damn fic. But mostly, I just like to use sex in fics to inform the characters' dynamic in a kind of saucy and gripping way. I wouldn't say it's low-hanging fruit, but definitely a fast track toward a high-emotion dynamic or situationship or whatever it is that I really want to portray. Writing the actual sex part is often a bummer for me.

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? I lack the whimsy for a proper crossovers (mixing Arcane and League like I do when I want to be horny about Corina Veraza doesn't count). This is why all my fics take place firmly in the original media's universe, and I can't do AUs either.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of!

Have you ever had a fic translated? Nope.

Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, and I don't think I really could. I'm happy to bounce ideas around, but actually collaborating on the actual writing would drive me crazy. I was the group project control freak for way too many years of school to do it again.

What's your all-time favorite ship? This is hard to answer as a relentless multishipper who fixates on one fandom at a time. Currently I'm in BG3 and it's Minthara/Florrick. In Arcane, it was Caitlyn/Brothel Girl, and in SDV, it's Leah/Haley.

What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Realistically... I will probably never finish the Arcane series I started, which was about Vi and her "prison wife" unless I fall ass first into that particular insanity again. I will probably also never update my shadowzel kink ficlet collection.

What are your writing strengths? Concept, mood/atmosphere, POV character voice I'd say.

What are your writing weaknesses? Getting caught up in minutiae that don't really matter but need to be *perfect* before I can move on, being a control freak and over-explaining things because I can't stand the possibility of being misunderstood

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? This is such a random question, but it depends on whether it's a real language and how much dialogue it is. My works take place in fantasy worlds with fantasy characters, so it's whatever. If I'm writing in Minthara or Lae'zel's POV, I throw in commonly-known (to the fandom) drow or gith words with no explanation and usually not even italicized since it's a part of that character's usual diction. If I needed them to have a whole conversation in their tongue, I'd write it in English with italics to set it apart from the 'common' dialogue and prose.

First fandom you wrote for? Stardew Valley was the first fandom I ever published a fic for! But I would write for myself sometimes before that, I think it was probably Zelda (OOT) when I was really young. I didn't write at all between probably 13 and 25.

Favorite fic you've written? Super hard to say. Some of my older writing makes me cringe, but I have a lot of affection for older works that got me into the fandoms that have given me a lot of joy over the past few years. Best I can do is break it down by fandom. For Arcane, it's definitely "venus flytrap". For SDV, I'd say "Maybe Prismatic Shards Are Okay". For BG3, I'm torn between "mirage" (my favorite concept even if I think I could have executed it better) and "hold you like a python".

#too bashful to tag ppl as always #but these are fun to fill out when I have the time/brain cells

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ofmermaidstories · 11 months

Note

Let me preface this by saying I did check your FAQ but I didn't see this there yet I still find it hard to believe no one has asked you this at least a thousand times so if they did and I just missed it I'm sorry and you can delete this ask but—

You write such beautiful, detailed fics with lots of foreshadowing that often starts from the very beginning of the story. I think you made an author note once about only posting the first chapter of a fic after you've written the whole thing (or maybe that was Andie...?). If so, is the time between updates just you going through and rereading / editing like 100k words?

Basically, I want to ask: what is your fic planning process like? From the moment you get a first idea to posting the last chapter, what does I look like? I think you're a really, really amazing (one of the absolute best if not THE best) author but I cannot fathom how one human being can write such mammoths of fanfiction and stay motivated enough to finish them.

Also you're already planning Halloween stuff ?? You plan things literally half a year in advance?? Are you even human? We don't deserve you. 😭

You called yourself lazy in the webcomic post but I think you must work unbelievably hard to make such high quality stuff and without even getting compensation for it. You're amazing and I'm very thankful to exist in the right timeline and fandom to read your work. :,)

(oh my god this became such a ramble I'm sorry)

Oh Ari. 🥺 Hello.

I update as I write! So that was probably Andie, lmao, who’s definitely the better example to follow when it comes to plotting/completing a fic. 🥺 She’s amazing and if I could fashion myself after any other writer in our niche, it would be Andie hands down!

But okay, let’s get into it. 📝

A little disclaimer, before we start; I did not go to school for any of this lmfao. The most relevant education I have behind me is a extra-circular literature class I had during my last two years of high-school. The only reason the following works for me is because I’ve cobbled it together from years of trial and error. You can read advice and watch youtube videos about the writing habits of famous authors, but you have to tailor everything you hear to suit you and the way you work. The best advice in the world from the highest paid author in the world won’t work if you’re not wired in the same way! You have to take everything about yourself and what you like and what you want into account!

Part I—first we take Manhattan

start ur fic lol

First thing’s first; I’m a plotter. I don’t pants. If I pants, I lose interest—I need to have the final vision in front of me, even if it’s just a bullet point. I have to know what I’m working towards. That is crucial to literally everything I do. Every fic you see on AO3, every WIP I’ve mentioned working on or wanting to work on—I have always known two things about them, immediately: the hook that gets us in there, and how they end.

So for fics in particular, the start might look something like—I get an idea (I want Reader and Bakugou to kiss). And then I sit there and I brainstorm to myself (What’s stopping them from kissing? Why does Reader want to kiss someone so rude when there’s so many other nice boys out there? Is Reader particularly kissable?). And then, if I’m lucky, I think of an ending (Reader and Bakugou finally kiss, but he’s the one that initiates it, because he’s always wanted to, because he likes that Reader always wears a yellow coat to work—it’s ugly and it sticks out among the black and tan ones of the crowd but he comes to associate it—and thus Reader—with routine and his mornings going well).

This is often the most fragile time of an idea. That hook (Reader and Bakugou kiss) might fall apart with a bit more prodding (why would they kiss? Reader’s a stranger to him; most of us don’t go around kissing random strangers just because we like their coats). Or maybe the hook sticks (they spend almost years in orbit around each other, a constant near-miss) but the ending doesn’t work (I don’t know how to move Bakugou to a position where he can kiss Reader, where he has the opportunity to). For every idea you see in action, or listed, there’s like three more that died during this stage and are now being cannibalised for spare parts.

Part II—running up that hill (a deal with fic)

work work work

If our idea survives, we then move to the “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” stage; which manifests itself in this case as a doc, where I’ll just write any and all ideas I have for this little world so far.

For fanfics, it’ll generally look like—

TITLE

SUMMARY: Bakugou and Reader kiss.

(in which Bakugou first notices you because of your ugly yellow coat)

📝 Reader is allergic to diary products; for ages Bakugou thinks of her as That Cheesy Extra, because of the colour of her coat. She laughs when she eventually learns about this. (“I can’t even eat cheese,” you complain)

📝 Reader stops walking past the coffee shop Bakugou gets his coffee at, one day; moves??? Leaves the city to help a friend out for a few months. Despite himself it throws Bakugou off-kilter, and when he sees someone (not Reader) in a yellow coat during a villian attack, he momentarily loses focus—gets injured???? The news of his injury makes the news, Reader sees it in Bumblah nowhere.

📝 Her coat is donated accidentally by a roommate, in a mix up, for a charity she’s volunteering at; when Reader returns to the city, she has to make do with a new one, a more neutral colour. Bakugou recognises her anyway and that’s when he realises it was never about the coat (!!!!)

Like, this is actually a pretty good approximation of what all my current fics have looked like, at that stage, before I tidied them up and refined them into proper outlines. Because that’s what will happen next, once we have a rough idea of what we want! Things get moved, or removed—tightened. A rough plot outline takes shape! If I get any ideas for a sequel or a spin off that I might want to do, I’ll note them here (Reader’s roommate, Roomie, who’s working at a charity—eventually meets Shinsou, who’s working on a case. She thinks he’s homeless; he doesn’t realise. They carry on like this for a while.)

Once I have a rough outline (rough meaning in bulletpoints), I’ll start on my more in-depth outlines—I do these chapter by chapter! I say this a lot, but they’re basically a really rough version of said chapter. So it might look like:

Reader’s walking to work; it’s cold enough that’s she’s wearing her coat. There’s a new coffee-shop opened on the corner—it’s full, popular, you think it might be because it’s at a crossroads between two different Pro Hero agencies. Reader glances at the window, interested, but then a friend calls out and you hurry along. Bakugou, inside the coffee-shop waiting for Half and Half to get his order, is affronted; your coat is ugly as shit, and he complains loudly about it to Shouto, who mentions something about Baku. having no room to complain about ugly colour choices.

The swap between Reader/You happens a lot because I’m not using my brain properly, at this stage—I’m just shovelling the sand I need into the sandbox. Once I finish my shovelling, I go back and I rewrite it—but better, LMAO. I flesh things out, I throw things away as needed, I add things in. It’s basically really, really intensive handholding and I would not recommend it for anyone who’s already daunted by the idea of plotting; I do it because if I don’t have a chaperone there (aka my outline) then I’m prone to getting distracted. I am basically the fanfic equivalent of the undiagnosed ADHD kid at the back of the class that only gets work done when they’re sat right in front of the teacher (and even then, there’s like a 50% chance it’s not actually work that’s happening but doodles of that weird pointy S thing over and over again).

Once it’s done, though, we have a completed chapter! I then post it and wait like a little crab under some rocks for people to be tricked into being nice to me, and then I dig back in and think nice thoughts about repeating this process to get chapter two. Eventually I will—and viola! Another chapter! We repeat that over and over until we get to the end of our original outline and we have a finished story. 😌📖

Part III—you’re on your own kid

motivation

No one ever likes this part, or what I’m about to say, because at best it sounds like saccharine fodder and at worse it’s out of touch with most people’s experiences in fandom, but—the only way to stay motivated when doing a long-haul fic is that you have to do it for yourself.

People are so kind to me, about the fics I’ve done; it’s part luck and part what I choose to write and part how I write it. And I mean—I share them because I want a little bit of attention, lmao, that’s natural because we’re humans, we all want attention. But here’s the thing, here’s the secret—I take these fics 110% deadly seriously. LOL. That sounds like a joke, but I do! I do that because it’s how I’m built and how I keep myself interested in them—because taking them seriously means I’m more invested in realising the ending I’ve imagined for them since day one.

If other people stopped being so nice about what I was writing, I would be sad—anyone would. 🥺 We all want to be told that we’ve done a good job. But I’ve had the ending for the Deku fic, for example, in my head since it’s predecessor was on-going. That is literal years of knowing how I want Izuku and Scribble’s story to end. If everyone disappeared tonight I would sulk, hardcore, and then I would finish that last chapter anyway. I would finish it because I’ve spent so much time and energy working on that story that not finishing it is a disservice to the world I built around those characters and most importantly to myself. I probably wouldn’t stress as much about it, LOL, if the audience shrunk back down to just me, but I’d still do it. 🥺

I write—and try to finish—these fics because I deserve to see them finished. I want the completed tick, on ao3. I want to look at it and know that I can do it—that I can start something as simple as Bakugou hating on some rando’s yellow coat, and bring it to the finish-line where they finally come together, and see each other, without the yellow coat or through a coffee-shop window.

And this is what I mean by like, tailoring things to suit you—because I know others might be perfectly content to imagine the ending for themselves, without writing it. Or maybe they don’t want to treat fic seriously, because it’s fun escapism. Maybe disappointment that it’s not received like they thought it would be sours the whole experience of fandom for someone—there’s no right or wrong to this. I know I can write for an audience of just me because I’ve done it before. The satisfaction has always come back to the same thing—knowing I finished it, and wrapped that world up as best as I could. You have to pick and choose your poison—and then you have to run with it.

I hope that answers at least some of your questions, Ari. 🥺 Thank-you for such a thoughtful ask; for being so sweet. 🥺 You’re amazing, and I’m the thankful one—I’m glad we’re here, together. 🌷🌾✨📖

#ofmermaidstories-asks #ari do i have a tag for you? 🧐 hmMMMm #anyways i hope you have a good week and that this was at least a tiny bit helpful lmao #i should link it…. ugh i should overdo my whole masterpost tbh 😩 this is where the lazy comes in bc id rather stare at my wall tbh LMAO #first we take manhattan—then we take berlin 🎵#writing stuff

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