#i don’t think it’s formal yet they reached out on twitter and i just replied to their message

[strawberrymilkgeorge]

Part One. George: the definition of “hello, have you met my friend?”

warnings: none word count: 1568 (not including pictures) *** Bugsy is Y/n’s username! I got too attached to change it to y/u/n so change it in your mind if you’d like :) 

behind the screen (irl dream x reader) series masterlist

ultimate masterlist

-

Y/n sighed lightly as she set her phone on the desk in front of her. Her eyes traveled back to her monitor, where George was sharing his screen on Discord as he practiced speedruns. Y/n and Sapnap were on call with him to keep him company.

The cold air around her nipped at her skin, sending chills and bringing goosebumps. She pulled her hoodie closer to her body, tucking her feet on her chair to curl herself in a ball.

"This run sucks," George mumbled. "I thought it was going to be good."

"It would have if the village actually had anything useful," Sapnap commented. "There was a lava pool at spawn and everything."

"What do you think, Bugsy? Should I start over?"

She hummed, squinting at the screen. "Yeah, you should."

He left and started a new run.

"Karl's replies on Twitter are always so funny," Sapnap giggled after a few moments of silence. "He's so formal."

"I love that kid. That's my best friend right there, no cap," Y/n said with a smile. She and Karl had been friends for a few years now. They met through their parents being friends and shortly found out the other streamed and quickly bonded over that as their fanbases grew.

"Did you see Wilbur's response to your tweet?" Sapnap asked. "Man wrote you a letter."

"What did the tweets say?" George asked, half-listening as he focused on his run.

Sapnap read them and George laughed through his nose. "How could you ask for a Minecraft boyfriend while you're literally on a call with us while I'm playing Minecraft?"

"Just keeping my options open," Y/n laughed. "Don't worry, I'm wearing a GeorgeNotFound hoodie as we speak."

"I'd be worried, George. There are quite a few proposals in the responses."

"Shut up," Y/n muttered, a smile on her face that she was glad neither of them could see. "George, you remember my roommate is in love with you, right? Don't upset her by being jealous of boys coming after me."

"You're an idiot," George breathed out in a laugh. "No, she's not."

"She is. Very much."

"No, no, she isn't."

"George," Sapnap sighed dramatically. "Just accept that you can be loved."

"You're both idiots, okay?" George laughed awkwardly. "This seed is terrible," he groaned.

"Wait!" Sapnap yelled. "Village on the left!"

George quickly turned and ran towards the village to loot it. Y/n watched with Sapnap as George found iron and a few other valuable things.

"Oh! This might be okay."

"Bugsy?" Sapnap asked slowly, sounding confused.

"Sapnap?" she replied in the same tone.

"Have you not met Quackity?"

"No. What made you ask?"

"I just saw his response to your tweet."

"Why are you two on your phones? I'm speedrunning!"

"Because you still haven't made it to the nether on any of them," Sapnap bit. "How are you best friends with Karl and you haven't you met Quackity?"

"I dunno. I just haven't. There's a lot of people I have only spoken to through Twitter replies."

"Like who?" George asked.

"Why are we only talking about me?" Y/n asked in slight frustration. She wasn't fond of talking about herself because she wasn't used to it. "This is George's stream."

"Well, now I'm really curious so I wanna talk about this," George laughed. "Who haven't you met?"

"I dunno!" she said, flustered. "Quackity, Wilbur, Dream, Tubbo, Tomm-- wait, no I met Tommy. He yelled at me."

"Wait, wait, what?" Sapnap interrupted.

Y/n paused but neither of them said anything. "What?"

"You haven't met Dream?" George asked, sounding equally as confused.

No one said anything. "No? Why is that surprising. I mean, we've joked through tweets and stuff but I've never played with him or actually spoken to him."

"What about DMs and stuff?" George asked.

"Nope. Dream is just thirsty in my replies like Wilbur," she joked, feeling the anxiety of the awkward pauses seep through her skin and touch her bones. Why were they being so weird about it? "Why is that so shocking that a man with, like, 15 million subscribers has never spoken to me?"

Sapnap laughed. "I'm just genuinely surprised that he hasn't reached out to you before."

"Yeah, me too," George agreed. "He talks about you in a way I thought you guys were good friends. And you're friends with us so I just assumed you were friends with him too."

Y/n laughed, nervous at the mention of being talked about. "Well, he must be a pussy or something because I have yet to receive any acknowledgement from Dream Was Taken besides him occasionally replying to my tweets and Instagram pictures."

George laughed suddenly, making Y/n look at the monitor with George's screen quickly, which wasn't moving. "What happened? Did you find something?"

"No," George's screen began moving again and he started building a portal. "Dream just texted me because he's watching the stream."

"What did he say?" Sapnap asked.

"He said, 'can I join the call? I don't want Bugsy to think I'm a pussy'," George answered, lowering his voice to a mumble before adding, "And something else he'd probably kill me if I said out loud."

Sapnap and George laughed at Y/n's silence. She was only joking, not intending to challenge him to talk to her. Honestly, she was relieved he had never spoken to her because he intimidated her. Meeting people made her nervous and Dream was no different. If anything, he was worse because he was a big deal and he kinda flirted with her sometimes, which gave her butterflies in a way she didn't like.

"I'm adding him to call," George announced.

"Wait, you're not going to check if I'm okay with meeting him live in front of 80,000 people?" Y/n asked with a small, nervous laugh.

"No, because it's my stream. I can do what I want. I can't live another second knowing you two have never talked."

"I think Bugsy's scared!" Sapnap coeed.

"I think so too!"

"You wish," Y/n muttered.

A small sound emitted from Discord, notifying everyone that someone joined the voice chat.

"Hello Dreeaamm..." George dragged out as he navigated the nether. "I made it to the nether, Sapnap. Will you get off your phone now?"

"Yeah, I guess. Hi Dream!"

"Hello," Dream said casually. "Hello, Bugsy."

Y/n lowered in her chair more, pulling her hood up and closing it tight over her eyes. No one could see her but his voice made her feel seen.

Sapnap giggled and George laughed. Dream breathed out a laugh. Y/n responded with a small, "Hi."

"Bugsy, you're such a liar!" Sapnap called out. "You are so scared."

"Shut up, Sapnap!" she chuckled.

"Scared of what?" Dream asked innocently.

"Meeting you," George answered. Traitor.

"Forgive me," Y/n started, sitting up in her seat and pulling open her hood to watch George play, "for being nervous to meet Mr. Speedrun in front of a huge live audience." She decided to joke around to hopefully ease the nervousness under her skin. "I'm just worried he's going to flirt with me again and I'll have to embarrass him in front of everyone by rejecting him again."

They all laughed.

"I mean, you already said Karl was in the lead for being your Minecraft boyfriend, so I really have no shot," Dream said.

"As if I'm letting some girl named Bugsy steal my fiance!" Sapnap yelled.

"Ah!" The attention was ripped away from Y/n as George screamed. Y/n looked at the screen, watching as her friend was getting attacked by a hoard of zombie pigmen.

"Why did you hit one, George?" she teased.

"I didn't mean to! AHH!!" he screeched, making everyone laugh. "STOP ATTACKING ME!"

"George!" Dream laughed. "Just run, you won't be able to kill them all!"

"I'm trying!" George fell in lava and screamed again. His death appeared on the screen and Y/n could hear him slam his desk. "That run was so good until the zombie pig came out of nowhere."

He started a new run and it was quiet for a moment before Dream's soft voice spoke again. "Well, Bugsy. I hope you forgive me for taking so long to speak to you."

"I-I was just kidding about you being a pussy," she mumbled, making him laugh.

"No, it's true. I was."

"Come on, Dream, sliding in my DMs is easy," she joked. "You could have if you wanted to."

"Trust us," George laughed, "he wanted to."

"What?" Dream asked George loudly, making Sapnap laugh.

"Dream, you talk about her all the time. George and I were both led to believe you were already friends based on how you talk about her."

"How I talk about her? What does that mean?" Dream sounded defensive and it made Y/n smile.

"You're always like, 'Bugsy did this' and 'Bugsy tweeted that', and 'I have to do a face reveal before Bugsy does because she'll outshine me'," Sapnap teased.

"Okay, the last one? I never said that. You're lying about that."

"But the rest of it is true?" Y/n teased.

"Look, you play good and your tweets are funny! I didn't come on here to get bullied, oh my gosh."

**********

A/N: this is my first time attempting a social media fic so the theme of this series is gonna be ignore the number of likes/retweets and stuff just know that y/n is a much smaller streamer she only gets a lot of likes and stuff when it involves other mcyt ya know okay fun times 

Please give feedback!! I hope you enjoy it!!! I don’t have a schedule right now but I might in the future if this series gets a lot of attention :) as of right now i’ll try to update at least once a week! 

NEXT

#real person fiction #rpf #dreamwastaken x reader #dreamwastaken x you #dreamwastaken x y/n #dream x y/n #dream x reader #mcyt x reader #mcyt x y/n #smau #dream smau #dreamwastaken smau #social media fic #dream social media fic

[sankyeom]

letters | j.b

pairings: jacob bae x reader, a few elements of younghoon x reader but only a bit genre: college au, strangers to lovers summary: in which jacob accidentally gives you a love letter meant for someone else word count: 3.9k requested: nope! i saw the picture i used for my header on the boyz’s twitter and it just screamed college au so here we are 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝

“Are you sure a love letter is the right way to go?” Kevin asked Jacob, a brow raised in concern. “You don’t want to, I don’t know, get their number and just text them?” he suggested. Jacob shot him a pointed look, causing Kevin to raise both his hands in defence. “Just an idea,” the younger boy mumbled, stepping aside so Jacob could face the door.

It had been approximately two months since Jacob first saw his crush in his history class. After endless pining and staring, Kevin and Hyunjae encouraged him to confess to his crush, or at the very least speak to them. Jacob had been far too shy to do so, and instead decided to pour out his feelings into a lovely letter.

Said letter, written with the neatest handwriting Jacob could muster on sky blue paper, was now clasped in Jacob’s hands as he and Kevin stood outside his crush’s dorm. “Is this too much?” Jacob wondered. Kevin smiled, shaking his head. “Okay,” Jacob whispered, bending over and slipping the note under the door.

On the other side of the door, you were sitting at your desk and studying your vocabulary for your upcoming French midterm. Once the letter was completely out of Jacob’s sight, he stood back up again and let out a sigh of relief.

“Great,” Kevin patted his friend on the shoulder. “Now let’s get something to eat, I’m literally starving,” he exaggerated as the door next to yours opened.

Jacob’s mouth dropped open in shock as his crush exited the room next to yours, chatting with their roommate as the two trudged down the hallway past them. “That-“ Jacob stammered, pointing at his crush’s back. “That’s-“ The colour drained from Jacob’s face as he turned paler by the second.

Kevin seemed to have enough sense to realise what was happening as his hand came to cover his mouth, eyes widening in surprise behind his glasses. “You mean-“ he pointed at the door Jacob had slipped his letter under, then back at his crush walking away from them. “That isn’t-“ Jacob frantically shook his head, indicating that he had indeed put his letter under the wrong person’s door. “Oh gosh.”

After an hour of studying, you finally had enough as you closed your laptop and took ahold of your phone, texting Younghoon to see if he wanted to get some coffee with you. Your best friend had replied with a pleased affirmative, telling you that he would swing by your dorm so you could go to the campus coffee shop together before it closed.

As you did a visual sweep of your room to try and find your wallet, something blue caught your eye: a little blue envelope at the foot of your door. Someone must have slipped it under the crack at the bottom of your door while you were studying, since you hadn’t noticed it when you came back to your dorm. Curious, you got up to collect the little envelope and read what was on it.

To the one who makes my heart soar

You blinked. That was unexpected. Your brows furrowed together as you opened the envelope and read the letter that had carefully been placed inside.

You probably don’t know who I am, so let me introduce myself. My name is Jacob Bae. I’ve seen you in class for the past two months and I think you’re incredibly beautiful. I never considered myself to be somebody shallow who focuses only on looks, but something about you makes me want to gaze at you all day long. I’m sorry if that sounds weird. Your smile gives me butterflies when I see it. Sometimes I get jealous of whoever made it appear because I wish I was the cause for it. I want to get to know you better. I want to know what else makes you smile. You’re very extroverted and confident. I’m more on the shy side most of the time. I like when classes meet late at night because it means that I get to see you when I end my day. My heart beats faster when I’m near you. Sometimes you walk past me to get to your seat and I feel like I might stop breathing. I hope this didn’t make you uncomfortable.

You felt a little embarrassed once you had finished reading. It wasn’t just a note, it was a love letter. Dedicated to you. You had never received a love letter from anybody before, nonetheless somebody you weren’t even familiar with.

“Y/n!” Younghoon called, knocking eagerly on your door. You easily opened it, revealing your smiley best friend. “Ready to go?” he asked, holding out his hand for you to take.

“Almost,” you said. Instead of taking his hand, you held up the blue paper with a raised eyebrow. “How do you reject someone?”

Taking a sip of coffee at the table in the campus coffee shop, Younghoon was thrilled to listen to your recap. “Wait a second,” he interrupted your explanation. “Did you say his name was Jacob Bae?” he inquired. You nodded, showing him the letter as evidence. “I know him! He’s friends with Hyunjae and Juyeon,” Younghoon recalled, taking out his phone to show you a picture of him.

You observed the brunet in the Instagram post on Younghoon’s screen. At first glance you could tell that he was attractive. He had big eyes and a kind smile, and after a few moments of scrutinisation you discerned that you recognised Jacob Bae. The two of you shared a Sociology class together. The longer you studied the image, the longer Younghoon studied your expression. “You think he’s cute,” Younghoon stated.

Clearing your throat, you handed the phone back to him and avoided his eyes. You and Younghoon had been friends for so long that you could easily read each other’s expressions with eye contact alone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you denied. “You said he’s friends with Hyunjae and Juyeon?” Younghoon nodded, pocketing his phone. “I guess I know where to go to give him my response, then.”

Younghoon pouted, eyes rounded and lower lip pushed out. “Go easy on him, okay? He’s really nice. Like, really nice. I’m sure he just thought you were really pretty.”

You sighed. “I guess so. And as rare of an occasion as that is, I still can’t accept the confession of someone who I barely know,” you retorted.

“Hey,” Younghoon dropped the puppy face and frowned. “Don’t say that. You’re gorgeous,” he assured you, and by the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes you knew that he was being honest.

Locating Hyunjae and Juyeon in the dining hall was easy enough. The two of them sat with their friends at the same table for almost every single meal, and that evening was no exception. “They’re over there,” you pointed them out to Younghoon. Hyunjae was laughing so hard he was clutching the table in front of him for support at something a black-haired, glasses-wearing boy said to him.

“Hi guys,” Younghoon greeted when the two of you reached the table.

“Younghoon!” Hyunjae exclaimed happily. His eyes always shimmered when he was happy. “Y/n, take a seat you two,” he offered graciously, shuffling up the bench and making room for you both. “This is Kevin,” he introduced the black-haired boy opposite him. Kevin waved at you with a bright smile before giving his attention back to his lunch.

Younghoon and Hyunjae engaged in conversation about their math class, and your eyes flitted across the dining hall to see if you could catch sight of Jacob anywhere. Soon enough, he was making his way over to the table, eyes focused on his phone rather than the path his feet were leading him on. “Hey Jacob,” Kevin greeted his friend brightly.

Jacob looked up from his phone. “Hey Kevin,” he replied before meeting eyes with you.

It was the first time you had been face-to-face, and Jacob was momentarily startled by the new person that sat at his regular table. He stopped in his place, taking his time to take in your features, and could only come to one conclusion: you were absolutely stunning. Jacob was about to introduce himself when he caught sight of the blue envelope on your tray. His entire body froze, eyes wide and lips pursed slightly. Not only were you beautiful, you were the person he accidentally confessed to in a love letter meant for someone else. Confused, Kevin followed Jacob’s line of vision before finding the envelope.

You gave Jacob your best smile despite the fact that you felt like cringing. “Do you have a minute?” you wondered, gently picking the letter up. Wordlessly, Jacob nodded and followed you out of the dining hall, shooting Kevin a worried look behind you. Kevin only shrugged and mirrored his concerned expression. “So…” you trailed off once the two of you were alone.

“Um, you found my letter,” Jacob observed, clasping his hands together to keep him from fidgeting.

“Well, you did put it in my dorm,” you replied with a small laugh. “Um… I don’t really know you very well. And I’m really sorry but I can’t say that I reciprocate your feelings.”

The way you rejected him was so formal that Jacob almost laughed, but then he realised that he was being rejected and he felt his heart hurt a little. The confession wasn’t even for you, and yet you were still rejecting him. The thought made his stomach feel uneasy. “Oh,” was all Jacob could say, nodding his head. “Do you think I could have that back?” he wondered, pointing at the blue envelope. It would be the only thing that could lessen his embarrassment. You easily passed the letter over to him, not heavily attached to it despite the fact that it was the first love letter you ever received. “Thanks.”

“I guess having lunch together might be weird, so I can go somewhere else if you want,” you offered him. Jacob was touched by your thoughtfulness, and it was enough to make a small smile appear on his lips. Jacob was handsome, but you thought he was spectacular when he smiled.

“That’s okay,” Jacob refused your offer. “It’s just a letter.”

When the two of you returned to the table, Jacob realised why you were so gracious while rejecting his offer. The way your eyes lit up when you caught sight of Younghoon, how you easily slipped your hand into his after he opened your drink for you and procured a metal straw from his jacket pocket for you. How you admired Younghoon when he laughed, eyes shaped like crescent moons.

You liked Younghoon; you wouldn’t be waiting for any confession from Jacob or anybody else any time soon.

Not that Jacob could blame you. Younghoon was handsome in a way that made other guys jealous, and he was also goofy and kind. Plus, the two of you seemed to know each other like the back of your hands. The letter wasn’t even for you, it was meant for somebody else. So why couldn’t Jacob look away from you?

“How did that go?” Kevin asked as he and Jacob got up to put their trays away at the end of their meal.

Jacob shrugged, leading the way back to the dorms. “She said she didn’t feel the same. I asked for the letter back. She gave it to me.”

“That’s good, then,” Kevin concluded with a smile. “Sounds like it could have been a lot worse.”

Jacob hummed, a vague sound that didn’t indicate how he felt. “Do you know that guy she was with?”

“Younghoon?” Kevin asked. “Yeah, he’s close with Hyunjae and Juyeon so he’s around sometimes. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” Jacob hums. “He’s really handsome.”

Kevin chuckles. “Right? When he walks around campus with Hyunjae and Juyeon, everyone just stares at them as they pass. Lucky guys.”

“Yeah,” Jacob agreed. Younghoon was lucky. And not just because he was blessed with good looks. The image of you playfully feeding Younghoon a forkful of your lunch came to Jacob’s mind. “Really lucky.”

Kevin was hilarious. And he got along with you really well. This prompted you and Younghoon to start eating with Jacob and his group of friends at every chance you got. During one of the many dinners you had been spending with them, Younghoon hadn’t shown up at first. Jacob thought this might be his chance to speak to you more, but he decided against it out of embarrassment with the love letter situation.

“Where’s Younghoon?” Kevin asked, voicing Jacob’s thoughts.

You smiled. “I see him right over there,” you said, pulling a funny face by sticking your tongue out when your eyes met Younghoon’s across the room. Kevin giggled at your expression, and Jacob couldn’t help but think that you looked gorgeous when you were this carefree. Your hair had been styled away from your face, further exposing your features to Jacob’s affectionate eyes.

Kevin was saw the look on his friend’s face. Jacob had been observing you in a way that Kevin could only imagine him observing his crush. Hiding a smirk, Kevin decided against disturbing Jacob’s gaze and struck up a conversation with Juyeon.

“Hey, you,” Younghoon greeted you as he slid into the seat next to you. “Sorry I’m late. I brought you a gift,” he teased, placing a tiny green tea swiss roll slice from the convenience store.

Your eyes lit up and you took the packaged pastry. “You’re an angel, Kim Younghoon,” you told him. Younghoon giggled, rolling his eyes at your excitement before greeting the others. He seemed to take notice of Jacob persistently peering at you the same way Kevin had.

“Jacob, right?” Younghoon snapped Jacob out of his stare. The two met eyes and Younghoon offered him a friendly smile. “We’re the same age!” Younghoon told him. “We should be friends,” he added.

Jacob nodded, reminding himself to smile. Younghoon was friendly and considerate; it wasn’t his fault that he was blind to the fact that Y/n liked him as more than a friend. “Definitely,” Jacob accorded with a nod. Then, his eyes went back to you. “You like the green tea flavour?” he asked you.

You had already abandoned your dinner in favour of unpacking the swiss role slice, pausing to acknowledge Jacob. “It’s my favourite,” you said with a smile so pure it made Jacob blush.

“I like the green tea flavour too. But chocolate is my favourite,” Jacob replied.

“Younghoonie likes strawberry,” you informed. “With all three of us, we’re a perfect set,” you added happily, referring to how swiss roles came in single slices or in a set of three flavours. Then, recalling how Jacob said he liked it, you broke off some of your swiss role and handed it over to him. Blush intensifying, Jacob accepted the treat with a whisper of a thanks.

You and Jacob never spoke of the letter. It was something you had silently agreed upon, and it just made things easier for you both. Jacob had started sitting with you during your Sociology lecture. Jacob found that you were a little more shy in class, preferring to only participate when it came to clarifying questions that you needed help with rather than answering. The way your brows pulled together and lips pursed when you concentrated was adorable, and Jacob found himself paying more attention to you than your professor.

“Thank god it’s Friday and this mess is over,” you sighed happily. “You ready to go?” Jacob nodded, reaching for his bag before the two of you made your way to the dining hall. You had been giggling at Jacob’s impression of your boring professor when you noticed Younghoon waiting for you outside the dining hall. “Hey Younghoonie,” you greeted him.

Jacob frowned. Younghoon had been dressed in a pair of dark pants with a button up shirt and a nice tan-coloured coat. He looked like a runway model standing by the footsteps leading to the dining hall, and Jacob felt jealous. Not just about the way Younghoon looked, but the way he commanded attention with his height and posture as well. And he certainly had your attention.

Younghoon smiled. “Do you feel like eating out?” he offered with a slight tilt of his head. “My treat. I’m really in the mood for convenience store cup noodles,” he added.

It was impossible for you to not smile back at him. “Sounds good,” you agreed. “As long as it’s your treat.”

Suddenly, Jacob felt like he was intruding. “I’ll see you guys later,” he excused himself with a wave, walking up the steps towards the dining hall to leave you and Younghoon alone.

At the convenience store, you were picking out what noodles you wanted to eat when the colourful treats in the refrigerated section caught your eye. Scanning the shelves, you found what you were looking for and took a pack, happily making your way to the cashier where Younghoon was waiting for you.

His eyes surveyed the colourful packet and he rose an eyebrow. “I thought you only like the green tea flavour?” he asked, motioning to the trio packet of swiss rolls in your hand.

You nodded. “You like strawberry and Jacob likes chocolate,” you told him with a smile. Younghoon paused in place, surprised by your words. He knew that you and Jacob were becoming acquaintances due to your shared Sociology class, but he hadn’t expected you to go out of your way to buy him something. Shrugging, Younghoon passed your food to the cashier and paid for your food.

“Hey,” Kevin greeted you once you and Younghoon sat down at the table in the dining hall with your food. You had both decided it was too cold to sit outside the convenience store and eat, so you made your way back to the University instead. “Nice haul,” he added.

You smiled, greeting him back before taking out the swiss rolls in your pocket. “Here,” you said, taking out the small chocolate roll and offering the packaged treat to Jacob. Jacob simply stared at it. “You said you like chocolate,” you added when Jacob didn’t take it. Kevin raised his arm to cough, using it as an excuse to elbow Jacob on the way back down.

“Oh,” Jacob said, reaching out for the roll. “Thank you,” you didn’t miss the way his fingers brushed against your palm, and the way it tickled slightly. You didn’t mind, though. The slight brush of your hands made you bite your lower lip to suppress a smile, Jacob doing the same with flushed cheeks.

“You like Jacob. Don’t you?” Younghoon asked. During one of your study sessions, Younghoon had gone crazy trying to figure out your feelings. Usually, you were an open book to him. On this matter, you seemed to be closed off.

Startled at the abrupt question, you glanced up from your review packet. Younghoon’s eyes were always soft and comforting. This time, it had been too much for you. You sighed. “Why do you ask?” you inquired.

“Y/n,” Younghoon replied in a kind tone. “He already confessed to you. Why don’t you just tell him?” he wondered.

You bit your lip. “I didn’t like him when he confessed,” you retorted. “I liked someone else.”

And there it was.

Younghoon sighed, closing his eyes. His eyes were warm and comforting and felt like home. When he closed them, you feared for the worst. “Y/n,” he said slowly. “We can’t. You know we can’t.”

You knew what he was referring to.

The elephant in the room.

The mutual, romantic feelings you and Younghoon had for each other. Neither of you were blind to it. And yet, you had never addressed it. Partly because you were afraid of ruining your friendship, but mostly because you knew it would never work out. It simply wasn’t meant to. “I know,” you admitted. “But you’re right. I do like Jacob.”

Younghoon’s eyes opened. They were still warm and still felt like home, but filled with pain. When he smiled, it was genuine. “You should tell him,” he said quietly. “I can’t do this with you and you can’t do this with me. But you like Jacob and Jacob can barely speak when you’re around,” you smiled at his comment, having experienced rendering Jacob speechless a few times. Younghoon laughed. “And you have that look on your face whenever you think about him. So you should tell him.”

Your best friend’s encouragement was genuine.

So you took out a piece of binder paper and started writing.

Dear Jacob. By now, you know who I am because I’ve gotten to know you now. And I know who you are too. I also figured out that letter you sent wasn’t for me. That’s one of the reasons it was so easy to tell you I didn’t feel the same. Your letter described someone confident who you saw during night classes. You and I always sit together in our morning classes, and I don’t like to speak up in class. But you know that by now. And I don’t think it matters that your letter wasn’t for me. You still make me smile when I see you, and I love the way I make you blush. I love that you eat the leftover swiss roll because Younghoon and I don’t like the chocolate flavour. I like that you can say more with a single look than you can with an entire conversation. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I like you. And I hope I didn’t read this wrong because that would be really embarrassing. I hope you like me too.

Jacob couldn’t stop the smile from growing on his face as he read the letter that you had slipped into his bag during your Sociology lecture. Kevin was growing impatient. “What does it say?” he pleaded, desperately wanting to know what was making Jacob smile larger than Kevin had ever seen.

“It’s a love letter,” Jacob said, warmth spreading through his chest. “And I need to go,” he handed the letter over to Kevin – since his younger friend seemed to be dying of curiosity – and made his way to the dorms he knew you were staying in.

When he arrived at your dorm and knocked on the door, you looked happy to see him. You smiled. “Are you sure you have the right room?” you asked him. It was a little joke, but Jacob knew what you were really asking. Are you sure you like me back?

“I’m sure,” Jacob promised, stepping through the threshold of the door and tenderly placing one hand on your cheek and the other behind your neck. Grinning, you allowed him to pull you towards him, lips meeting in a gentle kiss. You brushed your lips against his, slowly at first, and then with a passion and zeal you didn’t know you possessed.

You pulled away for a moment, lips throbbing slightly. “Don’t think I’m not expecting a letter actually addressed to me because-“ Jacob laughed, connecting your lips to cut you off.

“I will write you as many letters and poems and songs as you want,” Jacob mumbled, lips grazing yours as he spoke. His eyes looked so much more bewitching up close, and you easily wound your arms around his waist in a hug.

“I’m holding you to that,” you insisted, leaning in for another kiss.

#the boyz #tbz #the boyz imagines #jacob #jacob bae #the boyz scenarios #the boyz drabbles #the boyz fanfic #the boyz imagine #the boyz x reader #jacob imagine #jacob bae imagines #jacob x reader #fic: letters #deobiwritersnet

[blackwoolncrown]

The (Sometimes Unintentional) Subtext of Digital Conversations

 Different people have different ideas about what it means to sign an email “XOXO,” what you should use Facebook for, and how long you can wait before texting back.

By

Deborah Tannen

The meanings we glean in conversation are often, maybe mostly, not found in the words spoken, but in how they’re said, and in the spaces between them. Tone of voice, and cadences created by shifts in speed, volume, and pitch, let listeners know whether “Nice job,” is complimentary or sarcastic, or whether “Wow” shows that you’re impressed or underwhelmed. The literal meaning of words is their message, and everything about how words are said is the metamessage. Metamessages communicate how you mean what you say.

More and more conversations are taking place on screens—via texting, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, email, and myriad other platforms. Some of these written conversations make up for the lack of voicing with conventions that mimic speech, like exclamation points, CAPS, and repetition of words or letters. I can be “so happy!!!!!!!” or “sooooo happy” or “SO happy” or “sosososo happy” or even “SOSOSOSOOOOOO happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Emoticons, emojis, and gifs help, too. But these visual signals are only the tip of the metamessage iceberg.

Human beings are always in the business of making meaning and interpreting meaning. Because there are options to choose from when sending a message, like which platform to use and how to use it, we see meaning in the choice that was made. But because the technologies, and the conventions for using them, are so new and are changing so fast, even close friends and relatives have differing ideas about how they should be used. And because metamessages are implied rather than stated, they can be misinterpreted or missed entirely.

Different generations are particularly apt to perceive different metamessages in the same words or actions. For example, a Sri Lankan woman living in London told me of hosting her sister and her sister’s teenage daughter. When the girl refused to go out after 3:00 p.m., because that’s when her friends back home got active on WhatsApp, the sisters perceived the metamessage, “I’m not really here. My head and my heart are elsewhere.” But I suspect the girl’s perspective was more like: “I’m here with you—that’s a given—but I also want to stay connected to my friends, and I can’t bear the thought of being left out”

I heard a great range of viewpoints on social media while interviewing over 80 women (ranging in age from 9 to 97) for a study of friendship. And my students at Georgetown University have helped me understand how they manage, and sometimes are tripped up by, the metamessages communicated over social media—and how habits and assumptions can differ.

For instance, when Kate Lucey’s sister had not given birth by her due date, she kept family and friends apprised of what was happening with her pregnancy by posting frequently on Facebook. In response, even distant relatives and casual friends posted well wishes and encouraging thoughts. Kate felt that these postings sent her sister a precious metamessage: Many people love her and care about her pregnancy. The posts strengthened her network of support. Kate was stunned to learn that her roommate perceived a negative metamessage in her sister’s use of Facebook. She said she would have been offended to be kept up to date about a pregnancy that way; she would think, “Geez, why didn’t you call?” Kate’s roommate reasoned that posting on Facebook is so easy that it means nothing. A phone conversation reflects and creates a meaningful relationship, whereas Facebook creates a false sense of intimacy, not a real relationship.

The impression that posting on Facebook is insincere because it’s too easy sounds a lot like the explanation a friend gave me (over email) for disliking “THAT DRAT ‘xoxo,’ which means nothing, just keys to hit.” This perspective–if something is too easy it’s meaningless or insincere—makes sense. Taking time sends a metamessage of caring. Yet I like ‘xoxo’ (or my personal variant, ‘xxoo’), and use it, though only with friends who use it first. I think xoxo fills a need: It’s a more affectionate way to close an email than “Best” but not as fervent as “Love,” which, in any case, some people don’t feel comfortable using with friends, though some do. Maybe it strikes some as fake because it’s a substitution, standing for “love and kisses” but not denoting it. Or maybe it seems too cutesy. Whatever the source of these impressions, deciding how to sign off a message becomes a challenge, since any choice you make will send metamessages that you may not intend or suspect.

I was shocked to realize that my students might be perceiving metamessages opposite from what I intend when I reply to their email requests and queries. One of them pointed out that when he emails professors, he begins with a salutation (“Dear Professor Smith”) and a greeting like “I hope you’re enjoying the weekend.” Only then does he explain his request—in detail—followed by a friendly closing, again about the weekend or the weather, before wrapping up with “Sincerely” or “Yours truly” above his name. (I recognized his description: That’s the way most of my students’ emails look.) The student then complained that many of his professors’ responses omit the salutation, greeting, full explanation, friendly closing, signature, and name. All he receives is a naked reply to his question, and usually a cryptic one at that. I realized that I do this, too–or did, before he, and others in class discussion, opened my eyes. I had assumed that dispensing with those formalities sends a metamessage of casual friendliness, more or less the way I use email with close friends and family. But students regard email as formal, so the omission of those niceties often strikes them as disrespectful, even rude. (Now I go back and add the trimmings before pressing SEND.)

It’s not surprising that professors’ and students’ practices would vary, given the difference in power and age. But even best friends can have very different ideas about appropriate ways to use social media. Noelle Miesfeld and Rachel Jacobson had been close friends since college, and they stayed in close touch after graduation, often having long telephone conversations, catching up. After a number of years, however, they began communicating more through texting. This meant more frequent conversations—often daily or even multiple times a day. So Noelle was surprised when Rachel registered a complaint: She’d been telling Noelle about a problem, and she felt that Noelle’s responses seemed too casual and brief to show real concern. Rachel missed her caring, emotionally supportive friend. They traced the trouble to their contrasting assumptions about texting. To Noelle, comforting closeness resided in the frequency of their exchanges. To Rachel, frequency didn’t substitute for the expression of feeling and detailed discussion of her situation that they’d shared in the past—the kinds of conversations that Noelle didn’t feel could or should take place through texting.

When deciding which platform to use and how to use it, as well as how to interpret communications you receive—or don’t receive—you have to know which platforms your friends tend to use and how they use them. Some will answer texts but not emails. Others don’t check their phones regularly, so you can’t rely on texting to reach them. The proliferation of platforms means more options to exploit but also more opportunities for your messages to be misinterpreted. How quickly does a particular friend usually reply to a text or email? What does the lack of an immediate response mean? So firm is some people’s expectation of a quick reply to a text that any lapse carries meaning. A student, telling me about a friend who, in her words, “stopped talking” to her, said, by way of explanation, “She’d text me back two days later.” To her, a two-day delay was tantamount to not talking at all.

Silence can be a deliberate communication. One woman said of a text she received from a friend, “I was so annoyed, I’m just not responding. I just didn’t answer.” Yet in other cases, silence doesn’t mean anything; it results from circumstances. A young woman thought her boyfriend’s delay in responding meant he was angry at her. It turned out his phone battery had run out.

Perceived metamessages of annoyance can snowball, whether or not they were intended. A student recounted in an interview a Facebook message exchange with a friend that, she felt, should have been straightforward but became complicated. She sent a message suggesting they go running later than planned. The friend messaged back, “I guess that’s okay. Fine, see you then.” That little opener, “I guess,” and the unenthusiastic “okay” seemed to imply that she wasn’t thrilled with the change of plans. So the student responded, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be difficult. I’m more flexible than I made it sound. I can actually just do one o’clock like we planned.” That set off a back-and-forth that went four rounds—“No no no let’s do the time you wanna do,” “No no no let’s do the time we said.” Hair-tearing exchanges like these are particularly common among girls and women because, as the student pointed out, they often worry about coming across as too demanding and hurting others’ feelings.

My student Holly DiClemente explained how her peers make creative use of digital features to avoid hurting friends’ feelings. One example is ghost reading—reading a message without opening it, by just reading the preview in the text app, or on your lock screen. If a phone automatically sends “read receipt” notices to let others know their messages have been opened and, presumably, read, ghost reading comes in handy to manage the implied metamessages. If you see from the text notification that a friend is asking if you want to hang out, and you don’t want to but you don’t want to hurt her feelings, you can open the message later and tell her you’re sorry you just got it. The “read receipts” feature can also be used to show you’re mad; it lets someone know you’ve read their message and are intentionally not responding—a visual virtual snub. But there, too, they might think you’re mad when you’re not. Maybe you saw that the message was long, so you put off replying until you’d have more time to read it, or to write a thoughtful response.

Metamessages—intended or not—can reside in just about any aspect of digital communication, even something as minor and automatic as listing recipients’ names when sending email. If you enter the addresses on the “to” or “cc” line, everyone who receives it can see not only who else is getting the message but also what order you put the names in. Two women I interviewed together, Lucy McBride and Annie Finnell, pointed out some of the resulting metamessages: “You feel special when you’re the first one on there,” Lucy said. Annie agreed: “You do. And you feel not special when you’re the last one.” Lucy added, “Because if you’re dead last, it’s like they were thinking, ‘Who am I forgetting?’” To avoid offending those whose names come later or last, you can put recipients’ email addresses on the “bcc” line. But that sends a metamessage, too. It’s what people do when the list of recipients is very long, so “It looks like you’re inviting all of Northwest Washington!”

Anytime there are multiple recipients, metamessages can get complicated. I was part of a group that used email to confer about a joint project. In one such exchange, a member of our group expressed well wishes to another about a medical condition, after which all the others chimed in, echoing the expressions of concern. I was puzzled. I didn’t know whether this flurry of well wishes was related to the ongoing medical challenge I knew this group member had been experiencing, or whether there had been a new and dangerous development I didn’t know about. I asked another group member, who said she was not aware of any new developments either, but wanted to express her general support for our ailing friend. I went ahead and sent my own well wishes, cc’ing only the one who first expressed concern. But then I worried that the others would think me callous and uncaring. I rather regretted having foregone the option of allowing—or forcing--everyone to overhear my well wishes.

Every word we speak is chock-full of metamessages telling others not only how we mean what we say but also who we are. It has always been that way; it’s the only way language can work to communicate ideas and negotiate relationships. With social media, we have ever more ways to do this—and ever more things to worry about, to make sure the self we’re displaying is the one we believe we are—or the one we want to be.

#texting #text #tech #social media #digital media #articles

[writing-is-my-guilty-pleasure]

Rising Star || Tony Stark x Reader

Main Masterlist

Marvel Masterlist

You were Y/N Y/L/N, a rising star in the music world. You hadn’t started off well known at all, you studied music in school and college, then gone on to sing on city streets for fun in your spare time. But you didn’t stay hidden for long, because somewhere along the line someone had uploaded a video to YouTube of you singing, and it had gone viral. The next time you went on twitter your phone actually crashed from the amount of people that had been tweeting you, and messaging you, and it didn’t take too long after that for your now producer to get in touch with you.

When you released your first single, the amount of people who were buying, downloading and streaming your song was enough to keep you at the top of the charts for a week and a half. Everyone loved it, and it was even enough to get other people to notice you. You’d learn later in life that Peter Parker was a fan of your music, and that’s really where all the excitement began.

You’d been booked in for an interview by your producer, so that your fans could know more about you and what you liked. You’d been given a piece of white cardboard, with little bits of paper that you could pull off, to see what was written underneath.

“And this one says…” You paused as you pulled a piece of paper off. “Who is Y/N Y/L/N’s favourite Avenger?” You grinned at the question, and laughed at the camera. “You can’t just ask a question like that, all the Avengers are amazing and they all do an amazing job.” You thought for a moment. “But honestly, I think Iron Man has to be my favourite.” You laughed again as the crew behind the cameras chuckled at your answer. “I love Tony Stark, I have to admit that.” You smiled. “I really respect Tony, how he deals with the press, and how he balances his work life. I’ve admired him for a while, as he seems like a really nice guy, and the Avengers deal with a lot, with the whole saving the world thing.” You glanced back down at the question. “But I doubt I’d ever get to meet him, but at least now everyone knows I love Tony Stark!” You smiled at the camera, and moved onto the next question.

                                      •·················•·················•

After that interview, and many months later you released even more music, and you were slowly getting recognised around the world, as more people shared your songs. You’d even met some of your favourite artists, and you didn’t think your life would get better than this, because this was more than what you’d dreamed of.

Or so you thought, until it had been a year since you released your first song, and to celebrate your producer had thrown a (very) big, formal party to honour the start of your career. There were more than a few recognisable faces there, and you had been overwhelmed for most of the night, greeting so many of your idols, them congratulating you and complimenting you on your music and achievements.

Eventually, you managed to get away from the bigger part of the crowd, and stand next to one of the many small tables that littered the room that held various expensive drinks. You sighed, reaching for one of the less alcoholic drinks on the table, and had just taken a sip when you heard: 

“It feels good to get away from the crowd occasionally, doesn’t it?”

There was something very familiar about that voice, so you turned around, about to agree with the mysterious person, but upon seeing them you froze where you stood, almost dropping your drink. There before you, that familiar smirk on his face, stood Tony Stark himself.

“Oh my god.” You whispered, putting a hand over your mouth, staring in utter disbelief at Tony. “You’re Tony Stark!” You said a little bit louder, your voice a little bit higher this time. “Oh my god!” You put your drink down as Tony laughed, and you gaped at him, but it was quickly overtaken by the biggest smile that had ever appeared on your face.

“And you must be Y/N.” Tony replied, repositioning his sunglasses that he seemed to never take off. “I’ve heard a lot about you, but none of the videos show how beautiful you are.” His smirk grew as you turned a bright red, looking down shyly.

“It’s…I’m so-” You stuttered, your mind in ruins because holy shit did Tony Stark just call you beautiful? Tony chuckled as you tried to find the right words. “It’s so amazing to meet you, I’ve always dreamed of meeting you and that sounds weird but I didn’t mean it to be weird, and I promise I’m a lot cooler than this normally.” You said in a rush, feeling utterly stupid. “How did you even get here?” You asked, taking another sip of your drink, gesturing for Tony to take one if he wanted.

“Well, I have an apprentice of sorts back home, as you may well know since you love me so much.” Tony winked at you as he took a larger sip of his drink. “And he brought you to my attention not too long ago, as he is definitely one of your biggest fans.” At your amazed look, he grinned. “Seriously, he won’t stop talking about your music, and this time I relented and let him fangirl about you to no end, until he showed me this video of you doing an interview.” He pulled out his phone to show you the video where you admitted you were obsessed with Tony. “And I knew that I had to find you somehow, so I got in touch with your producer, and he invited me here without telling you.” Tony looked at you over his glass, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

“You wanted to meet me that much?” You asked, in awe of the man standing infront of you. “I don’t think someone’s wanted to meet me that badly before.” You smiled shyly at Tony, and you felt a warm fuzzy feeling inside everytime he smiled back at you. You looked around, and nobody seemed to be looking in your general direction, so an idea floated into your head. “Do you want to…I don’t know, get away from the noise a bit?” You gestured in the direction of the balcony.

“I would love to.” Tony replied, before holding out his arm for you to take. You laughed, and held onto his arm as he led you outside, where the cool air felt lovely on your flushed skin, and the lights from the busy city below shone onto your face. You looked over at Tony to find him already looking at you. 

“What? Is there something on my face?” You chuckled, reaching up to pat your cheek nervously.

“Can’t I just look at a pretty girl once in a while?” Tony teased, and you jokingly rolled your eyes, giggling. You never giggle, how has this man managed to turn you into the dumbest person alive? “I want to get to know you more, Y/N.” Tony spoke seriously, shifting a little on his feet, and you tucked a loose piece of hair behind your ear nervously. “And I know you’re busy with your music, but I would really like to take you out sometime.”

“You want to take me on a date?” You asked, staring in disbelief, and Tony nodded casually, as though he’d asked you something extremely simple, like what your favourite colour was.

“I just think that you and I get along well, and why prevent something that is obviously a good idea and that could work?” Tony shrugged, tilting his head as he looked at you. “So what do you say, Y/N? Give me a chance to sweep you off your feet, maybe literally a couple of times.” He spread his arms open, one of his signature poses.

“Hmm, I don’t know.” You said teasingly, moving towards him slightly. “Is a genius, billionaire, playboy, and philanthropist enough for someone like me?” You pulled a thoughtful face, as one of Tony’s hands crept up your back, pulling you closer to him. “I think I can give it a try.” Tony flashed you a winning smile, and pressed a quick kiss to your cheek.

Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. “Here’s my number, but don’t worry, I’m not leaving you just yet.” You tucked the paper into your bag, and that night was the happiest you’d been in a while. 

                                       •·················•·················•

But obviously when Tony left and you were in your room alone you had to scream into your pillow because oh my god Tony Stark is into you and you’re going on a date with him. And he was right, you two did make it work.

#tony stark #tony stark imagines #tony stark x reader #iron man #iron man x reader #marvel #marvel imagines #marvel x reader #avengers imagines #avengers x reader

[backdeck-potato-novelist]

I Get the Feeling that I'm Right Where I Belong

Chapter 4: So I Met Up With Some Friends

AO3

Beginning, Previous, Next

“Marinette! They’re here!” Tikki flitted back into Marinette’s room. She had been sunning herself on the roof, but had seen the rest of her holder’s team arrive.

“Got it, Tikki!” Marinette handed the small, red god a sugar cookie. “Think it looks good?” She gestured to her room, which had had many a makeover in the last few years. Recently, she’d convinced her parents to get her a loft bed, which had opened the room greatly. Her sketching and homework desk was under the bed, both of which were pushed against the northern corner. Her sewing desk was on the northeastern wall, and her two dress forms were next to it. She had a flat-screen television on the opposite wall from her desk area and four bean bags of various sizes facing it. All in all, it was the perfect room for her work and her friends, and it happened to have a bed as well.

“It looks great Marinette! I like the new nest,” Tikki said as she flew to the “nest.” It was a wooden frame hanging from the door to the roof, with fleece blankets and smaller pillows piled inside; the perfect size for seven or so Kwamis to hang out and watch movies in style.

“Thanks. I’ll be back in a minute!” Marinette called over her shoulder. She practically leaped down the staircase, skipped the bottom five steps, and went screeching around the corner to the next set of stairs. It had been a solid three hours since she had seen her team, and as far as Marinette was concerned, that was way too long. Who knew what kind of shenanigans they could have gotten into since then?

As she landed on the bottom floor, she heard Adrian say “Thank you Monsieur Dupain,” followed by protesting from her father.

“Please, Adrian, there’s no need for you to be so formal. You practically live here, so please, call me Tom!”

“Okay, Tom,” Adrian replied, more shyly than Marinette felt was necessary.

“That applies to all of you. Any friend of Marinette’s is a friend of mine, and you are all wonderful friends. I’m so glad my little Marinette has such wonderful people in her life.” Tom bellowed, his volume matching his physique. “So, does my little girl have a boyfriend yet?”

“Papa!” Marinette cried out as she entered the front of the bakery. “You don’t need to embarrass me in front of my friends.”

There was a small chorus of hellos and heys and how you beens from the six others in the room. Alya went in for a hug.

“Of course I do! As your father, I am contractually obligated.” Tom paused. “So, uh, do you have a boyfriend?”

Chloe giggled a bit, but quickly covered it up with a rather pathetic fake cough when Marinette glared at her.

“Not yet, Papa. There is a boy I like, but he lives in America, so it probably won’t work out.”

“Oh, yes, did I meet him?”

“Yes, you did. He was here in the fall,” Marinette answered, shepherding her team into the back and up the stairs. “We’re going to go watch a movie. I love you, Papa!” She yelled over her shoulder from the second floor.

“I’ll bring you all some cookies!” Tom called up after her. “Oh, I’m so glad my little Marinette has such close friends.”

“And then Lila said, and I shit you not, ‘This Luka sounds like a lovely woman!’” Chloe burst out. Adrien blushed hard. Nino, Alya, and Marinette laughed with Chloe. Luka looked thoughtful.

“I have met her before, right?” He asked. “Like, Juleka has definitely introduced us.”

“Oh yeah. She was at Kitty Section’s last show, actually,” Chloe replied.

“She was the one who fake-fainted when you blew Adrien that kiss,” Nino added.

“That was Lila?” Adrien asked, shocked. “I thought that was just some fangirl or another!”

“Nope!” Nino said. “That was Lila.”

“Oh my god,” Adrien whispered. “She tried to steal my boyfriend.” 

“Don’t worry, Adrien,” Marinette leaned over to pat her friend on the back. “No one can steal your boyfriend. Plagg would kill them.”

Luka laughed. Adrien joined for half a second, before saying, “Oh my god, Plagg might try to steal my boyfriend,” with horror dawning in his eyes. Luka cut his laugh off as everyone else started.

“You all joke down there, but Luka’s voice is almost as good as camembert!” Plagg called down at the superheroes from the nest.

“Then I am very glad my father doesn’t check his banks,” Adrien said. “Cause losing one of you would be bad. Losing you to each other,” He threw his head back and dramatically reached for his heart. “Oh, that would be unbearable!”

Plagg said “Don’t worry Adrien, your cheese is still better,” at the same time as Luka said, “I’m still here for you, babe. Just don’t run away with Sass.” Everyone laughed at the couple’s antics.

“I have the movie!” Kagami poked her head up from the staircase. “As the loser of today’s Twitter contest, I hereby declare that we shall watch,” She paused for effect. “The Princess Bride!”

Marinette, Luka, and Alya cheered. Chloe, Adrian, and Nino looked around at them, confused.

“Is it good?” Chloe finally asked.

“Is it good? Is it good?!” Marinette squealed. “Of course it’s good! It’s The Princess Bride!”

“Have you not seen it, Chlo?” Kagami asked.

“No, uh, I haven’t,” Chloe answered, blushing a little.

“I haven’t either, if it’s any consolation.” Adrian reached over and squeezed his friend’s arm.

“Same, dude. It seems kinda cheesy, to be honest. Like, what kind of title is The Princess Bride?” Nino added.

“Cheesy? Cheesy?!? It is the epitome of uncheesiness! All other movies aspire to be as uncheesy as The Princess Bride!” Alya practically shouted, leaning away from her boyfriend in horror. “Cheesy? Never.”

Luka snorted. “You keep using that word, Alya. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

“Are you saying it is cheesy?” Adrian asked his boyfriend.

“No, he’s quoting,” Kagami closed the stair door behind her. “Actually, he might be saying it’s cheesy, but he is first and foremost, quoting.” She popped the disk into Marinette’s TV.

“It’s cheesy,” Luka stage-whispered to Nino.

“So, what’s it about? Y’know, besides a princess getting married,” Chloe asked. Kagami sat down next to her and grabbed her hand.

“It’s about everything! Fencing, fighting, torture,” Marinette began listing.

“Revenge, giants, monsters,” Alya picked up after her.

“Chases, escapes, true love, miracles,” Luka continued. 

“I’ll try to stay awake,” Marinette finished. Adrian, Nino, and Chloe stared.

“They’re all quoting now,” Kagami explained. 

“They’re quoting The Princess Bride?” Nino asked.

“It’s very quotable,” Kagami answered.

“So, it’s not like, a generic princess movie, I take it,” Chloe said. “I mean, Disney movies don’t normally have, like, torture and revenge as big themes.”

“Oh no, it’s totally a generic princess movie,” Marinette said as she picked up the remote. “It’s got all the tropes, every stereotype, it’s great. But like, it’s also really not generic at all. It’s, uh, I’m gonna stop trying to explain. We’re just going to watch it now.”

“Everyone got their candy?” Alya asked. A chorus of positive responses came back. “Good! Now, let’s go! I want to start. It’s been like, a year and a half since I’ve seen this.”

Marinette turned her television on and started the movie. As the music started and the camera swept over the farm, she looked at her teammates and smiled. With all of them by her side, be it fighting supervillain terrorists, dealing with bullies, or watching movies, she could face anything.

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #chloé bourgeois #Nino lahiffe #alya cesaire #luka coffaine #Kagami Tsurugi #chloé x kagami #alya x nino #adrien x luka #daminette #My fic

[gwen-writes-stuff]

Damn Shirt | Tom Holland imagine

Imagine : You and Tom coincidentally wear the same clothes.

Word count : 3280

Y/N's POV

I was digging in my closet to try and find an appropriate attire for a walk around the city. I've been away for months, Filming for Spider-Man: Homecoming so I figured that for my first day off work I'd take a lovely stroll around Los Angeles.

It's not really exciting or eventful but the aim is to relax after the many days I was working non-stop.

After what felt like an hour, I spotted a black graphic t-shirt and I don't remember having it, I grabbed it by the hanger and held it up to scan.

Satisfied I threw it on the bed to fish for my favorite pair of jeans.

In the end, I had the small section on the middle part of the shirt tucked in my favorite white jeans while the rest perform like a normal shirt should and got lazy so I topped it all off with a high-cut converse.

As boring as my fashion taste sounds like right now, I clean up nicely during premieres and formal events.

I texted my sister where I'll be meeting her and I grabbed a random sunglasses running out my house to wave my cat goodbye.

I decided against driving because I actually wanted to walk, My sister_____ wanted to shop and I gladly accepted the invite. The Starbucks I asked her to meet is just a few blocks away anyway.

While crossing the street I didn't fail to notice a number of Paparazzis lurking, I sighed, They could at least try bring subtle about it.

As much as I love the fans, fame and love for acting I didn't appreciate the invasion of privacy. I can't do anything about it because I had this coming.

A few more streets crossed and I'm inside the Starbucks where my sister greeted me with a hug, I chuckled hugging her back.

"Missed me much?" She rolled her eyes but shortly nodded. I raised a brow at her when she brought the straw of her drink to her lips. "You know what I always get."

She giggled and handed me my drink she hid god-knows-where. "So how was it?" We sat inside for a while to try and catch up. I jusst get back last night.

"Eventful. I knew taking the role of Spider-Gwen was gonna be a pain but the stunts I pulled off..." I trailed off to groan indicating I had a hard time and she smiled at that.

"Knowing you, You slayed that!" I mockingly posed like a superhero and I got a few looks from the people around.

"Well I didn't get fired." I shrugged and took a sip of my (Fave Starbucks drink) and almost choked from the following words that left my dear sister's mouth.

"So how is it working with Tom Holland then?" I blushed and I could tell just by how my cheeks instantly heat up and _____ wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Ever since I saw him as Peter in Civil War my crush on him wasn't a secret to _____ and it was sheer luck that I got the part of his love interest.

"He was sweet. Very professional." I gave her the bullshit I'll probably give the interviewers and she obviously wanted more than such a plain answer when she rolled her eyes.

"Any kissing scene?" I snorted and almost had my drink coming out of my nose and I instinctively slapped her hand that rested on the table and she was a laughing mess.

"____!" I picked up my sunglasses and wore it, "Let's just go shopping." That was what we planned afterall and she gave me a suspicious look.

I didn't answer her question and I bet she already know that there is. I did afterall play his love interest.

We went to different shops just chatting about the most random of things and Tom didn't come up anymore.

I thought I was over that part of shooting but ____ had to go and remind me, I wasn't able to sleep for a week after shooting that scene.

We had about twelve takes because he was doing the iconic hanging upside down and we were a laughing mess. Five times, He almost fell off and I was the one to steady him.

I unknowingly shook my head to try and rid myself of the memory, reminding myself that I'm professional and was snapped out of thoughts when ____ poked my side.

"Damn Paparazzis." She whispered and I glanced down at our shopping bags and I barely have space on my hand.

"Isn't this enough?" She shook her head to point out that we also had to do a back to school shopping and I complained about how far it is.

But that didn't stop her from dragging me into three more stores and I ended up going back home with sore hands but I was happy. I was told to rest by my manager but I missed ____ and shopping was our way to bond.

When I reached the comfort of my home I flopped myself on the bed and let my cat walk all over me til she settled on sleeping on my back.

I rolled my eyes at the inconvenience she just put me through, Sleeping on my back, She's lucky I love her.

My phone that I left on my nightstand to have no distractions for the day just buzzed and I groaned. Reaching for it without interrupting my Cat who very annoyingly got comfortable on my back.

I opened it to see that I got fifty missed calls from my manager and immediately shot up, My cat landed on the floor with a very nasty meow and I sent an apologetic smile her way.

Rascal just hissed at me and I turned back to my phone, What is it this time?

It must be this important if I have fifty missed calls from my freaking manager so I called her back instantly hoping for the best but getting myself ready for the worst.

I haven't had a scandal. Ever. Since the beginning of my career I have actively avoided drama in the industry so I'm beyond terrified.

"Y/N? Where have you been? You haven't been answering my calls!" My very angry manager yelled through the phone and I had to pull the phone away from my ears for a moment.

"I went shopping with ____ and I know, I just got home and I left my phone. Sorry?" I replied quietly that I doubt it even reached the other end of the call.

I heard a very loud sigh and I braced myself for the news, "Are you dating Tom?" I was frozen from kneeling down on my bed.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Laugh because that is ridiculous and how much would I be paying Tom to be my boyfriend? Cry because it's a slap to the face that I would laugh at how impossible it is to be with my crush.

"Y/N are you there?" I was pulled back to reality, I coughed to get rid of the forming lump in my throat and shook my head but I realised that I'm on the phone.

"No, Why would you ask that?" Fifty missed calls? What could I have possibly done to be linked to Tom when I was yet to do interviews with him?

I have a week to myself before interviews start and I already have this question from my manager?

"I'm sending you the links." With that she ended the call and I shakily scrolled to see my feed on twitter.

I didn't need to check the links (Manager's name) sent when I already know what the issue is.

Y/N L/N and Tom Holland dating?!

Actors starring in the upcoming Marvel film Spider-Man : Homecoming, L/N and Holland, Dating?

Those are just two of the many article title that have blurred my vision, I haven't seen Tom since the last shooting so why would people assume this?

I clicked one link and I could feel my cat snuggle into my lap as I read the article with shaking vision, I was too nervous.

Y/N L/N was spotted shopping with her sister _____ wearing a very familiar Black T-shirt that fans pointed out to be exactly like the actor Tom Holland's just this morning (Random date).

Pictures of her walking out of Starbucks were all over the internet when one fan pointed out that Tom Holland wore the same shirt months ago (Random date again lol) and alot more agreed.

This lead to fans believing that the shirt was originally Tom's and he had given Y/N the shirt when they started dating, Their relationship is not confirmed to be official but fans are expecting to hear the truth from the two young actors.

At the very end is a picture of me walking out of Starbucks and next to it is a picture of Tom crossing the road. I squint my eyes to see that our shirts did look exactly alike and how unfortunate it is that I just pulled that very shirt out my closet out of boredom this afternoon.

This is utterly ridiculous.

Before I could sleep the stress off I saw a highlighted notification, Tom tweeted me.

One of the many articles is attached and I braced myself for embarassment and cringe.

@ TomHolland1996 tweeted :

@Y/Nofficial Now you gotta give me my shirt back 😉😂

With that tweet he's not making any of this any better! I groaned in frustration and dropped on the bed face first, Glad my cat left knowing she was being ignored and I drifted into sleep thinking about the drama waiting.

***

It's been a week and interviews with Tom are coming up, We had a few with other cast members like Zendaya but the first one I'll be having is with Tom and questions about the shirt will surely come up.

My stupid ass forgot that shirt is actually Tom's.

I don't really remember the events following how the shirt ended up in my closet but it was really his.

How'd I know? I called him the next morning asking about that tweet.

The week went smooth, I went to the beach and a road trip with _____ to Vegas. The rumours about Tom and I dating still hasn't died down.

I suggested we go apart to lessen the assumption but he insisted we shouldn't let the issue affect our friendship which lead me to think.

Are Tom and I friends? Because Homecoming was the first time we worked together and I doubt he even knew of my existence before then.

We worked together, Got acquainted fast and got along...sort of but I wouldn't really call us friends. He was always closer to Zendaya who he always hang out with in between breaks and he was best friends with Jacob who he always talked to and we only ever made small talks.

He seemed to be so uninterested in me that I found it awkward to kiss him on camera when I felt like he didn't want me around but it was as if something changed and we were fooling around and teasing like good friends that after twelve takes, We got the job done.

As of now I'm in a dressing room watching Carla, my stylist fix my hair. I didn't want my make-up to be too much since I wasn't feeling too extra so I did it myself.

When it was finally time for the interview I was greeted by Tom who said an inaudible 'Hi' which I replied with a small smile.

“Y/N, Tom, It's nice to have you here.” The female interviewer chirped as we took our seats and I laid back with legs crossed, My hand rested on my thighs.

“Thank you.” I replied with a polite smile, “Pleasure's ours.” Tom added as she shook hands with us.

“Well you can call me Maddie. So let's start?” Maddie asked and we nodded, I turned to look at Tom who also turned to look at me with an innocent smile.

“So Y/N, We know that Tom has a background in Dance and Gymnastics but you don't?” I shook my head stealing a glance at Tom because I can feel the weight of his stare and it's honestly making me uncomfortable.

Not because he makes me uncomfortable, god no, But because of my stupid crush.

“I don't, I do dance around the house and in the shower.” I joked and Maddie let out a soft chuckle. I can dance really well if I actually tried but gymnastics? Nope!

“So how was your stunts? You had no background whatsoever, How did you do it?” Despite having not learned fighting or gymnastics I still insisted on doing my own stunts which surprised many, Even myself.

I went through alot of training and hardwork to even come close to an average performance, I shifted in my seat.

“Well, I may be no gymnast but my ballet days did a huge part. That, Along with practice and just determination to learn.” Satisfied with my answer Maddie looked down at her cards.

“Tom. This one's for you.” I fought the urge to turn to Tom and kept my eyes on Maddie as she spoke while looking down at her cards because I didn't wanna look at Tom.

Why? I am a hundred percent sure that I would be way too distracted by how perfect his hair looks and how pretty his eyes are.

But thinking about being distracted, distracted me anyways that the next question is directed to me that I didn't even notice Tom already answered his.

“What was the hardest part in playing Gwen?” I silently thanked God that none of the questions directed at me so far are about my body or diet.

“I think it's the stunts. Everything else is a breeze but the stunts man!” I answered and the three of us erupted into laughter.

“Back to Tom, How was it working with Y/N?” This time I instinctively turned and instantly regretted it when our eyes met and locked.

He leaned towards his left side to get a better look at me and my insides screamed. “She's...amazing.” He said almost out of breath and I could only pray to God that I'm not blushing right now.

I saw Maddie in the corner of my eyes raise her brow suggestively, Leaning forward to not miss a potential tea-spilling as I'd like to call it.

“She makes it easy, She's very professional and a really great actress. Sometimes I don't even feel like I'm acting anymore, You know?” His cute accent trailing behind every word as I listen to my heart race. But he plays as my boyfriend?

“So what is the funniest thing that happened on set?” Maddie asked directed to the both of us and I almost jumped at my seat from excitement.

“The kissing scene.” Tom with a dropped jaw looked at me as if I spoiled something but that's his job. Must've wanted that memory kept a secret.

“Do tell.” Maddie replied with a small smirk on her features that I failed to notice because I was too busy recalling the events.

“We had to take twelve takes.” Tom spoke up stifling a laugh. He was shaking his head with a toothy grin.

“I don't even remember why we were laughing but before our lips could even meet we would burst out laughing like idiots.” I added laughing at the end of my sentence and so did Maddie imagining how ridiculous we Must've looked like.

The interview went on well and Maddie was really nice but I knew the inevitable was coming so when she said we were off to the last one, I shifted again in my seat. Nonchalantly moving an inch away from Tom and pretended to ignore the small frown he gave me when he noticed.

“So this might be a little hot of an issue but you were spotted wearing his shirt, Right?” Maddie asked me gesturing her hand to Tom and I nodded. “How did that happen?”

I raised a hand like a schoolgirl to indicate I wanted to go first. “I didn't know it was his–I mean I did but I didn't remember. I was just digging through my closet and went ‘Oh that shirt looks cool’ so I went ahead and wore it.” I turned to Tom, “How did that get in my closet, Tom?”

I asked with a slight tease and a cheeky grin but I didn't expect him to look serious, He coughed and clasped his hands together. “Funny story actually.” He began.

“We were shooting this one scene in the night and it was really cold but when we were wrapping up I found this woman sitting alone in the corner hugging herself.” I would've grabbed a jacket but I was too cold I found it hard to move and my manager and assistant were talking to the staffs.

“So I ran to search my bag for anything, A jacket but I saw the shirt and I remember it being warm and I was afraid she would've froze by the time I find a jacket so I gave it to her.” I remember now, Just how my heart skipped a beat when I looked up to see who owned the extended hand.

Tom with his pretty face illuminated by the moonlight, His damn boyish grin. If I wasn't sitting down I would've dropped on the floor because my knees turned jelly.

“So you two are not dating?” Maddie asked and I couldn't answer, It hurts to say no and I wondered if it's still just a silly crush if it's hurting me.

I figured I'd let Tom answer but even he just stared at me so I raised a brow at him. Maddie cleared her throat but our eye contact didn't break.

“Are you two dating?” Maddie repeated herself changing thd question slightly and I can hear hope lacing in her voice but I shook my head still looking at Tom.

“Unfortunately not.” Tom replied and my jaw dropped at that, What did he just say? “But if miss L/N would be kind enough to go on a date with me then there would be a big possibility.” I was lost for words.

Is he serious or just stoking the flame of this hot rumour? Tom wouldn't do that just to gain more attention but he couldn't be serious about wanting to go on a date with me?

“I — I'm sorry, What?” Maddie was making inhuman noises of joy while I look at Tom with wide eyes and he only flashed me the same boyish grin.

“Is that a yes?” I couldn't form a word so I nodded slowly while Maddie clap and Tom look away briefly, Jesus, Is he blushing?

My manager is going to kill me.

Breaking News ! Spider-Man : Homecoming actor, Tom Holland just asked co-star Y/N L/N on a date during an interview.

Watch the interview here!

well this was long as fuck. I didn't really know how to start and end this because I just have this one stupid idea of you and Tom coincidentally wearing the same shirt and people going crazy about it so forgive how shitty this is.

PS : I take requests~

#tom holland #tom holland imagines #tom holland smut #spider-man #spider-man imagines #spider-man smut #quakson #thomas holland #peter parker #marvel #avengers #avengers imagines #imagines #smut #fanfiction #tom holland one-shot

[artificialqueens]

Échappé / Chapter 3 (Branjie) - DenDenMonMon

Summary: A community center, about to be demolished, forces prima ballerina Brooke Lynn Hytes to entangle her life with Vanessa “Miss Vanjie” Mateo’s, a stripper determined to save it. While trying to solve their differences, shortage of money, and ever growing sexual tension, they discover how dance is their only common ground to save the center.

A/N: Hi. Hello. How are you? Here’s something that you probably didn’t know about me: my notes are often longer than the actual chapter. So here’s some background story: When svpermodel came to me with this idea aka that time she went on and on and on about this plot on Twitter, I right away pictured: Black Swan meets The Dancing Dolls, and that became the premise of this whole story. For this particular chapter I want to direct your attention to this video: I happened to be in the audience when this was recorded and, lemme tell you, I have never cried with a performance so much in my life. So, when the time comes, and the scene is presented, this is the mental image I want you to have when reading it. For your attention, thank you! -Monkey.

AO3 Link

Chapter 3

All in all, Ben had a very good sense of direction. There was a reason why he was hired as a driver, after all. So, when Brooke asked him to take them back to the community center, the one they had found by mistake while lost, he had no problem getting there.

In the back seat of the black SUV, Brooke looked out the window. Next to her, Katya sang loudly in Russian, completely lost in the music she had specifically brought for the ride.

A lot of thought had been put into the situation. After her less than formal meeting with Vanessa, in the private area of the strip club, Brooke had talked to the head of the ballet company. Even when Brooke was the director, and one of the senior partners, Madam Charles still owned fifty-one percent of the company, and had the final say in the matter.

The conversation hadn’t gone easily. Brooke explained the scenario the best she could. No words could really make Madam Charles comprehend why this particular community center was so important for Brooke. She could barely explain it to herself. All she knew was that she needed to do everything in her power to save it.

The shock came when Madam Charles approved of a donation, and Brooke pointed out they didn’t want it. What they needed were teachers, choreographers, maybe even designers and stylists.

That was too much to ask. They didn’t have time to spare.

The company was only meant to be in Los Angeles for one more month, before moving to the next city. They had been following the same pattern for years. Theaters were booked, rehearsal studios have been rented, and hotel rooms had been arranged. The entire schedule had been lined up for them to be able to travel from one place to the other with ease. If they stopped things then, or delayed even one presentation, the amount of money it could cost would be unimaginable. Not to mention that they needed to end the tour in New York by Christmas day, where they did a special version of The Nutcracker every year.

RuPaul Charles didn’t have to remind Brooke of any of this, she was completely aware of it. That didn’t mean that the list of consequences hadn’t been brought up by the one in charge. Brooke countered with the details that she had gotten from the dancer.

Texting Vanessa had been interesting, to say the least. She was funny, very funny. Sometimes, it was intentional; other times, not so much. Brooke’s favorite was how Vanessa seemed unable to identify her own typos. Brooke would tease her about it and Vanessa, never sure of where the spelling error was, would end up sending the word in Spanish. Whenever Brooke sent her a simple question, she knew better than to expect a simple reply. She often found herself laughing out loud at an answer.

Brooke got as much information about the event as she could. Vanessa didn’t know a lot. The only few things she knew for sure were the amount of numbers they needed to present and, of course, the cash prize if they won. Brooke had to contact people she knew in the dance industry to find out more about it. That was why she was so prepared to negotiate with her superior. There was not a single question that she didn’t already have an answer for.

The competition was in two weeks, the company was still going to be in town by then. She had talked to the other dancers, and they were all willing to help. One day at the time the ballerinas were going to join Brooke in the afternoon, right after rehearsals, practice with the kids, and be back just in time for the show of the night. If any expenses were to rise, Brooke would cover them herself, but they shouldn’t.

Madam Charles, with the lift of a perfectly shaped eyebrow and a lot of doubt filling her chiseled features, had agreed.

The plan had been put into motion right away. Brooke gathered her best friends that same day and they had come up with a plan. She picked the song herself, Nina right away imagined the clothing for the dance, and Plastique complemented the look with the makeup they could use. Detox and Katya helped her with the choreography. Each of the two provided different abilities to the construction of the piece. Detox had the posture and poise, her slow elegant moves, put together with Katya’s flexibility and full control of her elasticity, were the perfect support to bring to life Brooke’s vision.

The category was Contemporary Group Dance. According to Vanessa, she had all the kids practicing for the hip-hop number and the Dance Offs, but she figured she could use the most advanced student and herself for the number. After one more call, Brooke confirmed not only that duos were allowed to perform, but Vanessa could be part of the number being the instructor. They had found their starting point.

Katya had offered herself to be the first one to go with Brooke to visit the center. Her excuse was that she needed to check on the dancers’ limberness before anything else, but Brooke had the suspicion that her interest was set on the makeup artist, rather than the students. She didn’t mind.

Brooke pulled open the doors to the community center. This time Trixie wasn’t there to receive them. A woman with long black hair sat behind the desk instead. Her face was serious as her fingers angrily typed in a computer. Her clothes seemed too tight and her cleavage too deep to be receiving people, but Brooke had learned better than to expect anything from that place. There was something almost intimidating about her. Almost. It took way more than a stern face to throw Brooke Lynn Hytes off balance.

“Is that a karate class?” Katya’s voice, filled with excitement, took Brooke out of her observations.

She watched as her friend wandered off without warning. Nobody stopped her. She couldn’t go too far, Brooke reasoned, and focused her attention on the receptionist.

“Hello, I’m Brooke, I’m here–”

“Yes!” The lady interrupted her, a huge smile spreading across her lips. “Hi. I’m Michelle, I’m the director of the Center. Vanjie has told me so much about you.”

Vanjie.

The name resounded in Brooke’s mind, bouncing against the walls of her head, yet never landing in a place of comprehension. That was Vanessa’s stripper name. The mere thought of the girl having a double life was already too much for Brooke to process, but the fact that she had no problem mixing the two was a whole other level of confusion. There was no shame in what she did, Brooke had learned as much, but Vanessa seemed proud of her profession. She loved to dance, the money was good, the hours were few; the lists of reasons had been more or less convincing. Brooke was trying, but she knew it was going to take a while for her to wrap her mind around it.

She shook Michelle’s hand, still caught up in her thoughts. “I wish I could say the same,” she confessed.

Michelle waved her hand, dismissing the comment. “Don’t worry about it. Things usually slip out of her mind. I mean, I love Vanjie, so much, she’s a beautiful sunbeam, but she can be forgetful.”

Brooke laughed, a warm feeling invading her chest.

“Thank you so much for what you are doing for us,” Michelle continued. “This competition is super important and we really want to give the judges something they haven’t seen before, to show them who we really are.” She walked around the desk as she spoke, and stopped right next to Brooke. “I know you already got a tour of the place but, come with me, I want to show you something.”

Brooke didn’t protest, she followed the director through a small hallway until they reached a bulletin board. Framed in glitter, tons of pictures adorned the piece of drywall. Brooke took a step forward, her fingers ghosting over the images of smiling families, kids dancing, women in gowns, and men playing basketball.

“Those are my babies,” Michelle stated proudly. “I feel very lucky, and very blessed to be a part of this community. We have gone through a lot, you know?” It wasn’t really a question, so Brooke didn’t attempt to answer. “Everybody thinks that LA is nothing but glamour and movie stars, they often forget there are families in need too; moms and dads that can’t make ends meet for their kids.”

A nervous chuckle left Brooke’s lips. “I’m from Toronto, and I can assure you those were exactly my thoughts.”

Michelle smiled. “See? That’s why we need to support each other, help one another.”

She then faced Brooke, placing a soft hand on her arm.

“You have no idea what it meant for us when Vanjie and the girls came to help. Not just with the fundraising, everything has been harmonious and beautiful since they started helping out here. That’s because they are authentic to who they are.”

Brooke could only agree. Vanessa had shown nothing but her true self since the moment they met. In a way, Brooke was almost jealous of how Vanessa carried herself so unapologetically. She told Michelle something along those lines.

There was a knowing smile adorning Michelle’s lips when she replied. “Oh, she’s really good at pretending she doesn’t care what others think. I love her, she’s the sweetest thing ever, but she needs to open up, to allow others in and accept the help when it’s available.”

Brooke knew exactly what she meant. “It seems like she’s always trying to fix everything by herself.”

Michelle nodded. “We are always so used to care for others and we forget about us. How do you think I’ve gained all this weight?”

Her rhetorical question encountered a head shake from Brooke. “I think you have a very lovely shape.”

Michelle laughed, but it sounded sad, forced. It didn’t really reach her eyes.

“I think… all I’m saying is that… we really need you, she needs you.”

Brooke didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t expecting the speech to end that way. Vanessa had assured over and over that she had everything under control. Brooke felt as if she was begging Vanessa to let her help. Hearing from Michelle how that confidence was just a facade, how much Vanessa put up a strong front, made Brooke look at her with brand new eyes.

She swallowed the imaginary lump in her throat before Brooke was able to speak again. “It’s my absolute pleasure.”

They walked to the other side of the center, where the dance practices were already in full motion. Brooke spotted Katya at the back of the room, chatting away with Yvie. Brooke knew they were going to hit it off right away; hopefully, they were already discussing the gymnastic aspects of the plan.

Her attention was immediately called to the opposite direction, when a pop song started playing. Vanessa stood at the front, a group of approximately twenty girls followed her every move. It started slow, with the voice of Britney Spears telling them they needed to work if they wanted to achieve anything in life. It was out of character for Vanessa, who just last week was getting naked to a song with the same theme but a complete different approach. Suddenly the beat dropped, there was the sound of a record scratching, and then the magic happened.

Vanessa whipped her hair from side to side to the rhythm of the remixed version of the original song. The movements were fast, dangerously fast. The scariest part was that the girls behind her never lost a count. Their little heads moved in sync with Vanessa’s as they stomped around the room, changing formations. Every step, every move, and every change of position was perfectly coordinated. They looked like different parts of the same being. The integration of each of the elements of the dance group was like no other Brooke had ever witnessed. They shared the same vision, the same goal. They were one with each other.

The music ended with a bang and they all dropped to the ground at the same time.

Everything was quiet for a second, nothing but their elaborated breathings could be heard.

Brooke didn’t notice she was clapping until her hands stung. Encouraging profanities flew from Katya’s lips, who was standing by her side. She had no recollection of Katya walking her direction.

Vanessa got up with ease, turning to her little dancers. “Alright, y’all, that was nice, that was nice. Now, don’t get too cocky ‘cause them other bitches are gonna be fierce too. I’m not saying we are not, but we gotta be fiercer. So keep on practicing and I wanna see you all here tomorrow, okay? Same time. Don’t be late!”

Her hands closed into fists and rested on her hips. She blinked rapidly, a sign that Brooke had yet to determine what it meant, before she made her way to them.

Katya pushed her playfully as soon as Vanessa was within arms reach. “Oh, my God! That was amazing, you stupid bitch!”

Vanessa smiled shyly, if her face wasn’t already flushed from dancing, she might have blushed at the words. “You really think so? Do you think we have a chance?”

With her mouth opened widely, Katya nodded enthusiastically. “Are you fucking kidding me?!”

“It was really good,” Brooke assured her. “Really, really good.”

Yvie had made her way to them and joined the conversation. “And just wait until they tell you what they put together for us.”

Suddenly, something seemed to come to Vanessa’s mind. “Oh, shoot!” She turned around, looking desperately around the room. “Ah, good, you haven’t left. Elena, baby, c’mere for a sec.”

Brooke recognized the girl right away. She had been at the park the other day. Even when they had all been amazing, Brooke had a clear memory of this particular girl standing out among the rest. Including during the dance they had just performed, Elena, with her frizzy hair, big smile, and killer moves, had been the focus of attention on more than one occasion.

Katya walked to the sound system and plugged in her phone. “We need you to really pay attention to the song. The whole point of this performance is the interpretation of the lyrics. If you don’t feel it all the way down to your rotten bones, this is not gonna work shit.”

She pressed play and the soft notes of a piano started filling the room.

She’s imperfect, but she tries She is good, but she lies She is hard on herself She is broken and won’t ask for help

Vanessa looked at Brooke, her eyes were tender with understanding. They held each other’s stare as the artist seemed to be singing just for the two of them.

She is gone, but she used to be mine.

Brooked noticed how Vanessa’s face softened. For a moment, she wasn’t an unstoppable bundle of energy anymore, but a girl caught up in the sentiment of a song. The first tear ran down from Vanessa’s left eye. Her hand quickly moved to get rid of it in a rough motion. Brooke shook her head. Her kind stare told her to let it flow, to allow all feelings to run freely. That was the whole point, that was exactly what was needed. The raw emotion that invaded Vanessa was just the start of the magnificent piece they were about to bring to life, and they could use all the sentiment they could put into it.

“I don’t get it,” Elena spoke as soon as the piano faded out. “She’s a girl singing about another girl?” The question was pronounced, bathed in all her eleven year-old innocence.

Brooke walked to her, sitting on her heels in front of her, just like she had done the first time they met. “The girl is talking to herself, sweetheart. You know, sometimes grown-ups make bad decisions and they get hurt. Sometimes they wish there could be a way to go back in time and be who they were before, before they lost themselves. That’s who she’s singing about, herself. She used to be herself, now she’s not.”

Elena’s face twisted in confusion.

Brooke had to try a different approach. “Say, do you love Vanessa?” The girl nodded immediately. She didn’t need to think about her answer. “Okay, then, picture you are Vanessa when she was younger. You want to remind her what it’s like to love herself. That way she can try harder to be herself again, the person that you know she can truly be. That’s what the girl is singing about, and that’s the story you need to tell with your dance. Do you think you can do that?”

That seemed to do the trick, there was one more nod and a smile of understanding.

Brooke smiled right along with her. “Let’s get started then.”

An hour later they were all drenched in sweat, exhausted out of their minds, but extremely satisfied. The basics of the choreography had been put together and it promised to look good.

Vanessa had been struggling a little, since this was not her style at all, but Elena caught on to the vibe right away. She asked questions about the ensemble, clearly trying to figure out the story she needed to tell. Brooke tried to explain that her interpretation was about pain, and disappointment, and how she needed to channel those emotions when dancing.

It seemed like too much to ask for such a young girl but, as Vanessa had confessed at the next rehearsal, Elena had been through a lot. It wasn’t hard to connect her own heartache to the piece. Brooke didn’t know what the poor kid had gone through but, as traumatic as it was, it worked wonders for her take on the performance.

As it turned out, Elena was an innate dancer. Her moves were sharp and her extensions were long. Either Katya or Yvie worked with her every day and were stunned by such pure talent. She understood the meaning of every step and flowed with ease from one sequence to the next.

Her connection to Vanessa was one more thing they were surprised with. The two of them simply clicked. They trusted and supported each other in a way that made the performance seem effortless. The result wasn’t as graceful as Brooke had envisioned it, but that only offered an extra level of rawness to the rehearsal.

It was during one of those practices that Brooke could feel the emotion pouring out of their pores as they danced. Vanessa tried to get a grip of Elena and she kept pulling herself away, just like the performance was meant to be. Vanessa dropped to the ground, holding on to Elena’s leg, begging her not to go away. Elena’s free leg went up in the air, her foot reached way higher than her own head, then she brought it back down, forcefully pushing Vanessa away by the shoulder. Elena let out a loud grunt, captivated by the moment.

“That’s right!” Brooke encouraged her. “You are mad. You are angry. Let her know you are hurting.”

As the singer belted out a long note, Elena did just that. With her hands in tight fists, she started crying, spitting words to Vanessa’s face.

“I hate you!” She screamed with passion. “You never pay attention to me! You are always working and leave me with her! She doesn’t love me, she’s mean to me. I hate you both!” She was crying. She kept shouting but her words were distorted by strong sobs shaking her body.

Vanessa tried to hold her, for real this time, but Elena ran out of the room. Vanessa seemed confused for a second before she took off behind her.

Brooke watched the whole scene in surprise. She looked around. Trixie and Nina were stoning some of the costumes. The same expression could be found on their faces. “What was that all about?” She asked aloud, not sure if anybody had heard it.

“Her mom,” Trixie replied.

Nobody brought the topic back up, and rehearsals continued as planned the next day.

More often than not, Brooke found herself mesmerized by the agony in Elena’s performance. Something in her heart ached but she couldn’t bring herself to ask, and Vanessa never mentioned the outburst again. It was something stuck at the back of everybody’s mind, but they knew better than to push the subject.

The day of the competition reached them way too soon. There were still so many things they wanted to go through again, a lot of details that had yet to be sorted out. Trixie and Plastique were still arguing about makeup. Nina still had outfits with pins in them.

None of that mattered when they arrived at the venue. They could hear all the fuss as soon as they got down from the bus, the one that Brooke had specifically rented for them. Excitement ran through their veins, making them jump with anxiety. The Dream Girls were ready to hit the stage.

They found their dressing rooms and Vanessa gathered them around, instructing them to hold hands in a circle. Elena made sure to grab Brooke’s hand and pull her into the group. Vanessa said a prayer in Spanish. It didn’t matter that Brooke couldn’t understand a word, the power of the plea filled her with hope. She closed her eyes with the rest of them and bowed her head down, asking for someone or something from above to give them the strength and wisdom to make it through the event.

As soon as they were done, Vanessa nerves made her start bouncing on her spot. Brooke placed both her hands on Vanessa’s shoulders and looked at her straight in the eye.

“I believe in you,” Brooke assured her.

The tiniest of smiles appeared on Vanessa’s lips. “At least one of us does.”

Brooke shook her head. “Look around you, they all believe in you. They are here because of you. They are strong, because you are their source of strength. Go out there and kill them death. Eat or be eaten, eh?”

An air of determination washed over Vanessa’s face. “Let’s make them eat it!”

Brooke wished them success, reminding them luck was not needed when they were prepared, and went to find her place at the bleachers. It was a funny sight to say the least. Michelle and Nina sat together, engrossed in conversation. Next to them, Trixie and Katya pushed each other playfully; Detox fruitlessly asked them to calm down and Yvie laughed at the pointless request. The biggest contrast was Plastique and Silky, not only in a physical aspect, but Silky’s loud personality had absolutely nothing in common with Plastique’s demure one. Yet, they had somehow clicked and were now talking amicably.

Brooke tried to mentally recount the last few weeks, trying to find the moment when Vanessa’s world became her own and vise versa. She couldn’t find it, and she didn’t mind.

She sat next to her friends with a smile, and waited for the competition to start.

Vanessa hadn’t lied, the other groups were fierce, to say the least. They had more girls, brighter costumes, bigger hairs, tons of props. Their kicks were high and the death drops wouldn’t stop coming, each more extravagant than the last. Music was clearly highly produced as well. The groups presented intricate mixes with lots of changes and effects. Brooke bit her nails remembering the simple fusion they were presenting as a group number, not to mention the clean acapella song they had for the contemporary category.

It took almost an hour before The Dream Girls could take the stage. Vanessa and the girls did as amazing as Brooke thought they were going to. Vanessa spotted them in the audience right away, and she danced for them, and for them alone. It was as if the rest of the viewers had disappeared and she moved for her friends and nobody else. From their seats they clapped and encouraged the girls as they left their all on the vinyl floor.

The song seemed to be done in the blink of an eye. It was unbelievable how weeks of hard work reduced to just a few minutes, lapse that could make the world stop for a group of young girls.

Deliberation couldn’t have taken more than a few minutes but, for everybody in the gym, it felt like an eternity.

Results were given, not even half of the groups would make it to the next round. Everybody held their breath as teams were announced. With each place that was taken, a bit of Brooke’s confidence died. Then she heard it. The Dream Girls had made it. The last spot was theirs. Brooke jumped in her seat, screaming in utter delight. She didn’t even notice that she was crying until she tasted salt on her lips. The group started hugging each other as they cheered for the girls. They had made it to the next round.

The wait wasn’t as long this time, even when Vanessa and Elena were the last ones to perform their contemporary dance. Brooke felt extremely confident. The other numbers had been good, but she knew nobody was expecting what they had prepared.

The piano started playing and Brooke’s breath caught in her throat. She watched Vanessa and Elena pour their hearts into the dance.

Vanessa crawled across the floor, trying to reach Elena, who turned around and escaped her grip with a foot high in the air. Vanessa was visibly crying by the middle of the song. She missed a few counts but Elena covered for her just fine, imitating the half step Vanessa had skipped to make it look like a canon move. The girl was smart, she was hitting every mark on tempo. She was basically perfect in every form.

Tension was building as they performed a battle of emotions in front of the entire gymnasium. Then the long note came blasting from the speakers. Elena didn’t hold back. She screamed and yelled and cried and sobbed. Her exact words couldn’t be made out but they were not needed. The action was enough to have the audience shedding tears right along with her.

Vanessa kept begging forgiveness, reminded her that she was loved, that she was worth the world, that she mattered, that she was important. Her yelling was louder than Elena’s.

Between sobs and screaming they stopped fighting, they hugged each other, and let everything go inside the other’s arms. Elena bent down, placing one hand under Vanessa’s knees and the other in her back, she picked her up. That wasn’t part of the dance, but she needed it. Vanessa pressed herself against the girl’s chest and her knees gave out. They slowly descended to the floor, curled as close together as it was humanly possible, as the music slowly reached the end of the song.

Silence invaded the room, not a single sound was emitted from the over two hundred people in the place. Then someone sniffed, that was enough to take everybody out of their trance. There were claps, cheers, whistling, and a lot of tears.

Elena and Vanessa got up, their faces were stained with tears, makeup smudged carelessly down their cheeks. Their eyes were wide in disbelief when they were able to register the response from the audience. Everybody was on their feet, giving them the standing ovation they deserved. Wide smiles took over their faces as they thanked the public and ran out to the dressing room area.

Nobody was surprised when they made it to the final round.

The Dance Offs were next. They had practiced, they were prepared for them. The top five dancers had each picked their solo and knew exactly what they needed to do. If everything went as planned, they practically had the entire thing in the bag. They could save the community center.

After a short break. The leader of each dance group pulled out a piece of paper, determining their opponent.

Begging for them to get anyone but one particular group, The AAA Girls, Brooke closed her eyes as Elena placed her hand inside the bowl. Such was her luck, that specific name was written on the paper. The girls were older, more experienced, had bigger budgets. Brooke regretted not insisting more, she could have put in more money to make their girls look better. Vanessa had assured that their technique and personality was going to be enough, that everybody was there for the money, that nobody was going to show up with big stage settings.

Vanessa had been wrong.

It was fine. Everything was going to be okay. If she repeated it enough times, Brooke could make herself believe it. She needed to believe it. The team needed her support. Everything was going to be okay.

The music started, one at the time the girls faced their adversary. The AAA Girls were good, really good. They had been warned about it, but this was something else. Their movements were sensual and exaggerated. They would dance all around the gym, claiming the floor as theirs. They had confidence and the skills to back it up.

Brooke sat at the edge of her seat, and bit the side of her thumb. The Dream Girls were doing okay, but she didn’t think it was going to be enough. If she were the judge in that situation, she would give it to the other team. That was unacceptable. She needed to do something, anything. They couldn’t have gotten so far, worked this hard, to have their dream taken away.

It was the last turn. The girl from AAA was absolutely killing it. Brooke could see the girl from their group was nervous, even if she tried to hide it by looking annoyed. Her turn was up in a few seconds and it was easy to tell she felt anything but ready.

Suddenly, the tune of a familiar song started playing, Brooke remembered fooling around to it during one of the rehearsals. She got an idea.

“Yvie, come on!”

She didn’t even give her time to react, Brooke was already running to the main floor. She let her hair down from the bun, the blonde waves cascading all the way down to her waist. Her skirt was dropped somewhere around the stairs and the shirt fell right after, leaving her in nothing but her bright pink leotard.

Yvie was not far behind, unsure of what was going on, but always game.

They moved sexily around the floor, making sure that all eyes were on them. As soon as the chorus hit, Yvie did a somersault, landing right on the face of the other team.

Brooke spun around, knowing fully well that she could do a triple pirouette without a problem, and dropped to her knees dramatically.

Yvie supported herself on her head, her legs going up and fanning out above her. Brooke copied the move, letting all her weight to fall on her neck and shoulder as she did bicycle kicks in the air. She lowered herself and landed on a split, bouncing on her spread legs as she pretended to check on her nails. They had to let the other team know that kicking their asses was just that effortless.

A loud bang indicated the end of the Dance Off. Brooke was laughing. Her whole body felt on fire. She couldn’t stand still, electricity traveled through her body. She could hear nothing but the beating of her own heart, and the faint sound of cheering in the far distance.

Next thing she knew, Elena’s arms were around her, thanking her for saving them. She expected Vanessa to approach her as well, to congratulate her for the amazing performance. Her eyes travelled around the place, trying to find her to celebrate their victory. Nothing could have prepared her for what she found.

Vanessa stood to the side, her arms tight around her torso, and her face showing nothing but anger.

Brooke walked to her, unable to hide the smile. “Hey! I’m pretty sure we just won this bitch, don’t you think?”

A slow head shake answered her question. “You shouldn’t have done that.” Vanessa’s lips were a thin line. She spun around and stomped her way back to the dressing rooms, leaving Brooke standing alone and confused.

How could she be mad when they had definitely just won?

The audience was going insane, clapping and cheering, ecstatic about the performance they had just watched.

One of the judges requested everybody to settle down, and reminded them the rules of the Dance Offs. He read the pointers but there was only one that needed to be heard. Everything became background noise as they understood what had just happened.

The little stunt Yvie and Brooke had just pulled was enough reason to eliminate The Dream Girls from the competition.

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #branjie #yvie oddly #katya zamolodchikova #trixie mattel #plastique tiara #silky nutmeg ganache #bendelacreme #michelle visage #rupaul #dance au #lesbian au #echappe #dendenmonmon #detox icunt #submission

[borhapstyles]

Is There Somewhere (Ben Hardy Imagine)

PART TWO TO GIRL CRUSH !! Read it first so this comes a bit easier :)

Description (for this particular part): The story of how you fell for Ben on the set of Bohemian Rhapsody. And the story of how he broke your heart not too long afterwards. Based off my favorite Halsey song, Is There Somewhere

Warnings: Swearing and uh.. a whole lot of miscommunication lol  Word Count: 8.3k (I’m so sorry it’s so long omg but I wasn’t satisfied with it and eventually it just came to this) 

**Note: This takes place BEFORE the events of Girl Crush. This might feel like it’s lacking Ben’s perspective but I do plan to write a part three that tells his side of the story and explains why he does what he does. I hope you guys love this one! I tried. And happy birthday to this boy. Love xx 

–

July 2017: The table read for Bohemian Rhapsody 

“Miss Y/L/N, would you like some coffee?”

“Oh, uh, n-no, I’m alright.” You rose up the cup of tea in front of you. The PA shakes his head before rushing off to fulfill everyone else’s orders.

“Y/N?” Your head lifted up to meet the eyes of one of Bo Rhap’s producers.

“Hi, the table read actually won’t start for a bit but I’ve put you in here so that you can formally meet the other main cast members before it starts, I hope that’s okay.”

“Oh yeah, of course!” You smiled. “I know, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for it last week.”

“Don’t be! We’re so glad to have you part of this and I think everyone else on the cast is too.” She consoled before exiting.

Out of both nerves and boredom, you tapped your nails against the table’s rough, wooden surface. The crew buzzed around out in the hallway but you sighed, left by yourself with butterflies in your stomach.

You weren’t able to make it to the original cast meeting as you were wrapping up your last film when it happened. This meant that everyone else already had the chance to get acquainted with each other, leaving you to feel out of the loop no matter how much all the producers reassured you that you were still welcome.

Halfway through scrolling through Twitter, your ears pricked up at the calling of your name.

“Hey, I’m Lucy.” The soft voice introduced, a toothless grin painted on her face. You stood and she pulled you in for a hug, quick to compliment your outfit.

“Thank you, it’s weird cause I’ve been to dozens of these table reads but I never know what to wear.” You replied and she nodded in agreement.

“I know, people either dress really fancy, in character or just go extremely casual. It’s odd to have to find the happy medium.”

Following that, you and Lucy spring into a conversation about clothing and bond over all the fashion choices Freddie Mercury had made in his time. You found the friendship to form quickly and immediately took a liking to your new costar.

“Is she in there?” A voice spoke from the hallway.

“Yeah, she’s there with Lucy.” Another answered.

Your eyes bounced away from your new friend to the doorway as three figures filed in, each handsome in their own form. The butterflies from earlier began to saturate your stomach again and you beamed nervously.

“H-Hi.” You said, anxiously bouncing off the balls of your feet.

“I’m Joe, it’s nice to finally meet you.” The American accent shined through as you shook his hand.

“Y/N, and you as well.”

“I’m Gwilym, but call me Gwil please.”

“I’m Rami.”

You grinned at the three men as they took their seats around the table. They politely asked about how your flight back to London went and were brisk to make you feel more welcome into the cast. You soon forgot that you missed the last meeting and felt right at home with them.

“Sorry I’m late!” A blond haired man shouted as he jogged through the door. He puffed out a few heavy sighs, wiping away sweat from his forehead. His eyes wandered through the room, throwing nods to all the other actors before landing on you.

You forced a smile onto your lips. He lent forward, sticking a hand out for you to shake.

“Hi, I’m Ben.” He smiled warmly, green eyes piercing through your skin and you breathed out slowly. God, he’s breathtaking. Are people as pretty as him allowed to exist?

“I’m Y/N.” You uttered, taking his large hand in yours. He squeezes it gently before pulling away, gaze not leaving yours.

This man is beautiful and I’m meant to be working alongside HIM? You thought to yourself. 

“Traffic’s terrible right now, isn’t it?” You said in an attempt to make conversation. He chuckled, taking the seat right next to yours. Your eyes willfully racked his outfit and disheveled hair, causing your mind to wander to dirtier places.

“Yeah, but I was just late cause I overslept.” He replied, causing everyone to laugh.

“Okay, everyone’s met and is for the table read, I presume?” The director poked his head in and everyone exits the room. Ben made sure that he held the door open for you, sporting a polite grin as you passed him.

You noted the habit he has of biting his lip, but just for a second before he realised what he was doing and stopped himself.

“Your flight in alright?” He questioned, tugging you away from your train of thought.

“Uh-yeah.” You answered. He reached a hand out to your hair, causing your heartbeat to pick up.

“Sorry, you’ve got something right… here.” Ben opened his palm out to show you a small piece of cotton that somehow made its way into your hair.

You gulped, half unable to look away from his large hand, half embarrassed at the revelation. “Oh, I don’t know how that got there.”

He laughed once more and you let out a breath, the sound of it like music to your ears already.

This man is going to be trouble for me. 

-

At the large rectangular table, you were placed in between Ben and Aaron McCusker, who you found was going to be playing Jim Hutton.

After chatting with Aaron for a couple minutes, you felt a pair of eyes sink into the back of your head. Aaron’s gaze bounced to and from your face, eventually drifting behind you.

“Looks like you’ve got an admirer.” He commented.

You followed his line of sight and became face to face with Ben, who you assumed was the person staring at you.

“Can I help you?” You sassily cut in. Aaron snickered from next to you and you couldn't help the smile that broke onto your face.

“Nope.” Ben replied, popping the “p” in the word. He shifted his body back forward and avoided your eyes, as if he didn’t just spend the last minute with his eyes locked on you.

You chortled and turned back to Aaron, who threw you an amused look and shrugs.

Minutes passed as you waited for everyone else to settle into the room. You couldn’t help but think about the on-screen Roger Taylor next to you, whose deep, husky voice and bright green eyes immediately took to your heart.

If you’re honest, you hadn’t heard of Ben Hardy until you found out who else was cast in Bo Rhap. After a quick google search on him, you thought he was cute but didn’t pay much mind to him until today.

Yet that day, you couldn’t stop thinking about him. And you’ve had a total of three interactions with the man, one of them including him pointing out the cotton in your hair.

Your teeth sank down into your lips as your eyes drift to the side of you, towards where Ben was sitting comfortably. He was chatting with Joe next to him so he didn’t notice your stares, or at least that’s what you wanted like to believe.

You shifted back to Aaron but felt the same pair of eyes on you again, and so you swung your body to face Ben’s.

“Do you always stare at people you’ve just met?”

“I don’t know, do you always stare at people you’ve just met?” He replied, a shit-eating grin making its way onto his face to report to you that he’s joking.

“Were you staring at me cause I was looking at you or were you genuinely staring at me?”

“So you admit to the staring.” He smirked, sitting back cockily with his arms crossed.

“I was merely glancing.”

“Then I was too.” Ben further teased, causing you to roll your eyes.

“But you started it!” You retort, well aware of how childish you sound. But to be fair, he did fire first.

Joe laid one hand on your shoulder, the other on Ben’s and patted them gently. “Now now children, settle down. We’re almost getting started.” Ben snickered to himself before turning his gaze back to you.

“Are you going to quit staring at me?” You snapped, feeling slightly annoyed at his persistence.

You were met with silence as Ben proceeded to survey your face, an amused smirk playing off his lips. You held up the script to act as a divider until Gwil strolled by.

“Is there a reason why you’re holding up the script like that?”

Ben shrugged. “I dunno, guess she just likes it that way.”

At this point, you were almost fuming, to which Gwil just laughed. He knew a good joke when he sees one and Ben was milking the shit out of it.

“Is that what the next few months are going to be like? You harassing me with your stares and smug face?” You prodded.

There was a wicked glint in Ben’s eyes as he leaned leaned in, as if he was going to tell spill something important. But a smirked wiggled onto his lips at the last second as he said;

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

-

Following the banter at the table read, your friendship with the Bo Rhap boys and Lucy flourished. To have chemistry on-screen and off screen was extremely rare for a group as large as yours but you all spoke as if you had known each other for years.

You found a family within them as you each looked after each other. Gwil and Joe especially came to be like older brothers to you. Lucy was quick to become your best friend and Rami was everything in between. 

And despite your efforts to evade feelings for him, you couldn’t stop your ever-growing affection for Ben (although you’d never admit it to him.) You found yourself lingering around him a bit more, whether it be through eye contact, brushing your fingers against his when handing him something, or the hugs he’d give you each day before you left the set.

To everyone else on set, it quickly became obvious how close you two had gotten in such a short while. 

You spent copious amounts of time in each other’s trailers, to which any other person would assume things, but in truth you and Ben were doing everything but. In the moments of free time that you guys did have on set, you’d either be running lines, watching Ben practice drums or having a talk about, well, anything.

The first day you felt something for him was actually on set, inside his trailer. It was the day he thought he had to play the drum solo for “Keep Yourself Alive.”

Mid-July 2017: On set 

“Ben?” You knocked on his door gently. With no reply, you remained in your place. “I uh, I heard you’re gonna be doing the drum solo today? I’m really excited to hear it.”

“Ben?” Your knuckles scraped his door again. The sound of footsteps filled your ears before Matt, Ben’s drum instructor opened the door, but just fast enough for you to come in. He eyed Ben once more and gave him a short wave.

“I’ll give you guys a moment.” Matt threw you a concerned look. You caught it and the last second and inwardly sighed.

With a gentle approach, you whispered “Hi.”, the couch dipping as you took the seat across from him.

He looked up at you, eyes full of a fear that you had never seen from him before. You wanted to frown, the bags under his eyes plus the unruly blond hair atop his head was a complete opposite from the confident, suave man you met just the other day.

“I just wanted to drop by and see if you’re okay. Everyone’s asking for you out there and I figured if you hadn’t come out by now, something must be wrong.”

“I can’t fucking do it.” Ben uttered, voice strained from the stress.

“What do you mean?”

“I lied, I can’t play the drums, or at least, I can’t play it to that degree. I know the basics but I lied when they asked if I could play the drums because I really wanted this role and I’m regretting getting it now because they’re gonna know I can’t play shit and I’m going to lose all this.” He let out. He refused to meet your eyes, shifting his vision from the window to the floor.

You bit your lip, knowing the truth behind the request for him to play drums. Part of you wanted to keep the prank on, Rami had worked hard and it wasn’t your place to spoil it.

But the man in front of you seemed quite torn up and you couldn’t help yourself. You hardly knew him except for the few jokes he made around you and the sarcastic lines you threw back but your heart went out to him. You didn’t expect him to unload on you but this only made you respect him even more. He wasn’t afraid to show his vulnerability around you, and the least you could do was rally for him.

“You wanna hear a secret?”

Ben lifted his head again, green eyes greeting yours. He gave you an expectant look, wondering exactly how you could fix the situation.

“It’s a joke.” You voiced.

His face crinkled into one of confusion, blinking rapidly at you. “What?”

“You don’t actually have to play that solo. Roger Taylor didn’t request for you to play anything.”

Ben’s eyes widened, jaw dropping in disbelief. “Tell me you’re not joking, please tell me you’re not joking.” He grabbed your hands eagerly and you glanced down at the gesture; he hadn’t really made moves of contact but now was not the time to dwell on it.

“I’m not, it was all a prank.”

“Well who’s fucking prank?!” He yelled, hopping onto his feet.

You squeaked. “I-I can’t tell you that, I’ve said too much, he’d kill me.”

“Well whoever he is, I’m gonna fucking kill him!” He said, bringing you to laughter. He threw his hands in the air and strolled over to the door. “Roger’s requested for you to do the solo, Ben.” He mocked the assistant directors that came up to him.

His eyes were glazed with a vendetta, gesturing for you to come along to confront the mastermind behind the prank.

Rami never quite found out who spoiled the joke as Ben kept you from getting thrown under the bus, but he had an inkling it was you. From that day on, you and Ben grew to be each other’s partners in crime on set.

Gwil was the first to truly notice how much time you spent with Ben when he walked over to your trailer, only for him to discover it was empty.

August 2017: Ben’s trailer. 

Your makeup artist told Gwil that you went over to Ben’s, and he raised a brow but strolled over to the blond man’s trailer. When inside, he saw that your makeup artist was telling the truth as he found you lying on the couch with Ben adjacent to it, deep in a conversation about existentialism.

“Are you guys okay?” Gwil cautiously eyed the two of you as if he had just walked in on something strange.

Ben lifted his head from the couch to nod at him. “Huh? Oh yeah mate, we’re alright.”

“We’re just talking about life and existence and how Freddie changed the world of music as we know it, and how we literally would not be here if it wasn’t for him, and the fragility of life as a whole, really. I mean, Freddie was just 45 when he left us but he’s forever changed all our lives, even if it’s been almost 30 years.” You rambled, glancing up at the Bo Rhap version of Brian May.

His eyes widen, perhaps he did walk in on something strange.

“Is that what you two do when you’re in each other’s trailers? Have heavy chats about life and death? Jesus.”

“I mean, not all the time.” Ben corrected, standing to grab a packet of crisps off the table. “Sometimes we talk about sports.”

“Ben does most of the talking when that happens.” You joked, reaching over to grab a crisp from Ben’s grasp.

“Interesting.” Gwil articulated. “And there we all were, thinking you guys were in some secret relationship.”

“No!” You hastily replied, causing both Ben and Gwil’s eyes to widen. “I-I mean, no, that’s not it. I can see why people would assume though.”

An awkward air filled the room as Ben continued to chew his food slowly.

You inwardly screamed and wondered to yourself why you were so quick to correct Gwil’s assumption. Would it be so bad if you and Ben were dating? Your teeth sank down to the flesh of your bottom lip as you hovered over the notion.

Yes, yes it would. You thought. You didn’t have much luck dating your costars in the past and had built up such a beautiful friendship with Ben that you didn’t want to ruin it. He was someone you knew you could trust, someone you knew you could depend on and someone you felt safe with. It wasn’t often that you found that in a person and yet there he was.

I’m not going to fall in love with him. You spoke firmly to yourself.

Gwil cleared his throat, stiffly looking down at the ground. The silence when Lucy peeked her head through the trailer door.

“Knock knock.” She announced sweetly and you sighed with relief.

“Lucy!” You strode over, wrapping your arms around your friend.

“We were looking for you guys everywhere.” Rami greeted as the couple moved in, taking seats around Ben’s trailer.

“We started at Gwil’s but he left a sign saying he was “out of trailer”...?” Lucy’s voice trailed off as she looked to the man, who shook his head briskly.

“Yeah, yeah. I decided to start putting that up in case people go looking for me.”

“You’re a dork.” You snorted, causing everyone to laugh.

“Excuse you! It’s actually very helpful, especially in cases such as yours where you weren’t even there!”

“Gwil if I’m not in my trailer, you and everyone else knows I’m either where the food is, at Lucy’s or at Ben’s. It’s not that hard.”

Everyone else but Gwil murmured in agreement, causing you to smirk in superiority.

“Okay, well, some of us aren’t as predictable, so.”

“Anyways!” Lucy cut in. “So we went over to the food and thought maybe we’d find Y/N there,” She gestured to you. “But she wasn’t, and when you weren’t in your trailer Y/N, we realised you’re probably at Ben’s.”

You nodded respectively. “You really aren’t wrong there Luc. I��m here half the time. Only cause Ben has the better snacks.”

“Hey!” He shouted before shoving another crisp into his mouth. You reached over again and quickly stole one, to which he just rolled his eyes and held out the bag for you.

“Why wasn’t I invited to the party?” Joe chimed in, suddenly appearing at the doorway. You all laugh before getting called over to lunch by the production assistant.

As if the previous awkward conversation didn’t exist, Ben smiled at you kindly and picked your bag up for you and held the door as you walked out.

“You’re still coming over later for pizza, yeah?” He asked, plump lips in a small pout to plead for you to say yes.

You nodded, a gentle smile approaching your mouth. “Of course, wouldn’t miss it.” 

Fuck, okay. Maybe I will fall in love with him.

At lunch, everyone knew that the seat to Ben’s right was going to be taken by you, even if there were no other seats left at the table.

“Oh, sorry mate. Y/N going to be sitting there. She’s just left to get a drink.” He told Allen Leech one day when he tried to snag your spot. Allen’s brows raised in amusement as he shrugged and proceeded to search for another seat elsewhere.

This became a running joke for everyone else on set, as whenever Ben had an open spot next to him, everyone avoided it like the plague.

“No one sit on Ben’s right!” The director would called out. “It’s Y/N’s spot, apparently.”

On those days, you would just roll your eyes and purposefully sit next to Lucy if it was convenient. She was another person who didn’t fail to tease you about your friendship with Ben.

Late August 2017: Lucy’s trailer.

“So you and Roger Taylor, hm?” She nudged, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Ugh, you wish.” You said, taking the spot across from her on the couch. “I told myself I wouldn’t, even if it were possible. It’s just never worked out for me and Ben’s too valuable of a friend to lose.”

“Yes, but think of the possibilities of you marrying your best friend! You get to shag them and then have fun while making morning-after pancakes together!” She teased.

“Don’t.” You groaned, shoving your hands in your face at the thought of it. “I can’t think about that Lucy, I can’t like him that way! Besides, I’m 99% sure he only sees me as a friend.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, he asked me if I wanted to play Fifa the other day and told me he “plays it with all his mates.”

She scrunched her nose. “Oh, no. I’m sorry love.”

“Eh, I mean. I think that makes it easier on me, knowing that he doesn’t see me that way? Saves all the confusion and heartbreak.”

“Well, I mean I wouldn’t be set on the idea that he doesn’t like you either. If you think about it, sports is one of the things he loves and he’s sharing that with you. Plus he saves your seat at lunch, holds doors open for you, calls you “love” and stuff.”

“He’s English. You’re English. Everyone calls each other love. The lady at Tesco’s called me “love” last night!” You argued, causing her to roll her eyes.

“I’m just saying. Keep an open mind, love. Guys can show love in their own, peculiar ways which you don’t realise until you think about it.

Lucy’s words planted themselves into your mind as you left set that day, but of course, you couldn’t explore it too much as Ben walked along with you.

This was another thing he did which drove you mad. Ben always walked you to your car.

At first, escorting you to your car was out of coincidence because you somehow parked next to him for the first week, but even when you were parked on opposite ends of the lot, he still accompanied you. You’d tell him he didn’t need to but he would shrug and say it’s a habit and how he wants to make sure you’re safe. On top of that, he never failed to tell you to “Drive safe” and bid you a goodnight.

Even then, it wouldn’t be the end of the conversation.

You’d return home and check your phone to find a meme or two from him, or a variation of snapchats based on whatever he was up to.

“Frankie’s beating me at Fifa.” He’d caption the photo, which was of his dog holding the controller in front of the TV.

“Frankie is my favorite Hardy.” You’d reply, causing him to send you a snap of him rolling his eyes and saying “He’s got nothing on me.”

September 2017: Ben’s flat. 

When the opportunity struck for the entire cast of Bo Rhap to bond, you’d all gather at someone’s house (usually Gwil’s or Ben’s) for dinner and drinks, which eventually turned into playing around with Ben’s nintendo switch.

“I’m partners with Gwil.”

“Aw! Joe, I was just gonna ask to be your partner.” Gwil fake shed a tear, going over to hug the man.

When it came to you and Ben, however, you two were automatically each other’s partners. This was secretly a doing of Lucy and Rami, who paired up on the first night because they wanted to see you and Ben together.

As it turned out, you and Ben were perfect together when it came to beating other teams at Mario Party and it was a rarity that you guys lost.

The games went late into the night, with which Lucy and Rami left when it turned midnight. You, Gwil, Joe and Ben remained.

And when Ben stepped outside to make a phone call, the three of you were left to your own devices as you waited for him to return to resume playing.

“So you and Ben, huh. I’d support it, 100%.” Gwil started.

“What do you mean?” You looked at him as if he had just spouted something ridiculous.

“You guys are getting pretty close, which means Gwil and I are gonna start fifth and sixth wheeling.” Joe remarked, turning to Gwil. “Unless..?”

Gwil rolled his eyes before you reply. “There is no Ben and I, we’re just friends.”

“But you like him.” Gwil prodded.

You open your mouth, suddenly becoming very flushed.

Come on Y/N, you’re an actress, you can lie.

Wait, why are you gonna lie? You don’t like him, do you?

OH FUCK. Do you like Ben???? OH my god.

He’s so cute though, and he holds the door open for you, he always makes you laugh, he’s got the sweetest eyes and oh god, that voice. Especially when you see him for those early mornings.

WAIT. NO.

You can’t like Ben. NO. You promised me, you promised you that you wouldn’t! Self control! You have a rule!

Fuck, what’re you gonna do?!

Okay wait no before we game plan this maybe juST ANSWER GWIL HE’S GETTING SUSPICIOUS.

“Jeez, did I break we or something?” Joe waved hand over your face, snapping you out of your thoughts.

“She likes him, that’s adorable.” Gwil murmured to Joe, who nodded understandingly.

“Well, I-” Before Gwil can say anything of substance, his phone rings, leaving just you and Joe in the room.

“I can’t believe I like him.” You whispered to yourself, barely audible but Joe picked it up. You had a rule against dating your co-stars and had told Gwil and Joe about it. However, they seemed adamant to push you away from that. 

“I can’t believe you didn’t know you liked him.” He laughed. “It’s so obvious to everyone.”

“Everyone?”

“Yes, even that PA that just passes out coffee to all of us. Even he knows.”

You bit your lip, concern washing all over you. Fuck, was it that obvious?

“If you’re wondering why I brought it up, well, I’m just going to say I think you should be careful, especially considering Ben’s situation.” Joe disclosed, reaching over to grab his drink off the coffee table.

“What situation? What do you mean?” You questioned, doubled in concerned over Ben and everyone knowing.

“Who do you think he’s on the phone with?”

“I don’t know, it literally could be anyone.” You retort, rolling your eyes. “C’mon, tell me, what’re you talking about? Is Ben dying or something?”

“I would sure hope not.” Gwil said, making his way back into the room.

“Oh shit.” Joe uttered. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what? What the fuck are you guys talking about?”

“She doesn’t know about Katriona.” Joe said to Gwil, but you picked up the name.

“Who’s that?” Your mouth went dry at the thought of him with someone else. Your palms begin to get sweaty as your heart rate picks up, who’s Katriona and what does she have to do with Ben?

“You guys never spoke about your love life? Like ever? Or have you ever even googled him, Y/N?”

You shook your head vigorously. “Love life, that just never came up. I dunno, I just never wanted to broach the subject because I think I’ve been afraid to know the answer.” Joe licked his lips, unsure of how to say the next few words but you seemed to know what he was going to say.

“Katriona’s not, oh my god. Is she his ex or something? Please don’t tell me she-”

“-I think you should speak to Ben on that one. We don’t know much but clearly there’s something you guys need to talk about, or at least something he hasn’t told you.” Gwil cut you off.

You stared down at the coffee table, noting the cookie you and Ben had shared earlier.

All of it felt pathetic now. All the little signs you thought were signs but just coincidences, all the conversations until the wee hours, snack sharing in his trailer, hell, the walks you went on with Frankie when Ben brought him on set. Ben knowing your tea or coffee order and taking all your song recommendations, making sure to give you a review on them the next day. 

All of it felt useless now in your mind, and you felt useless to him. A fool, really. 

You blinked away the tears that dared to escape your eyes as you watched Ben go through his phone call. You noticed the grin on his lips, the way he spoke with his hands when he got excited, all of it. All of that he used to do around you, and he still does. But there was a light in his eyes and you wondered if you ever did that for him.

Before anyone could say anything else, Ben returned from outside, the door slamming shut behind him. Gwil and Joe sipped their drinks awkwardly, not knowing what else to tell you. They had opened Pandora’s box and were afraid about what was going to happen to your relationship with Ben.

“What’d I miss? Why’s everyone look like they’ve just discovered something?” Ben spoke into the room.

You faked a smile as you raised an empty glass. “You’re out of my favorite wine, I think.”

“Oh?” Ben sauntered over to the cabinet, pulling out another bottle. “I bought another one just because I thought this would happen.”

Joe eyed you wearily, knowing the gesture would present a dull ache in your chest. He was right.

“You know what?” You began, standing from your position on the couch. “I think I’m just gonna head home, actually.”

Ben frowned, setting down the bottle of wine before making his way to you.

“No! Don’t go! We haven’t beat them yet!” He waved his hands over to the TV, a pout on his lips.

“It’s late, Ben. And I don’t feel so good.”

“I’ll make you some tea!” He pleaded. Gwil and Joe furrowed their brows at his eagerness for you to stay. “Don’t go yet, please.”

Gwil opened his mouth as if to protest but you cut him off knowing full well you’d regret your decision. But you couldn’t resist his sweet eyes and the prospect of him making tea just as he knew you liked it.

“Okay. Just one more round, though.”

-

Two weeks later, in the middle of September, just before the boys were set to film the famous “Not the coffee machine!” scene, you were pulled aside by Gwil and Joe.

You couldn’t help but giggle as Joe was still not wigged-up, but his perm was in full display.

“Can I help you boys with anything?” You questioned, voice raised in sarcasm.

“Y-Yeah, erm.” Gwil struggled to approach the subject. “Have you talked to Ben yet about you know… that night?”

Your smile vanished at the mention of it. You had yet to find a good time for it, but you were also reluctant because part of you didn’t want to find out if he was in the process of dating someone else. You really just wanted to ignore it all and hoped it resolved itself.

“N-No. I haven’t. I’m a little scared to, if I’m honest.”

Joe pursed his lips as Gwil sighed. Part of you wondered why they were so invested in it all. Did they know something you didn’t?

“I think you should do it soon.” Joe said.

“Why?” You spoke sharply. “What difference will it make if I approach him now about it versus next week or something? I mean, all in all, we can tell he’s in a pending relationship with someone that’s not me which means he clearly doesn’t like me so I truly don’t think me asking him now about his current relationship status is going to change how he feels about me, if anything at all.”

You breathed harshly, not knowing all the pent-up anger you were harboring. Perhaps the whole situation was affecting you more than you realised.  

But you didn’t treat Ben any differently, and he, you. Although one thing you noticed was that he was on his phone a bit more and seemed to take more of his free time to be on the phone instead of hanging out with you. Not that he was any different when you two were together, simply that he was more private about himself, something you weren’t used to as he was normally an open book.

You felt weird being so intrusive. I mean, who were you to be asking him about his own personal business?

Someone who’s in love with him, perhaps.

Fuck, did I just say I’m in love with Ben?

“Y/N.” Gwil spoke firmly, tone to show he was in an authoritative mood. “Please, don’t let this get the best of you.”

“Why do you guys care so much anyways?” You whispered lowly, eyes focused on the ground below you. It was a soft grass, and you wished you could lie in a field of it elsewhere instead of being in your current situation. “This isn’t going to affect you directly.”

“But it is.” Joe said. “We’re a family, now Y/N. And we look out for each other. We care about you and we don’t want to see you upset because of miscommunication.”

Too late for that.

“I-I don’t even know how to approach him about it. He’ll tell me anything but this, and I dunno, I’m just scared to lose him.”

“If he’s the good guy we know he is, beneath being so secretive, then we know that you won’t ever lose him in that way at least, okay?”

“How do I do approach this without making it completely obvious that I’m in love with him?” You said shyly, glancing up for their reactions.

Gwil and Joe exchanged looks before the latter spoke, scratching his head in reluctance.

“You’re an actress. You’ll figure it out.”

Your eyes met the back of your head at his words. “Wow, and the Oscar for best advice goes to Joe Mazzello with the perm.”

Mid-October 2017: Your flat in London.

When Bo Rhap reached its halfway point for filming, you decided to throw a dinner party for the close friends you had made.

And of course, you still hadn’t spoken to Ben about the mysterious Katriona despite all of Gwil and Joe’s hints at it. But one thing came out of it; you had reconciled with your feelings for Ben and came to the conclusion that you were without a doubt head-over-heels for him and would do just about anything to see him happy, even if it meant watching him be with someone else.

However, the day of the dinner party, when everyone but Ben seemed to cancel, you decided that perhaps that night would be best to approach him on the secretive subject.

“I’m sick.” Joe texted you.

“Lucy has a family emergency and I’m going with her for it.” Rami said over the phone.

Gwilym however, never confirmed to begin with, leaving just you to wonder if they had orchestrated this so that you and Ben would have the night to yourselves. Part of you was curious as to if he would even come at this point, knowing how far he had been from everyone lately.

“I’m not sure if they’ve told you but everyone else cancelled. You can still come if you want, I literally have so much food and no one’s going to eat it but it’s just gonna be the two of us so I understand if you don’t want to.” You sent the message to Ben, who replied not a minute later.

“Of course I’m still going to come, it can’t be a dinner party if it’s just one. That’s sad.” He joked, later bringing the bottle of wine you told him to after saying how good it would go with the rest of the meal. (And you were right, which Ben would never admit.)

It was all good fun with him and for a moment you felt normal. You slowly retracted any thought about asking him about whoever “Katriona” was and you felt a sliver of hope for a future with him. That is until his phone rang halfway through dessert.

“Oh, I should take this, I’m sorry Y/N.” He said. You nodded and watched as he shuffled off.

You sat silently, playing around with the ice cream in your bowl. Ben was as kind as they came, a gentleman from the day you met him. But there he left you, alone at dinner. Your thoughts on the notion were not pleasing to the brain or heart as you felt the latter crumble with every second that past.

The phone call was short, just a couple minutes, but enough to make you curious as to why he’d leave to take it. You even saw once when his mum called, he texted that he’d call her back later then returned to a meal with you.

“Who’s that?” You asked innocently as he returned.

“Oh, uh, that was Katriona.” He said carefully before taking his seat again.

Your palms dampened as your heart beat out of your chest, the same feeling you got when Joe first mentioned her. “And she is…?”

“My uh.. My girlfriend. Sort of, we’ve been on and off but I guess we’re back on now? It’s safe to say that, I think.”

You choke at his words, forcing a smile on your lips. “Girlfriend? Y-You never mentioned her.”

“Oh, yeah, I mean it really wasn’t until yesterday that I got to call her that. We reconnected again over the past month and yesterday she told me she wanted to get back together so I thought I’d give it a go.” Ben explained. He dipped a spoon into his ice cream, lifting his eyes up to watch for your reaction.

“W-Wow, I don’t even know what to say. I think I’m just a bit…” You licked your lips, trying to find the right words. “surprised, that you didn’t tell me. I thought I was-”

“Yeah, you’re one of my best friends, don’t worry on that. You’re the first person I’ve told, really. I didn’t want to jinx it and now that it’s official, well.” He smiles at the last bit.

Liar. You told to yourself. Ben told Joe and Gwil about her weeks before you even entered the conversation. And you don’t know what’s worse. The fact that he lied or the fact that he so clearly cemented you in the friendzone that you can’t even move your arm in your position, much less get out of it.

“That’s, wow. That’s lovely.” You finally spoke, hoping he wouldn’t notice the pain behind your voice. And he didn’t as he smiled, scooping more ice cream into his mouth. 

You set down your spoon and resigned yourself to feeling anything else that night. A big bowl of numbness for you instead. And the ice cream. 

Ben was quiet as you chortled to yourself, wondering how you allowed your heart to make you so delusional. So wrapped up in him when he was with someone else all along. 

“I wish you both nothing but happiness.”

-  

“He’s fucking dating someone, Lucy! He’s dating some girl named Katriona and didn’t even mention to me that he was speaking to her! Me! And I see him every fucking day!” You screamed into her trailer. Lucy’s face scrunches as she clutched a pillow, watching you pace around.

“Did I mean nothing to him? Did all the moments we shared together mean shit? Is he just that nice of a guy? He walks me to my car every bloody day and I’m supposed to take that as him just being nice?! My god, I genuinely thought we had something, but apparently I like to make shit up in my head because he certainly did not see that.”

Lucy gulped, patting the seat down next to her as you sigh.

“Has he treated you any different?” 

“No.” You answered solemnly. “I mean, not really. Sort of, actually. That’s what throwing me off. He’s on his phone a lot more and seems more to himself which I mean I can’t get on him for because I’m not going to force confessions and explanations out of him but he still walks me to my car and manages to bring me tea every once in a while.” 

You bit your lip before swallowing harshly at the memories. The pillow that was once in Lucy’s hands was now within your grip. It brought you some level of comfort, knowing there was something you could hold onto.

“But I’ve stopped coming to his trailer and stuff. Just to give it some distance. I’m not even sure if he’s noticed.” 

“I’m sorry.” She whispered, causing you to look at her incredulously.

“What’re you sorry for?!”

“I feel like we all sort of put the idea of liking him in your head ‘cause we kept teasing you about it, the boys and I. And we genuinely thought you two would end up together because it seemed so fitting but…” She frowned. You grabbed her shoulders and tugged her in for a hug.

“Don’t be sorry, don’t ever say sorry. You guys did nothing but pull out feelings that were there anyways, I just needed to realise them. And now that I have, I can get over them, and him.”

“Don’t worry Y/N, life has a way of working itself out.”

“Aww.” Ben’s voice echoed through the trailer. The two of you pull away, Lucy eyeing him carefully. “That’s cute.”

“Can I help you with something?” You bit back, almost a bit too harshly. You wondered if he heard anything at all. 

“I-uh.” Ben stuttered, not expecting your hostility. “I was just looking for you cause you hadn’t stopped by my trailer like usual. I just wanted to say they called lunch… is everything alright?”

You shrugged, plastering a smile on your face. “It’s nothing.”

And that’s how it became between you and Ben.

You slowly distanced yourself from him following that dinner. You went from replying instantly to his memes and snapchats to leaving hours between them, although not that he sent them frequently anyways. If you did open his snapchats, some of them contained Katriona, and you left him on read half the time.

Around the set, you spent less and less time in his trailer. On days when you felt like going over there, you resisted and instead hung around other cast members or around Brian and Roger themselves if they were on set. At lunch, you began trading seats with other people, telling them it was okay to take your usual spot next to Ben and that you wanted to mingle with others.

Ben started to see less of you and wondered if he did something wrong, to which you always answered “You did nothing wrong, I just needed to do something else.”

But on the day he brought Katriona on set, you almost lost it in front of him. 

Late November 2017: On set. 

The set of Bo Rhap, aside from being around Ben, was the one place you could feel yourself because it was something she didn’t penetrate. Yet he strolled through the set with her on his arm and you didn’t know what to do with yourself.

“Guys! This is Kat. Kat, this is everyone.” Ben introduced her, beaming as he listed off everyone’s names.

You eyed her attentively, noting the genuine pleasure on her face from being around Ben and the people he cared for. When it got to you, she reached forward for a hug and told you words you weren’t expecting to hear.

“Thank you for taking care of him, Y/N.”

You felt the life sucked out of you when she uttered those words and you didn’t know whether to scream or cry. You’d do both when you got home of course, but for now, you settled for a smile and pushed down the tears that were simmering up.

“Anytime.” You whispered. “It’s lovely to meet you by the way.”

Ben and Katriona the moved on and continued to wander around the set, everyone seeming to give you looks of sympathy afterwards. They all rallied for you and Ben to be together so this came as a shock to everyone.

You ardently watched as they held hands, Ben occasionally wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

They’re perfect for each other. You stand pathetically, fiddling with the rings around your fingers as part of your costume.

You didn’t stop the tears from rolling down but Rami was quick to make sure Ben didn’t notice when he placed his arm around you.

“C’mon.” He said and you simply nodded, leaning into his grip for comfort as he lead you away from your heartache.

“I waited too long to tell him.” You uttered whilst finally allowing yourself to cry. “I could’ve told him at any point, even before he got into that relationship with her. But I waited too long to tell him I’m in love with him and he’s got someone else.”

“Shh.” Rami soothed, leading you back into your trailer. He figured you would skip lunch and you felt grateful that he knew you so well. “There’s no point in you dwelling on that, okay? It’s gonna hurt, it’s gonna fucking suck. But you know what?”

You met his eyes and died a bit more inside as the flecks of green in them so heavily reminded you of your favorite pair of green eyes.

“What?”

“You are so much stronger than what you feel right now. You are so much stronger than to let what’s happening to him, affect how you are. You remember how you were before him?” You nodded, following along with Rami’s words. “Okay, now you take that amazingly talented woman and you add her with all this shittyness and you make a better, stronger version of you who frankly does not need anyone. I know you don’t.”

“Rami, I think she just wants to sit and cry right now.” Lucy voiced delicately, standing at the doorway of your trailer.

Rami stood, chortling as Lucy made her way over. “I-sorry, I’m really trying here, Y/N.”

“No no, I’m grateful. I’m going to keep that with me Rami, thank you.” You said, smiling at him through tear filled eyes. “Now go get lunch before everyone notices all of us missing.”

“I’m staying here with you.” Lucy asserted whilst planting herself firmly in your trailer. She threw a look to Rami who nodded before exiting. She moved to hold you as you cried gently to yourself, occasionally handing you a tissue.

“Men are shit, Y/N. We really don’t need them.” She whispered, causing you to giggle. “She could be a terrible person, you don’t know that.”

“I doubt that.” You replied. “If Ben likes her then she has to be a good person. He shouldn’t and wouldn’t settle for anything less.”

Lucy sighed, even in your heartbreak you still wanted the best for Ben. She squeezed you tighter and rubbed your back gently.

“We’re going to get you through this. I promise.”

-

Ben turned his head back to glance at you. He observed Rami wrapping an arm around you and guiding you to the opposite direction. A frown swept across his face as he felt he had more to say to you but the moment did not permit for it.

“Ben?” Katriona echoed whilst tapping his shoulder.

“Yeah?” He spun back around to face her.

“Are you ready for lunch?” She grinned.

Ben nodded, glancing at your moving figure once more. He could’ve sworn he saw a tear fall down onto your cheek before Rami turned you around.

“Hey mate, is Y/N coming to lunch?” He asked Gwil who was passing by. Gwil pursed his lips, shaking his head.

“Probably not. She said she felt sick and Lucy’s in her trailer with her to help out.”

“Aw.” Katriona frowned. “I really wanted to get to know her better. Ben speaks about her so greatly and she seems like a nice person.”

Gwil nodded, although the idea of Ben speaking to other people about you remained on his mind. He made a mental note to talk to Ben about it later.

“Yeah, but she’ll be around.”

“Maybe we can swing by her trailer later?” Ben suggested. “We can bring her lunch-”

“No!” Gwil said a bit too strongly, raising looks from Ben and Katriona. “D-Don’t, she said she really doesn’t wanna see anyone right now. Sorry mate.”

Ben watched as Gwil then strode off and pondered on how little he had seen you over the past month and a half. He did want to help you if you were sick and hated the idea of not having you around, especially with Katriona there, who didn’t seem to mind their friendship. She trusted him and he loved that about her.

He let out a chaste breath, wondering why he felt such a draw to comfort you when he had a loving girlfriend right in front of him.

Ben’s eyes fell to the ground before he felt Katriona grip his cheeks, forcing him to stare at her. She smiled lovingly and Ben reciprocated.

Enough now. Ben thought to himself. Enough.

—

Read Part Three: “Lie To Me”

Send me a request, nsfw talk about Rami, Ben or Freddie, or just overall love here :) Let me know if you wanna be tagged for the next part! 

Tags: @mswinterfalcon @dreamy–far-off–look @xxx-kannstdunicht-xxx  @emothrash @intertwine-fingers@multifandomgirlrandomstuff @alexaaab @pietrorunsforme @rogerfuckxxngtaylor @bethboth @rogerinatrash 

#ben hardy #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy fanfic #ben hardy imagine #ben hardy one shot #ben hardy smut #gwilym lee #joe mazzello #rami malek #lucy boynton #bo rhap #bohemian rhapsody fanfic #bohemian rhapsody

[fuzzballsheltiepants]

Back to the Start, part 7

All For the Game/The Foxhole Court, post-canon.  Andrew remembers things and it’s not pleasant.  Read it on AO3 if you choose.  Read Part 1.  Part 2.  Part 3.  Part 4.   Part 5.  Part 6.  Comments, reblogs, etc., all greatly appreciated!

Neil was a trouble magnet.  Andrew didn’t remember too many specifics, but he knew it with a bone deep certainty.  So he wasn’t all that surprised when Neil admitted he’d lit into some paparazzo and it had all been caught on video by a dozen different coffee shop patrons.  He supposed he should at least be pleased the idiot hadn’t been arrested.

Said idiot was sitting in the chair next to him, doing equations on his phone and completely oblivious to how distracting he was with his wet hair falling in his face.  Andrew really needed something else to occupy his mind but options were limited when he couldn’t handle more than a couple of minutes of looking at a screen.  He doubted reading a book would be any easier on his head.  At least he no longer had that stupid catheter in, now that he had proven he could walk to the bathroom on his own.  Small favors.

A flicker of a memory came, not a full one, just a flash of sitting on the couch in Columbia watching a movie with his feet in Neil’s lap.  He’d had several of those already that morning, brief snapshots of the surprisingly ordinary life he had built.  The information didn’t seem to be downloading in a giant dump anymore, but instead coming in short bursts that were easier to manage.  Most of the memories didn’t involve Neil.  He now knew what his apartment looked like, and his landlord; he remembered first setting down his stuff in front of his locker in the Boston stadium, and driving around with Nicky and Aaron, and Kevin grabbing his face mask on the court, and making out with Roland in the back room at Eden’s Twilight.  But only the few with Neil had that odd settled feeling.  It was annoying, really; he didn’t recognize that version of himself and wasn’t totally sure he wanted to.

Neil’s phone vibrated and he looked up at Andrew with a grin.  “Oh, Allison’s yelling at me.  Video must be up.  Yup.  Wanna see?”

Andrew shifted so there was room for Neil to sit on the bed.  Neil hesitated only for a second before settling carefully on the edge.  He held up the phone and tapped the screen.  Under a Twitter headline of “#10NeilJosten goes off on reporter” was the brief video.  

It wasn’t nearly as bad as Andrew had expected.  He was vaguely disappointed in the lack of violence, but otherwise he had to admit he was…impressed. Really, that level of redirection required some fast thinking, especially on the fly. Neil dropped the phone on the bed and looked at him anxiously.  “I hope that was okay, we hadn’t really decided on whether or not we were going to come out, but I don’t want to deny this either.”

There is no this, Andrew wanted to say, and he didn’t know why that response came so automatically when there very clearly was a this.  Instead he looked up at Neil and said, “Seventh.”  The blankness of Neil’s expression was comical, so he went on.  “You meant the seventh circle of hell.  The sixth is heresy, the seventh is violence.  Though I’d argue that society is really trapped in the fourth. Greed.”  

Neil’s jaw literally dropped, and Andrew tapped him under the chin, trying to ignore the odd feeling in his gut at the contact.  “What the hell, Drew?” Neil started to laugh.  “When did you read…whatever that’s from?”

“You ignorant child, you referenced Dante’s Inferno without knowing what it is?” 

“When did you read Dante’s Inferno, then?”

Andrew shrugged.  “Juvie.”

“You read Dante’s Inferno in juvie.  That seems like an odd choice, I’ve got to be honest.”  

“Not a lot of book selection, and there’s only so many times you can read the fourth book of Harry Potter.  I mean, no matter what, Cedric still dies.”  Neil looked thrown and Andrew wondered if he should’ve given him a spoiler alert. Too late.  “And I refused to read all the religious shit they kept shoving at me. Dante’s Inferno was a compromise.”

“I didn’t realize you knew the meaning of that word.”  Neil’s phone buzzed again and he looked at it.  “I know, I know,” he grumbled.

“What.”

“Allison.  ‘When I said you’d have to say something this was not what I had in mind babycakes.’”  Yeah, well, tough shit.”  The phone buzzed again.  “‘You do know the non-denial will be taken as confirmation.’  Yes, thank you oh wise one.”  He tapped something into his phone then looked up at Andrew. “She has a point though.”    

Andrew found he didn’t really care.  People already knew he was gay, there were worse things than being linked to a smart-mouthed pretty boy.  “Whatever.  Let them think what they want.  I just don’t want to make some official statement about it.”

Neil flashed him his sweet, soft smile and Andrew shoved his face away.  The smile broadened and Neil settled back against the raised head of the bed and pulled up his math problems again.  It struck Andrew that this was his life now.  Sitting here inches away from this man who was doing homework like it was no big deal.  It felt strange and impossible and normal all at the same time and all Andrew could think was how.

*****

Neil’s phone would not shut up.  He debated letting it run out of battery but needed to be available for Aaron so when it blinked a warning at him he resigned himself and plugged it in.  Working on his differential geometry had long become an impossibility thanks to the constant interruptions.  He could think of far more pleasant ways to spend the time but Andrew still seemed a little shocked if they sat close to each other so that was a no go.

The phone buzzed yet again and kept buzzing.  “Wymack,” he said to Andrew.  “Do you want me to go out in the hall?”  Andrew shook his head and Neil picked up.  “Hey, Coach.”

“Why did I ever make the mistake of thinking if you were holed up in a hospital I didn’t need to worry about the press?”

“Excessive optimism?”

“They’re up my ass, I’m going to have to say something at the press conference this afternoon.  You guys have a plan?”

“Not really,” Neil said, watching Andrew watching him.  “I think we’re trying to avoid formal statements though.”

“Okay.”  There was silence on the line.

“How’s my team, Coach?”

“They’re doing all right, we need you back soon though.  Robin and Bryan can’t manage these lunatics all by themselves.  Binghamton’s a week from today.”

“I know.  I’ll be there.”

“How’s it going up there?”

“Getting better.  He’s pissed I don’t know my Dante properly.”  Andrew rolled his eyes.

Wymack huffed in his version of a laugh.  “That sounds about right.  Look, if he needs some ongoing help once he’s released, we can make something work down here.  Abby’s having kittens about him and I suspect Betsy’s not much better.”

Neil had to blink hard for a moment before he could speak.  “That’s…that’s good to know, Coach.  Thanks.  I’ll let you know what the doctor says.”

“What is it?” Andrew asked as soon as Neil hung up.  

“He, uh, he said that if you want, while you finish recovering you can come back to PSU with me.”

Andrew studied him for an endless minute before turning away.  He reached for the pack of Reese’s and tilted one out into his hand.  Neil gave up on getting a reply and had clicked his phone back on to start answering his dozens of text messages when Andrew spoke up.  “How did you get the rest of them?”  

Neil scanned the conversation they’d been having and came up blank.  “Of what?”

“Your scars.  You said this morning that most of them were from your father’s people.  Nicky told me about him, and I remember parts of Baltimore, but how’d you get the rest?”

“Oh.”  His hand went involuntarily to his ribcage.  “Riko.  Riko gave me the rest of them.”

He watched as that bomb hit, the slow motion ripple effect it had as memories resurfaced and deductions were made.  Watched as Andrew’s pupils dilated and his hands started to tremble before he shoved them between his clamped knees.  Watched Andrew’s head drop and his jaw clench and the cords of tendons in his neck leap out.  Heard his rasping breaths ratchet up and the grate of his teeth against each other.  He didn’t know how far back Andrew’s mind went, didn’t know what to do.

“Andrew.”  The only response was a hitch in the breathing.  “Andrew, look at me.  Look at me.”  Those hazel eyes were nearly black when they darted to him and away again.  “It’s over.  He’s dead.”  Neil didn’t even know whether he meant Riko or Drake, it applied to both.  “It’s over, and you’re clean, and you came back from this.  You came back.”

He debated pressing the call button for the nurse, not sure if more people would make the issue better or worse.  In the end he settled for not, the potential overreaction on the parts of the staff outweighing any benefit of possible distraction.  “I’m here, Drew.  What are you remembering?”  Andrew shook his head violently and curled up tighter.  “I’m here,” Neil repeated helplessly, cursing himself internally in every language he knew.  “I’m here.”  

*****

He thought at first it was a flashback to when he was thirteen, but the room wasn’t right and his head hurt too much and he was laughing.  He had never laughed before.

He thought at first it was a nightmare, but he could still see the hospital around him.

He thought at first that he could keep this tucked deep inside, still keep it safe as he had always done behind the armor he had always worn.

But Neil knew.  Unscarred, dark-haired, dark-eyed Neil was there in the memory, Neil and Aaron both.  They were there and they were spattered with blood and it was real, oh, god, it was real.

*****

Andrew was silent for the rest of the day.  He had eventually slipped into a calm that would’ve seemed like a coma if he hadn’t continued to react to people in the room.  He’d even gotten up and walked the halls with Nancy, ignoring her chatter about her rescue cats with blank-eyed indifference.  Neil explained to the doctors that he’d recovered a bad memory and they hadn’t pushed him to talk, just made him go through his usual exercises.  Out in the hallway afterwards Dr. Martin had suggested a therapist; she’d seemed a little surprised when Neil informed her Andrew had two.

If Neil had thought watching Andrew in physical pain was hard, this was a thousand times worse.  At least there was medication that could be given for a headache.  He couldn’t even call Matt to talk about it, it felt too much like an invasion of Andrew’s privacy.  

He scrolled through his texts again; it felt like they were from a lifetime ago.

Literally crying tears of joy rn from Nicky.

Never been more proud of you than in this moment from Dan.

WTF spectrum you gay but your right your a shitty example from Jack.  Asshole. He couldn’t even use the right you’re.

Clapping hands emoji from Matt, followed by hows Andrew taking it?

A rainbow of heart emojis from Renee.  

When r u coming back i hate these people from Robin.

And a series of articles from Allison that he couldn’t bring himself to click through.

He typed out neutral replies to everyone but Jack.  Finally he got the text from Aaron that they were in the lobby.  He told Andrew, who didn’t react, and went down to get them.  Katelyn hugged him gently and asked how he was doing in a serious tone.

“I’m fine,” Neil said automatically, and Aaron rolled his eyes.  

“That’s going on your tombstone,” he said.  Neil wanted to argue but couldn’t, so he led them to the elevators, listening to Katelyn chatter about the drive up and the mass of photographers in front of the building.  

“So, um, he’s had a rough evening,” Neil said once the elevator emptied out on the third floor.

“Is that because of your idiot moment this morning?”  Aaron asked.

“No, actually he was okay with that.”  Aaron shook his head in disgust and the elevator dinged.  Neil pulled them aside into the empty waiting area.  “He remembered something.  I think it was Drake but I’m not sure, he wouldn’t talk to me.”

“Then why do you think it was Drake?”

Neil shrugged.  “I just do.”

Aaron and Katelyn had a silent conversation and Katelyn turned to Neil.  “We didn’t stop to eat anywhere, is there a cafeteria or something?”  Neil nodded and Katelyn put her hand on his arm.  “How about Aaron goes and sees Andrew while you and I grab some food.”  Neil gave Aaron a searching look that was met with calm determination.  With a hesitant nod he gave Andrew’s room number and followed Katelyn back to the elevator.  As the elevator doors slid shut he saw Aaron stalled in front of Andrew’s room, head bowed, before he reached for the handle and entered.

*****

It was strange, how you could scream and scream and nobody could hear you.

Andrew could have sworn he was screaming.  He could hear it echoing in his ears, his throat was raw and his chest ached from the effort of it.  But nobody around him seemed to hear it.  Neil looked at him with sad understanding, the nurses were gentle, the doctor didn’t seem to expect him to answer her, but they all talked in normal voices to and about him.  He could hear them; it didn’t make sense that they couldn’t hear him.

Except people never had.

Neil left and the room was empty and his scream was still rebounding around the room.  Then there came a faint knock and Aaron entered.  Aaron, who looked exactly like him.  Aaron, who he he had cared about before he ever met him.  Aaron, who had twisted that love like he’d twisted his hatred for his mother, until he couldn’t tell the difference between the two.

He stopped screaming.  Perhaps he never had been.  He could never tell.

“Hey, man,” Aaron said, dropping into Neil’s chair.  “Hear it’s been a rough week.”  Andrew didn’t know how to respond to that perfect banality.  “Your asshole boyfriend and Katelyn are getting food, they should be up in a bit.”  Andrew blinked and saw Aaron spattered with blood, then blinked again and he was fine.

“You killed him,” he said, and he could hear the difference between the words and the screaming.  How much more solid the words sounded.  Like they could be touched, cupped in a hand.

Aaron shifted in the chair but didn’t look away.  Andrew heard him swallow.  “Yes, I did.”

Andrew wondered how Aaron could put up with years of Tilda’s abuse but then kill Drake for hurting Andrew.  He didn’t think he had spoken out loud but perhaps Aaron read the question in his face.  “Do you remember doing counseling together?  No?  It was your asshole boyfriend’s fault, of course. Anyway, I think it was junior year, right before the trial.  You told me that the reason why you had sent me that letter, the one telling me to fuck off when I asked to meet you, was because of Drake.”  

Andrew did remember, then.  A hyper-organized office and hot chocolate and a calm reasoned voice and anger and grief and so much unfamiliar longing.  “You said that I’m not the only one who’s allowed to care.”

Aaron nodded.  “Maybe nobody did for a long time.  But you have me and Nicky and Coach and Dobson and Renee and your asshole boyfriend who care. Maybe even Kevin too, when he can get the exy racquet out of his ass.  Now, you might not remember us -”

“I didn’t forget you.”

Aaron nodded and went quiet.  Andrew closed his eyes, leaning back against the pillows.  His head was pounding and he felt a nauseating fullness in his stomach.  

“Do you need something?” Aaron asked.  “Pain meds or something?”

“Yeah.”

There was a pause and then footsteps and he recognized the night nurse’s voice.  “What do you want, Mr. Minyard, the new stuff or the old stuff?”

“New.”  It didn’t fuck with his head so much.

There was the sound of a drawer opening and closing, then, “Is it all right if I touch your arm?”

He ground out a yes and there was a feather-light touch where his IV was.  Aaron and the nurse were talking in low voices, then the nurse said, “Let’s give that a few minutes and I’m going to turn the lights down.  You’ve done really well having them up this high all day.”

The room went quiet and he waited for the pressure to ease.  Once he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to vomit he blinked and looked at the chair.  Aaron was watching him with sharp eyes.  

“I’m tired.”

“You can sleep.  I’ll stay until your asshole boyfriend gets back.”  

Exhaustion crashed over him in a wave.  He surfaced enough to ask, “Why do you call him that?”

“Because ‘Neil’ takes too long to say.”  Andrew snorted despite himself and looked back at Aaron, who was smiling faintly.  “Go to sleep.  I’ll be back tomorrow.”  

Fatigue swept over him again, and this time he let the peaceful darkness drag him under.

#aftg #all for the game #tfc #the foxhole court #andrew minyard #neil josten #andriel #amnesia #healing #past trauma #memory recovery #hospital #aaron minyard #david wymack #my writing #fanfic

[thestoryweneededtowrite]

Ghost Hunter AU fic that I have not named...

Part of this AU!

When Spot suggested they do something to celebrate the anniversary of their YouTube channel, Race knew what he really meant. They didn’t do date night often and when they did it meant take out and a box set of whatever show they were marathoning and making out on the sofa, so caught up in each other that they’d have to rewatch all the episodes they’d had on in the background because neither of them had taken in a word of it. Formal date nights that involved leaving the house didn’t really happen.

Part of the reason was that they were both pretty private people. Spot wasn’t often keen to hold Race’s hand outside of the comfort of their home, let alone kiss him and say I love you and do all the other things people were supposed to do on dates. He didn’t like admitting to it though, so often he relied on the other reason date nights usually happened on their sofa.

Having a public platform meant people recognised them from time to time when they were out and, in their experience, it was always at the most inopportune of moments. Race had started ordering condoms and lube online after one particularly harrowing incident in Boots at the self-service checkout where one of their subscribers had decided that was the perfect moment to come over and say hi. Attempting to hide ribbed condoms and cherry flavoured lube that he’d bought (mostly) as a joke under one single tube of toothpaste had not been the highlight of his life. Their subscribers may have easily been able to extrapolate from the fact they were dating and living together that they were indeed having sex, but they didn’t need the exact brand of condoms they used being anywhere on the internet.

Public dates had been off the table from the very beginning, but Spot maintained that this wasn’t a date. This was a celebratory outing that he refused to disclose anything about to Race. And if it happened to fall on what Race knew was the second anniversary of when they’d first kissed, that was just coincidence of course. Spot wasn’t that sentimental…

Spot was lucky Race trusted him with his life. He got dressed in ‘fancier clothes than normal but we’re not going to a wedding’ and was waiting for Spot by the door at the exact moment he’d said they needed to leave. Not that he was going to admit it, but he was excited. He loved nights in on the sofa eating Chinese food and watching Stranger Things until Spot kissed him back against the cushions and he couldn’t think about anything but that, but sometimes it was nice to imagine that they were a more normal couple. In Race’s imagination they did the dinner and a show thing often, or the moonlit walk along the river thing. But he never really mentioned it out loud. Spot was never going to say yes to an evening that could result in a subscriber finding them kissing under the stars. He had a reputation.

“Okay, I probably did this the wrong way round so you’re going to have to bear with me,” Spot explained, seeming strangely nervous.

Had they been together longer then Race would think he was going to propose, but this was Spot and that was probably never going to happen. One date was for Spot what a proposal was for most guys – he seemed to be vaguely terrified.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Race asked, pulling on his jacket. “No,” Spot grinned. He might be nervous but that didn’t make him any less cocky.

Pulling Race in for a rough kiss, he made the most of the last couple of moments of privacy they had before they had to go out the door.

“Okay, we really do have to go,” Spot smirked, pushing Race away so he could grab his keys.

“We’re returning to this when we get back, right?” Race checked, starting to think that staying in and making out was going to be far greater than whatever Spot could have planned.

Spot just winked and headed out the door, leaving Race to follow him. There was always going to be a later time for them to make out.

*** 

When Race found himself looking up at the theatre façade advertising the play of The Exorcist he was monumentally confused.

“We’re seeing this?” he asked, a little stunned.

Spot flinched, worried he’d made the wrong decision.

“You don’t want to…?”

“No, I do!” Race promised, not wanting to make Spot think he didn’t appreciate the surprise. “I just…” It was so traditional. He would never have thought that Spot would be the kind to want to go on a night out to the theatre for date night, even if they weren’t calling it that, but he really didn’t hate it.

“We can just go home if you want,” Spot mumbled, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

“No! I want to stay. It’s not like we’re strangers to ghosts,” Race pointed out with a smile. “This isn’t ghosts,” Spot laughed, relieved things were turning out okay. “This is demons.”

When he’d considered taking Race out on a proper date, even if he was still pretending it was only a channel celebration, he’d spent a while trying to find something interesting they could do. Dinner out seemed like a waste of money when Race preferred to cook anyway and most of the shows he found weren’t anything he was keen on. But then he found The Exorcist and it seemed perfect. It helped him keep up the façade that this was to do with the channel as opposed to their relationship and, besides, Race grabbed him when he was scared and he wasn’t exactly opposed to an evening of his boyfriend pressed against his side. And in the middle of a dark theatre where no one could see them and everyone else was just as afraid, no one was going to give them a second look. It had seemed like a great idea.

That great idea lasted as long as walking into the theatre. The girl tearing their tickets started to give them what was clearly a rehearsed spiel about the length of the show and not to film anything but after a moment or two she did a double take.

“Oh my god,” she shrieked, and Spot’s heart sank. So much for spending the night unnoticed. “You’re…?! Oh my god!” “Hi,” Race smiled, forcing himself not to groan.

“This is a perfect show for you, you’re going to love it,” she gushed, grinning.

“Thank you,” Spot said through gritted teeth.

It wasn’t her fault, he knew that. She was perfectly lovely and trying to be friendly but he didn’t want to have to make conversation about their channel. He didn’t want to have to know that there was at least one person in the theatre who might be watching them and potentially relaying their movements to an internet worth of people.

“Oh,” the girl frowned, picking up on the less-than-ecstatic vibes. “You’re here to enjoy the show, I completely get it. I promise I won’t bother you.” “Thank you,” Race sighed, genuinely appreciative.

“Date night?” she asked, attempting to hide a smile. It was the normal kind of rapport she set up with patrons and she was hoping that they’d catch on to the fact she wasn’t trying to be invasive, just friendly.

“Depends who you ask,” Race smirked, poking Spot in the ribs.

Spot just pulled a face. He knew his plan was somewhat transparent but had been banking on Race going along with it.

“You really will enjoy the show,” she promised and waved them through.

Wishing her a good evening, they trekked through into the bar. Race reached down and took Spot’s hand, unsure how long he would be allowed to maintain the contact.

“Race,” Spot warned, but he didn’t let go himself.

“Come on,” Race pleaded. “It’s a date. We both know it’s a date.”

Spot considered it. After the photo of them holding hands had circulated twitter he’d pretty much put a ban on ever taking Race’s hand in public again. It seemed like inviting people to be invasive by not being careful enough, not that they should have to be careful but they’d made a channel and put part of their lives online and their audience struggled to find the line that they weren’t allowed past. They didn’t get to see the sleepy smile Race would give him when he rolled over to wish him a good morning. They didn’t get to see the way they’d choreographed an intricate dance around each other to get ready in the morning or the kisses or the nights cuddled around each other on the sofa or how Spot liked to go to sleep with his head on Race’s chest so he could listen to his heartbeat. It was all off-limits and it was easy to control because it happened exclusively in their own home, but holding hands was different. It was still off limits to their audience – it was a level of intimacy that Spot shared with no one but Race -  but it happened out in the open and that meant anyone with a phone could get a picture of it and it would be doing the round on the internet in seconds. He hated it.

But then again those who had been involved in taking and sharing that photo had all been kids. They were 12, 14 at most, and they didn’t yet understand why it wasn’t okay. Spot had specifically picked a production with an 18 age restriction, so the majority of their more zealous fans weren’t even allowed in the building. It wasn’t a guarantee of anything, but it was enough of a buffer that Spot was going to take the risk. Race was looking at him with sad eyes that were usually reserved for when he wanted to be kissed and Spot was prioritising admin work for their channel, and Spot was extremely bad at not giving in to them. So he squeezed Race’s hand, a silent promise to not let go, and raised it to his lips, kissing Race’s knuckles quickly before dropping their hands back down. It was as far as he was willing to go but it was enough to make Race smile, a tinge of pink on his cheeks from the rare sweet affection.

“Sap,” Race mumbled.

“Shut up,” Spot replied, but he was smiling too.

An announcement rang out that the auditorium was open for people to take their seats and Race let Spot tug him in the right direction, caught up in the fact that he was holding hands with his boyfriend whilst on a date and wishing he could go back and tell the scared boy alone in his bedroom that this was how it was going to turn out. For the entire date, all throughout grabbing Spot’s arm at every jump scare in the play and afterwards when they bought burgers and watched late night revellers stroll home through Leicester Square, Race wondered how he’d gotten so lucky.

#newsies #newsies fanfiction #sprace #spot conlon #racetrack higgins #spot/race #ghost hunter au

[shazyloren]

The Dragon Club: Chapter 16 - Texts and Plus Ones

Summary:  Jon Snow is an online blogger who gets an interview with the sort after Daenerys Targaryen, the Editor of Valyrian, a multi-million dollar fashion magazine. He'd heard so much about the silver-haired and silver-tongued woman and the running of her business; he would have to be smart to get anything more than five minutes. Will he be safe walking into the Dragon's lair or will he get thrown to the Lions?

Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12018519/chapters/27686103

------

'In a shocking turn of events, online journalist Jon Snow has seemed to do a 180 on his opinions of the owner and editor-in-chief of Valyrian Magazine, Daenerys Targaryen. Patricia Bright has more on this story for us, over to you Patricia'

Jon glared at the tv screen as he ate his cereal. Was this all anyone cared about, gossip?

'Jon Snow, acclaimed journalist and well-respected writer, shared a rather friendly twitter interaction with Valyrian magazine owner Daenerys Targaryen. This comes just a few weeks after the scathing article he wrote on his blog went viral. The owner said "Another successful dinner evening, thanks to @TheWolfOnline for giving a second chance", she also commented saying she wasn't a hot head all of the time to which the journalist retweeted. It seemed like this was the end but not long after that he put up a heartfelt welcome to his Niece Lyanna Stark who was born that very evening. Daenerys tweeted a congratulations and this is where things got interesting. Jon Snow took the mickey out of the naming of her dinner party and in return was branded as 'her number one fan'. He in return staying true to the article called her hotheaded once again. This would've been nothing but the winky emoticon he added has caused fans of both parties to wonder what this actually means'

"It means nothing!" Jon groaned as Ghost pooled at his feet. He'd had a strange morning following the twitter conversation that's been had the night previous. He'd not thought anymore about it after that as he'd got to meet little Lyanna who was sweet and adorable. He'd been told off by Talisa for congratulating publically before he knew everything was okay so he was being ignored as was Meera and Arya. Robb wasn't bothered he loved the outpouring of emotion his family gave him.

"Why are you shouting at the TV?" Jon turned to see Arya who'd just walked through his door. Gendry followed closely behind. "Is it because your girlfriend was nice for once?"

"She's not my girlfriend, Arya. We don't even like each other that much!" Jon sighed as he turned the TV off.

"And yet you know of whom I speak?" Arya giggled. Gendry just rolled his eyes and sat down on the sofa.

"I hate you sometimes"

"No you don't" Arya grinned. "Anyways, as you know. We are getting married next week"

"Aye, I think you might have mentioned it" Jon smirked. "Only once or twice though"

"Don't start" Arya scoffed.

"Arya, he's not lying though, is he?" Gendry butted in. Arya shot him a look which made him immediately shut up.

"I want you to bring a plus 1" She said. "The timing of the baby means that someone has to stay and watch Lyanna. Talisa's mum has cancelled"

"And why must it be me?" Jon squinted his eyes in suspicion. Arya just meekly smiled. No, Jon thought, no way. "I'm not asking Daenerys to come to your wedding!"

"Jon please!" Arya whined. "I want you to be with her, she likes you and I know you like her!"

"I said he wouldn't" Gendry chipped in. Arya wasn't listening, she was wrestling Jon for his phone and failing miserably. She was too short, she couldn't cover both arms. She yelled at Gendry to help who just sighed and grabbed his phone at ease. "Sorry mate, I'm trying to do as I'm told"

"So aiding and abetting has an appeal to you?" Jon grumbled.

"No, but being kicked in the nuts later on for not helping doesn't appeal to me" Gendry shrugged meekly.

"Touche" Jon nodded. "Arya what are you doing?"

I'm drafting a text message that doesn't make you seem like you like her but that does show that you're willing to give her another opportunity to show you if she can function in society like a normal person" Arya said as she stared intensely at Jon's phone screen. "There, perfect!"

She chucked the phone back at Jon who was not happy at this tag teaming that had just occurred. He looked at the message. 'Daenerys, my sister is getting married on the 11th February next week. I am asking you to be my plus 1. I enjoyed the evening last night (even if your friends can be slightly... intense) and you showed me that you're not 100% hotheaded. Accompany me and change my mind once again, Jon'. "Arya that's a very formal text"

"She's a formal gal" Arya shrugged.

"Not really, she doesn't talk like she'd from the 1800s!" Jon moaned. "You make me look like a high class moron!"

"You are" She snorted as she ducked Jon's incoming playful punch. "What, it's the truth?"

Jon just ignored her and glared at his phone, wishing he could bring the message back and it not reach her eyes. But when his phone dinged as he stared at it, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. 'I would love to, let me know the date and time and I'll be ready, you can swing by and pick me up! Daenerys X'. Jon linked several times as he processed what was appearing on his phone.

"She accept?" Arya was looking triumphant before Jon even said anything. He hated it when his sister played games like this. He just nodded. "Yes, my plan is coming together!"

"Arya calm down" Gendry laughed. "Stop playing Matchmaker!"

"I will not, Jon needs a good shag!" Arya cackled.

"Arya stop, you sound like Robb!" Jon was feeling uncomfortable. His cheeks flushed red and he hung his head in shame and awkwardness.

"Jon, it's been three years since Ygritte and what have you done with your sex life? Nothing! I know you loved her but it's time to move on; even if you don't date this Daenerys person I think it'd be good for you to get some friends outside of us" Arya was starting to sound like Catelyn, bossing Jon around.

"How can someone so small be such a huge pain in my arse?" Jon sighed.

"Believe me I ask myself that question everyday" Gendry chortled.

"Then why did you agree to marry me?" She folded her arms and looked at him through a squinted gaze.

"Because no one else will put up with you" He said dead seriously. Arya looked shocked. He started laughing. "Your face!"

"Not funny!" She smacked him.

"Ouch! I love you, you mad woman stop hitting me please!" Jon just groaned as they started fighting. Even Ghost curled up closer to Jon trying to ignore the two of them. After a few minutes and a few injuries they stopped. Jon replied to Daenerys. 'The ceremony is one 'o' clock on the 11th at St. Maegor's church. I'll have to swing by about 9.30 to yours as I'm in the procession and need to be there around 10:30 to make sure Gendry's in check, best man you see!' He was confused about many things now.

Did he really like Daenerys? Yes.

Did he really want her to be his plus one for the wedding? Yes.

Was he shitting bricks at the prospect of this? One hundred percent.

Jon went through the rest of his day re-editing his latest post and uploading it to his site. He hadn't seen Daenerys' reply to his text until late that evening, long after he'd sent his original one and just as he was getting into bed. His thoughts were of Ygritte, would she be okay with him moving on in this way? Even if it didn't turn into anything, he felt like he was ruining her memory, betraying her almost. Dany's message read, 'I look forward to it, I can't wait to see you again x'.

She wanted to see him again? He racked his brains. Did she like him too? 'And I can't wait to see you, truthfully. But I'd never admit that to anyone, gotta keep my cred going ;)' He'd replied again.

'I'll admit it, you're a very... attractive person, both personality and physicality ;) Dx'

What?

'Miss. Targaryen, are you flirting with me? Jx'

What was happening?

'Me? never. ;)'

She was flirting!

'I'll take that as a yes'

Jon couldn't believe this.

'Take it however you want, I don't mind. I'm off to bed now, maybe I'll think about your physicality while I do so...'

Oh boy, she was going to be a handful to negotiate.

#jon snow #daen #jon x daenerys #jon x dany #jon x dany fanfic #fanfic #jonerys #jonerys fanfic #jonerysfanfic #the dragon club #got #game of thrones #au #modern setting #modern au

[nomoregraydays]

Under The Stars (G.D. fic)- Pt 3 Reaching Out

POV: First Person 

Word Count: 983

***

I opened up my Twitter messages, pulled down to refresh them, and yet again no new ones. I huffed lightly and started shaking my leg. What the fuck? Why hasn’t he messaged me yet since sending the photos? Or am I supposed to message him? I didn’t want to seem pushy, right? We are in the 20th century though. Hah, not a real defense there. 

What if it was my age that intimated him? Or maybe he’s just not interested. Whoa, Kat… Getting ahead of yourself here. The last interaction didn’t indicate any sort of attraction. There’s no way he liked you like that. He was only being friendly.

I sighed heavily again. 

“What’s bothering you?” 

Slightly startled, I looked over at my older brother, Eric. “Nothing,” I mumbled. He was currently living at home with our parents until he found a new job. I’d come over to help him carry things inside.

He smirked lightly as he stood from the recliner. “Sure.”

I rolled my eyes, but refreshed my messages again. 

“Whoever you’re waiting for to text you, do it first. They’re probably waiting for you.” He reached out to ruffle my hair, but I whacked his hand away; which only made him chuckle.

I stared at his name for I don’t know how long. Maybe Eric was right. I’m going in with no high hopes here though; this sort of shit usually never worked out for me. 

I tapped on his direct message and typed out what I wanted to say and still hesitated before I hit send. I quickly wiped away the whole app, hit the lock button on my phone, and tossed it aside. Then I went into the kitchen to distract myself. My heart was wanting to kill me. 

“Did you message them?” Eric asked as he chomped on potato chips. 

I only nodded before I opened the fridge to take out an apple. I don’t know why I chose one of the hardest fruits to chew when I could barely open my mouth. I turned the Gala apple around in my hand a couple times before opening the fridge to put it back. Not actually hungry anyways. 

How long has it been? I looked at the clock: five minutes. Felt like five fucking hours, days even. I huffed and went back to the couch to check notifications. My heart nearly stopped seeing his name and reply. He had replied within two minutes. Which means he may have been waiting and now he’s been waiting. Fucking yikes. 

Kat: Hey, haven’t had anyone on your shoulders lately, have you?

Gray: Haha no thankfully. How have you been?

The ‘how have you been’ seemed so formal, but maybe he thought it’d be proper to use it, and if I were him I’d be kicking myself over it as I was waiting for a reply. I didn’t waste too much more time thinking so he’d get a reply back within ten minutes.

Kat: I’ve been good. Just work, but off today. You? 

I locked my phone and tapped my fingers on the screen a few times before I noticed the green light go off. 

Gray: Same had to prepare for the next video and I don’t know why E is always having me get hurt

Kat: Lmao but all loving siblings do that 

Gray: I’m calling bs

You have siblings too?

Kat: Yeah, two older brothers. Growing up with them was definitely… interesting. It was either fight back or be a punching/lougy bag

Gray: Brothers are shit 

Kat: But can’t live without them haha

Gray: True

There was an awkward pause after he started to type something else, but then stopped. I bit my lip and quickly sent the first random question I could think of to keep the conversation going. 

Kat: Think you could survive a zombie apocalypse?

Gray: *laugh crying emoji* You’re kidding right

Kat: No, serious question. Answer it lmao 

Gray: Idk I think if I had E we could go for a while 

No one survives a zombie apocalypses tho 

Kat: So positive. *laugh crying emoji* In my version, there’s some sort of cure. So you think that you and E could survive until then?

Gray: Lol maybe 

What about you?

Kat: Get ready for a very thorough answer

Gray: How often do you think about this?

Kat: Not often *laugh crying emoji* In all of my dreams I’ve had about apocalypses, I’ve been a bad ass slayer and help save others. The reality is, I hate zombies and I’d probably hide away somewhere until one or a herd of them find and rip me apart. But I do think there is some small chance I could be the bad ass slayer if a zombie virus were to break out. 

Gray: Join E and I

I smiled at his suggestion. 

Kat: You’d want me to?

I excessively bit my lip as I watched his picture come up and type a response. 

Gray: 100% 

That’s it. Just 100%. I mean, he’d want me to be with him during a zombie apocalypse. That’s gotta say something, right? Or he’s just being nice again. That’s how he is. 

Kat: Okay, let’s be a team. 

Gray: What’s our name?

Kat: I don’t know.. Maybe use the initials of our first name for something? Like GEK or KEG

Gray: DEF KEG HAHAH

Kat: lmfao I’m down. Let Ethan know about this

Gray: Hold on 

I laughed. He probably was really telling him. Suddenly, another direct message popped up and now it was a group with Gray, Ethan, and I. The name had been changed to ‘KEG’.

Ethan: TEAM KEG KICK SOME ZOMBIE ASS

I laughed harder now and Eric popped his head into the living room. “Everything good?” 

“Definitely,” I replied. 

He smirked. “I told you.” 

I rolled my eyes but sunk into the couch and emerged into the conversation further. 

Next: First Date (Part 4)

#Grayson dolan fluff #Grayson dolan fanfic #grayson dolan short #grayson dolan #ethan dolan #fanfiction #writing #Under The Stars #ethan dolan fanfiction #grayson dolan fanfiction

[keepingtrackofchanges]

President Donald Trump is following through with one of the first pledges he made a year and a half ago when he announced his long-shot bid for the White House -- directing federal resources toward building a wall along the southern border.

But the reality of building the wall could be more difficult than the rallying cries would suggest. The length of the wall, when construction will begin, how much it will cost and who will pay for it remain fundamental questions.

There is also ongoing debate about the feasibility of the structure and the need for it in the first place.

Trump's push for a wall dates back to the day in June 2015 when he announced his campaign and promised to "build a great, great wall on our southern border" and said Mexico would pay."Mark my words," he said for added effect. Read MoreHis effort to turn those words into reality is expected to be formally announced Wednesday and is among several immigration-related actions anticipated in a multi-day rollout from the new administration.

Trump pledges to build a wall

Since he first made the pledge, walling off our neighbors to the south became an oft-repeated promise and rallying cry, both for the candidate and his supporters. Chants of "build that wall" thundered through arenas and convention halls. In at least one instance, Trump himself led the cheer. Building "an impenetrable physical wall on the southern border, on day one" is listed as item No. 1 on his "10 Point Plan to Put America First."Reality of building the wallAt the first press briefing of the new administration Monday, one of the first questions to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was about the wall. Spicer said the administration was working with agency heads and Congress to move forward on the project. He offered no further details.

Donald Trump's immigration policy: Then and now

Not everyone is as enthusiastic as the President about building a wall, including the man whose job it was to secure the U.S. border for the past three years."I don't see any efficacy in building a wall across the border," said Gil Kerlikowske, who until last week served as Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection under former President Barack Obama."The border and migration issues are just unbelievably complex," Kerlikowske said in an interview with CNN. "And a simple answer to a complex problem is most assuredly the wrong answer." Trump has yet to appoint Kerlikowske's replacement.

Kerlikowske said the rugged terrain in the Arizona desert and the shifting Rio Grande River in Texas, which routinely changes depth and even direction, both represent natural obstacles to building a border wall. Some of the land along the border in the Rio Grande Valley is privately owned, representing another challenge, he said.Kerlikowske also noted that the vast majority of people trying to enter the US are actually showing up at border entry points and seeking asylum or turning themselves in. Most are not trying to scale the fence in the dark of night, he said. Even if a wall was built, he said, it would require a significant hiring increase to have enough agents to monitor the wall. That would be no easy feat for an agency that is currently 1,200 employees below full strength.Kerlikowske said that, in addition to some 700 miles of fencing, the border is currently patrolled by agents on foot, bikes, motorcycles, ATVs and horseback. There's also an air wing, unmanned predator drones, ground sensors, infrared video and tower-mounted video with a range of 25 miles."It's all preferable to a wall," Kerlikowske said. "Unless you monitor that wall."On the campaign trail, Trump told a crowd of supporters in Anaheim, California, in May that he'd reached out to leaders in the union representing Border Patrol agents and asked whether a wall was truly needed."Mr. Trump, It's absolutely vital," came the reply, he told the crowd. "It's an absolutely important tool. Maybe our most important tool to stop what's going on."

Hearing that, Trump told the crowd:"We're going to build the wall. We have no choice."At the point, the crowd began chanting, "build that wall." Trump joined in from the podium.The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing Border Patrol agents, endorsed Trump for President -- marking the first time the group had taken such an action. Brandon Judd, president of the council, said in a recent interview with CNN, that Trump was "by far the best on border security" when compared with other candidates.Judd said he didn't reach that decision based on his pledge to build a wall. He said his group favored "barriers in strategic locations."But, importantly, he didn't say those barriers had to come in the form of a wall as Trump is suggesting.'Doesn't have to be a wall'"It doesn't have to be a wall," Judd said.He called the double fencing along the border in the San Diego area "insanely effective."Judd, who said he met with Trump and his transition team, argued such fencing allows agents to confront people on the US side of the border while they still have a fence in front of them to slow their progress."He was very much willing to listen to our perspective," Judd said. "It was, you know: 'I didn't realize that'. And 'that's good to know'."Trump would then turn to an aide, Judd recounted, and say: "Hey, get on this. Get back with me. I need to know more about this."Judd said he was confident his group's views were being taken into consideration."If you look at the areas they're currently surveying -- if you look at what the talk is, a lot of that is coming from us," he said. "They absolutely 100% are in the process of implementing things we suggested."Judd said he signed a non-disclosure agreement that prohibited him from going into detail about planned construction.

Shawn Moran, vice president of the Border Patrol union, said he thinks most people would be surprised to learn that it's possible to drive for 30 minutes in some Border Patrol sectors and not encounter agents on patrol."I think a lot of Americans think you're going to see agents in towers every hundred yards," Moran said. "That doesn't exist."He said one instance in which a wall may have made a difference was in the 2009 slaying of Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas. Rosas was shot to death by assailants who crawled under fencing near the eastern San Diego County town of Campo.The US-Mexico border is approximately 2,000 miles long, running from San Diego to Brownsville, Texas. Trump initially said he wanted to wall off the entire border, but has since said that 1,000 miles may do.He has offered few details on the wall since being elected president. But speaking at a news conference earlier this month, he reiterated his pledge, referring to the border as "an open sieve." He made construction sound imminent."Mike Pence is leading an effort to get final approvals through various agencies and through Congress for the wall to begin," he told reporters on Jan. 11.CNN reported earlier this month that Trump transition team officials had been in discussions with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Interior Department to begin planning a wall, including how certain environmental laws could come into play."It seems clear they were trying to size up the environmental laws that may be obstacles to building the wall," said one U.S. official familiar with the inquiry.A review of Trump's statements on the campaign trail offers a glimpse of what he envisions -- or did at the time.

President Donald Trump's thin skin

Trump said his wall would be solid, strong and "probably 35 to 40 feet up in the air.""It will actually look good," he added. "You know, as good as a wall is going to look."The dimensions of the border barricade grew when former Mexican President Vicente Fox insisted his country would never pay for it."It just got 10 feet taller," Trump told CNN's Wolf Blitzer last year.When then-Republican presidential contender Jeb Bush referred to the proposed wall as a fence in August of 2015, Trump took to Twitter to correct him:"It's not a fence, Jeb, it's a WALL," Trump tweeted, "and there's a BIG difference!"In an interview with MSNBC in February, then-candidate Trump said he'd priced out the project at about $8 billion. Later that month, he told Fox News' Sean Hannity the cost would be $10 billion."It's going to be a very terrific wall," Trump said. "$10 billion is not bad."Hannity asked Trump, whose name is synonymous with his brand as a builder and hotelier whether the name Trump will be on the wall."Only if its' beautiful," he replied.

#trump #wall #cnn #propaganda

[wastedwishesandhope]

Start of the end...

“Someone’s looking for you. She said her name is Deby? Your friend?” her officemate called out her attention while Anna was busy compiling the presentation her boss was asking her to do for the summary of annual company revenue. Her eyes flickers and the look on her face show a puzzlement. She straightened on her seat.

 “Wait. Is she downstairs? She should have called me or text me,” she answers and grabbed her phone sat underneath the folders and papers scattered everywhere on her desk. Anna incoherently swears when she found out that her phone shuts off already. She forgot to plug it in. She tried to turn it on but the battery has been drained for more than an hour already.

 “She’s waiting, you better check her out real quick.” The coworker said.

 She nodded and piled up the papers the head management needed so in any case they immediately wanted the copies, she can deliver it right away. Grabbing her phone and purse, Anna went out their office and rush down the hall to catch the elevator. She couldn’t help thinking what’s going on that her friend even went directly to her work instead of waiting for her back at home.

While, inside the elevator, she tried to turn back on her phone again, hoping it would open so she could check the messages that her friend probably bombarded in kakao but it only rings once then shuts off again. She sighed and scratches her head in agitation.

 She sped up once she’s in the lobby of the building and saw her friend pacing around the area. There she confirmed something is going on. The way Deby looks so anxious makes her nervous.

 “Deb!”

 Her friend immediately turned around and run into her.

 “What’s going on? Why are you here? Sorry, I didn’t notice my phone, I forgot to charge it. Did you message me?” she asked.

 “I’ve been trying to reach your phone and I lost count already how many times I’ve tried! I knew it. Glad I’ve decided to go straight here instead!” she replied with her hands flailing in the air.

 Anna took a quick glance outside the glass window and she checked also the wall clock at the reception desk. She didn’t manage to keep on track for the time. It’s past 10 pm already. The workloads took her attention the whole day.

 “You should have waited for me to get back home. I only have one hour left before I could go out from work. It’s dangerous that you really made your way to meet me here!”

 Deby just shakes her head. “That’s not important right now! Haven’t you checked the internet yet? You should have opened your twitter or any of your social media accounts!”

 Her eyebrows furrowed and she got more confused. “Can’t do it between my breaks. I am so busy today. I got deadlines! Why? What’s really going on? You’re making me nervous. Deb!”

 She watched her friend took a deep breath first. Obviously trying to calm her nerves.

 “Okay. Anna, I’ll tell you about it but I need you to calm down---“

 “What the hell is going on?! Stop beating around the bush! You’re just making it worse, Deb! Isn’t it obvious I’m shaking already?!” she exploded yet still tried to lower down her voice. She hates it when it was already evident that something bad is coming their way yet her friend wouldn’t spill it immediately.

Instead of speaking, Deby decided to show the screen of her phone. Anna snatched the phone and scanned her eyes all throughout the article.

 International hit sensation BTS member Park Jimin allegedly accused of murder.

 She only read the headline, yet, she couldn’t stop her hands from trembling already. She fought getting petrified and took an ounce of courage to continue the remaining articles. She scrolled down to read the main body of the article.

 A baffling mysterious death took the public attention after Lee Hyekyung (24) found dead inside the apartment complex where she’s living in separately from her parent’s residence. The young woman who is also said to be a daughter of business tycoon Lee & Mei Company- which started the booming business enterprise for alcohol beverages- gruesomely killed by still with an unknown killer. Yet, the first investigation resulted in a suicide after fingerprints weren't found around the area; including the lack of pieces of evidence.

The family appealed for a second investigation after insisting the grisly death of the victim still remained unsolved. They also disclosed an amount for the case willingly to participate in the ongoing process of further investigation.

However, this morning, Lee’s team released a statement that a member of boy group BTS was allegedly involved in Hyekyung’s death. A source revealed that the young woman was also an avid fan of the said group.

As we recall, a blind item also released stating a fan was killed by a specific Korean idol.

 BigHit entertainment hasn’t released their statement yet regarding the allegations.

  Her trembling hands worsened after reading the whole statement. Deby’s phone almost fell from her grip and Anna sudden feel giddy and nauseous. There’s too much to take in and she couldn’t think straight. A foreign rumbling inside her stomach occur and she felt like she would pass out anytime soon. She closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheeks.

 “Are you alright?” Deby asked. She tried to hold her friend’s arms when she noticed the wobbling legs after she read the article.

 Anna opened her eyes and Deby can clearly see the fear, petrify and fright on her. She also felt so cold.

 “I was so worried about you that’s why I rushed over here. I tried calling Taehyung but his number was unreachable since the news was released. I wonder if their managers forbid them from using their phones,” Deby said, yet, Anna just remained quiet and her eyes kept glancing at the building. She couldn’t stand still and she doesn't stop shaking. “And also, I found another thing…” she added.

 Anna’s eyes immediately focused on her.

 “I don’t know how to say it but… Anna, I just found out that… Gikwang… he’s the younger brother of the victim.”

 She almost choked to herself. “What?”

 “I also couldn’t believe it but some fans found pictures of Lee Hyekyung’s family and some of them shows Gikwang together with the victim. I’ve read some tweets and it says that Lee Hyekyung has a younger brother who’s attending law school, presuming that’s the reason why the case was opened again,” Deby explained.

 Anna scoffed. “You can’t be serious, right?”

 Deby didn’t reply.

 “How the hell this is happening to us?” she utters in disbelief.

  —   —   —

  The seven of them including their own managers and the group manager itself remained quiet and sitting in a circle inside their dorm’s living room. Bulk bodyguards are securing the main gate and the door. Only the moving hands of the clock can be heard inside the room. Nobody dared to speak. Kim Namjoon looks so furious while the rest of them still didn’t know what to think.

Park Jimin thoughts kept wandering. He couldn’t believe that he would have been caught from his mortal sin. It was his first time that somebody would get suspicious from what he has been doing for years.

A moment of mundane took over the whole room. Jeon Jungkook couldn’t even stay still on his seat looking so bored and probably want to touch the keyboard of his computer, while, Min Yoongi dozed off next to Kim Namjoon who looks deep in his own thoughts. Seokjin offered to get them a drink but only Hoseok responded to his offer.

After several minutes, they all cracked back into the real world when the door slid open and Bang Shihyuk went inside the living room with a stranger who wears formal attire and carrying an attaché case on his left hand. Based on his outfit, they concluded he might be the representative for the company’s legal team.

The boys stood up to show respect and waited until the CEO took the seat where Manager Sejin was seating before. All of them went back to their seat when the PD- nim moved his hands in align with the gesture to take their seats.

 “Sorry, it took us long to get in here. We had a real hard time to escape the reporters who camp outside the building. But anyway, I’ve already talked to our legal team who will handle the case regarding the speculations to Jimin and we’re standing a strong defense since the evidence they filed seems off and still needed to go through the meticulous inspection all over again.”

 The CEO got all their attention except the main subject of this controversial issue. Park Jimin couldn’t focus since he knew all along that he’s guilty of the accusations. But he can’t just walk to the trial court and plea guilty for the case filed against him. That could be the start of unraveling the truth about his real identity.

And he won’t let that happen.

No one should know that he does not belong into the human race.

 He snapped back to reality when Kim Taehyung nudged his elbow to grab his attention. His eyes immediately drifted to his side to look at his friend but Taehyung kept his eyes to the CEO.

 “Are you listening, Park Jimin?” Bang Shiyuk asked. The man just nods his head. “You know very well how much distraction has this issue brought to the company. Not to mention how this could taint the good image your group has worked for so long. Your group is at peak of your popularity and we don’t want to remain complacent because we might don’t know, one day, you all wake up, you’re back to the garage.”

 Those words spook them all especially the group leader who has the responsibility to keep an eye on his members. But now, he just proves to himself how poor his leadership skills after missing the possible tornado that could drag them down.

 “I can assure I won’t let that happen. I am not guilty and I don’t even know that girl. So how come I became the main suspect in her death?” he lied, still stood firm into the truth he’s insisting to them to believe.

 Namjoon butts into the conversation. “Maybe this was just a set up that our competitor has created to bring us down! We were expecting this, it’s just that we didn’t expect them to be so farfetched like this. We can sue them for defamation!”

 The maknae raised his hands. “Hyung is right. I know Jimin- hyung very well and I don’t think he’s that kind of person who can stand too much blood on his hand.”

 Park Jimin bit his lips. He’s not affected by all the lies he created but the sincerity of his group members who trust and believe in him starting to eat his conscience.

 They watched as the CEO nodded.

 “I know. That’s why we are doing our best. As of now, you are all not allowed to step outside this dorm. Any kinds of communication gadget are also prohibited.” The rest of the boys started whining. “Don’t worry about your parents or guardians, we’ve already notified them and we assure them to keep you safe.”

 Jeon Jungkook heaved a deep sigh and dug his face into the pillow. Looking so aggravated.

 “Your managers will monitor you 24/7. This is a command.”

 “But, how about us? Namjoon and me? How can we continue producing music if we’re not allowed to step outside this building? I left my laptop in my studio” Min Yoongi asked.

 “Tomorrow morning, one of your managers will bring your laptop. You can still work from there, right?”

 Park Jimin caught how he grits his teeth. Min Yoongi looked so annoyed and exasperated about all these. Jimin couldn’t help but feel sorry for them.

 Bang PD- nim gave few reminders before he left them. As soon as the security alarm goes off when the front door closed, all of them stood up from their spots. Park Jimin immediately made his way upstairs when Taehyung stopped him for a bit. He turned around and looked at him.

 “Where are you going?”

 Jimin almost rolled his eyes at the stupid question.

 “Where else? We couldn’t go anywhere aside from the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living room,” he replied back with sarcasm.

 Taehyung took a deep breath. “I know you know what I mean,”

 Jimin scoffed. “There are so many things going on outside that door,” then he points out to the main door where the marshals are standing. “I don’t wanna risk any movement as of the moment. I wanna go to sleep and maybe will try to think tomorrow for a great escapade.”

 Then he left Kim Taehyung at the first step of the staircase. He was about to climb the stairs when he heard an angry voice from Min Yoongi upstairs.

 “INTERRUPT MY SLEEP AND I’LL INTERRUPT YOUR BREATHING!”

 Taehyung wonders who’s that shout are for.

  —   —   —

   “Anna please maybe you could move this by tomorrow! Its past midnight already! What if they’re already sleeping?” Deby tried to stop her friend from walking towards a huge gate. She grabbed her arms to make her stop and Anna turn around to look back at her.

 “How about I’ll call Doojoon again and I’ll let him know that we’re not going to meet him and that we’ve decided to see him tomorrow morning instead? How bout that?” she tried convincing.

“Deb, okay, if you don’t wanna go with me you are free to leave. I really just need to get the personal contact of Gikwang. Listen, I really appreciate your help for contacting Doojoon for me and it’s really okay if you will just leave me here.”

 Deby stomped her feet. “Are you nuts? Do you think I’ll get a nice, deep sleep knowing that you’re out in the middle of the fucking night?!”

 Anna took a deep breath and scratched her forehead. “But I really can’t postpone this. We’re already here. One more step and we could get what we need.”

 The anxious friend breathes through his mouth and rolled her eyes.

 “Well, what should I expect? You’ve been a stubborn brat since then. You always get what you want.” Then Deby fished out her phone from her cream-colored coat. “Okay, I’ll message him that we’re in front of their house already.”

 Anna rewarded her a genuine smile to thank her for coming through all this way. She could feel the freezing temperature yet nothing can stop her from getting what she wants. She thought that maybe Deby’s right. She had been a stubborn brat all this time.

 Less than five minutes later, the gate opened and it revealed the trembling body of Yoon Doo- Joon who’s wrapped with thick coat and scarf around his neck.

 “Been waiting for you. Be thankful I wasn’t sleeping yet. What do you need? Why are you in a rush? It’s fucking freezing out here, how bout we’ll go inside first? I think I’ll die from hypothermia if we stay here a little bit longer,”

 Deby immediately went inside the gate leaving Anna behind. “Glad you offer that. I’m freezing to death also.”

 Anna wants to protest but there’s nothing she can do when her friend boldly walked straight inside Doojoon’s house.

 “C’mon in! Let’s talk inside,” he said and move to the side to give way.

  They warm their hands with a hot coffee. Their chilled fingers wrapped around the warm mug as they all sitting in the living room. Deby mentioned to her friend that she once came to Doojoon’s house when they were working for a specific minor subject and they happened to be in the same group back in freshman years in college. The boy volunteered to use his house to do the group work and there when they find out that he’s basically not just a normal guy- next- door but a wealthy smoking ass living independently. He mentioned that both of his parents are living in the countryside and only his older brother who already has his own family stayed in Seoul. Their family businesses solely related to food industry which amused them the most.

 “Really, what do you need from Gikwang that you’re so eager to meet him in the middle of the night? Can’t you wait until the next day?” he asked placing the mug on top of the coffee table.

 Deby looked at Anna waiting for her response. It’s not that she doesn’t know the answer, she just prefers that it’ll come from her friend who has the most intention to meet Lee Gikwang.

 Anna, however, took a deep breath and watched her fingers tracing the lip of the black mug.

 “I—I heard about what happened…” she looked up at him. “About the incident… I—I felt bad that I got rude to him so I’ve decided to meet him now. Right away.” She lied.

 Deby hides her disappointment with all the issues.

Yoon Doo- Joon seems fine with the excuse. The way he nods his head shows he’s buying the lame excuse she said.

 “But it’s Friday today, there’s no way we can reach his phone,” he replied back.

 Both of them looked suddenly confused.

 “What do you mean? Why?” Deby asked.

 “Gikwang mostly spends his Friday night in a club at Gangnam. He plays as a DJ there,” he explained.

 Their faces drastically changed from confused to surprise.

 “He’s a DJ?!” Deby asked again with excitement and astonishment in her voice.

 “Uhhhh—how do I put it into words? Hmmm.. not really a DJ as a profession but for fun. Get it? Gikwang shares stocks to run the Octagon and him—as a DJ—is just part of relieving his stress. It’s not like he’s being paid or what, but just because he wants it. Well, he doesn’t need money. Mostly the net income they earned every night goes smoothly straight to his own account anyway,” he explained.

 Anna took a weak suspire. She just really can’t take in everything all at once. Too much information about Lee Gikwang in one day was too suffocating.

 Doo- Joon continued. “My former high school classmate Dong- Woon is the real owner of the Club Octagon and he happened to be looking for a potential investor to start his business and I unintentionally opened it to Gikwang. Just didn’t expect he’ll get interested in it so I introduced Gikwang to him,” he explained furthermore.

 Anna stood straight to the couch. “Take me there.”

 Her friend Deby immediately shifted in her seat to face Anna.

 “What?! No. I won’t let you go that far, Anna.”

 But the agitated girl doesn’t seem to notice her best friend complains and still remained focus on Yoon Doo- Joon who still looks so conflicted.

 “Please?” she begged.

 It took him first ten deep breathes before he made his own decision.

 “Kay. I’ll give you a lift,” he agreed then immediately stood up to get his keys.

 Deby who still against her friend stood up also.

 “WHAT?”

  —   —   —

  The city that has never slept came to light when he pulled up right in front of a party club which screams terrible noise and smells from smokes of nasty young adults blowing their cigarettes into the air. A long line of customers who wanted to get inside blocked the view of the overall design of the building from afar. Most of the women wore shirt skirts she couldn’t imagine wearing especially at this tremendous degree of the night. Even some of them covered with fur, their bare legs weren't able to escape the wrath of the winter.

 They all get off from Doo- Joon's car and Anna immediately wore the hood of the jacket she just snatched from his place. The layer of clothes she wore this morning for work doesn’t justify the coldness of the night. Not included yet the nerve-wracking thought that she’s gonna talk to Lee Gikwang.

The two girls followed behind Doo- Joon. Deby’s left in awe when they didn’t have to get in line in order to get inside the club. They just watched how Yoon Doo- Joon whispered something to the bouncers and they easily get access inside.

 “Just follow right behind me, okay?” he reminds the two girls who immediately nod their heads.

 The music gets louder and louder the moment they walked into the narrow alley connected to the dance hall. A mixture of screams and bass cracks her eardrums and pounding her chest like she was getting hit by a drum stick. The dark yet blinding laser lights with different colors dance around the club, hitting their eyes like it was scanning their identities.

As soon as they get into the entrance of the main dance platform, an ocean of aggressive human beings dances nastily along the beat. Sweats dripping from their neck and alcohols spilled on the floor make the sight looks horrible for her.

Anna had never been to any party club. She once dreamed to get high like this, but now that she’s getting the evidence, she changed her mind right away.

 Yoon Doo- Soon brought them to the far right corner next to another alley that seems connected to staffs gateway and comfort rooms. Her eyes traveled around. Scanning the gaudy view of lifeless people jumping in grace.

Soon after, her eyes landed on the main stage where two men producing the beat using only their tools, ears and hands. One of them wore a baggy shirt and a cap while the other one wore a tight buttoned-down black shirt, with sleeves folded up to his elbow. The way this specific man dresses exclusively inside the club tells her this is the man she was looking for to talk to.

His head- banging together with the beat with his left hands rose in the air. The music consuming his worn-out body. The light flooded the darkness of his eyes. He seems high with all the issues. Drunk with the problems, yet sober to reality.

 She caught herself guilty the way she remembered herself treating him in the past. She was so rude and had never even noticed he’s carrying a horrible anger on his shoulders.

  “I’ve already asked someone to call him,” Doojoon announced after he came back to talk to one of the staffs. Anna just smiled and nods her head while Deby chose to sit on the high stool in the counter bar.

 “Want a drink?” he offered. Both of them immediately rejected his offer.

 “We don’t wanna risk anymore,” Deby sarcastically replied. He just wheezes.

 The nervous woman turned her eyes back to her main subject. She caught him listening to a guy whispering directly in his ears. Lee Gikwang removed his huge headsets to listen keenly to what the guy was saying, then after a couple of minutes, he stood there staring at the guy’s face looking so surprised yet unconvinced. Anna saw how his eyes travel like a bullet train to their spot but the blinding laser lights concealed them.

 Her attention cuts off to him when he heard Doojoon speaking, but not to them. He was speaking to a young handsome man, looking same as their age, and the way Doojoon speaks informally to him tells her more that he’s a close friend.

 “Just helping my friends to talk to Gikwang.” She heard him say. Probably an answer to a question what on earth he was doing there. “By the way…” Yoon Doo- joon turned around to face them again and he smiles. “This is Dong- Woon. The one I’m telling you,”

 The man extended his hand to formally greet them. He shook both of their hands and exchanged hello’s.

 “This is Deby and Anna from university,” Doojoon said,

 “Oh? Classmates?” the man asked.

 “To some minor subjects.”

 The man nodded. “You should have informed me that you’re bringing your friends. I could have reserved a VIP room for them.”

 “No, no need. This is unintentional. Look how do we dress tonight. Do we seem ready to party? We only just came here because Anna needs to talk to him personally.”

 Dong- Woon's eyebrows wiggles and she get it that he must have thought they were in a relationship, yet she decided not to speak.

 “Oh, relationship problem?” he suspects.

 Doo- Joon just awkwardly laughed and looked back to her. Anna remained uninterested to answer.

 They were cut off to their conversation when Lee Gikwang finally appeared in the picture.

 “No. Stop jumping around the conclusions. Y’all like gossip girls,” he butts in then turned to look at her. “Do I need to be surprised or what?”

Anna stared back at him ignoring the eyes around them. “Can we talk privately?” she asked. He didn’t answer and just started walking towards to a narrow alley connected to god knows where. She took it as a signal so she followed right behind him while Deby and Doojoon left with the new meet person.

   —   —   —

  Gikwang opened a door to a small room packed with different lights and other technical materials such as huge speakers and LED tiles. She looked around as soon as she gets in and heard the door closed right behind her. Her eyes turned back to Lee Gikwang which made her realized was all sweaty with his shirt sticking to his chests. She unconsciously let her eyes travel to the black locks of his hair sticking also to his forehead and ears. The look on his face doesn’t seem well after he met her.

 “What are you doing here? As far as I know you, you’re not the type of person who would step their foot in a noise, crowded place like this so I assume this has to be really important,” he started.

 Anna felt her fingers trembled and her lips quiver. She tried to fight it off and play it cool but the more she stared at his eyes, the more she could feel he’s overpowering her now.

 “I—I heard the news. A- about…” she trailed off and gulped the forming knot in her throat. “About the death of your sister.”

 His face reaction didn’t even change. He looks stoic.

 “And then?” he asked looking unbothered.

 Anna tried to gather her thoughts but her mind wouldn’t come up the right word to start it.

 “I—I’m sorry for your loss---“

 “Stop beating around the bush and get straight to the point. What do you want, Anna?”

 The anger in his voice slowly unveils the truth he has been hiding for so long. She once again tried to muster up a courage.

 “Drop the charges against Jimin.”

 She blatantly requested. She tried to say it word for word looking at his eyes but she just couldn’t stay the way his eyes look so dead and empty.

 He scoffed in disbelief. “You’d really think I’ll do that for you?”

 She didn’t answer.

 “Do you really think I’m so whipped for you that I would easily get swayed if you would ask me to drop all the efforts I’ve made?”

 She stayed still. Not moving an inch.

 “Are you really taking that monster side?”

 There she snapped finally.

 “He’s not a monster!” she yelled.

 “Then what do you call someone who kills an innocent person?! Oh? A killer!” he replied full of rage.

 Anna felt her lips trembled so hard now. “H-he didn’t want that in the first place. He had no choice,”

 “Wow… so killing an innocent now can be easily forgiven just because the murderer had no choice but to kill them? How shallow was that defense, Anna?”

 His eyes stared at her, trying to control the impending explosion building up inside his body.

 “He. Killed. My. Sister. HE FUCKING KILLED THE ONLY PERSON THAT I GOT IN MY LIFE AND YOU WANT ME TO LET IT PASS AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED AND START MOVING ON FROM OUR LIFE! ANNA, HE RUINED MY PARENTS MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL STATE! MY MOTHER EVEN HAD TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY TO GET A PROFESSIONAL HELP AFTER THAT TRAUMA! HE BASICALLY RUINED SOMEBODY’S QUIET LIFE AND YOU WANTED ME TO FORGIVE HIM AND DROP THE CASE?!”

 A tear fell from his eyes and there she couldn’t help herself from tearing up too.

 “I didn’t expect how unreasonable you are just because he’s your boyfriend,” he added.

 Anna immediately wiped off her soaked cheeks and looked up at him.

 “I can’t help it,” she bit her lips. “I know how selfish I am right now but…” she almost choked. “Just like your sister… Park Jimin is the only person that I got in my life,” a tear has escaped from her eyes once again. “I’ve never experienced to be loved by someone else other than my father in my life and now… I—no longer don’t know how to live a life without him. I’ve been living in a pit hole of hell and for the first time in forever I felt how magnificent it was to be living in genuine happiness and that’s all because of him!”

 Gikwang looked away from her and didn’t say anything.

 “I am so desperate now and I don’t know what else to do to save him. I know, Gikwang! I know how selfish I am right now but… what else can I do?”

 “But he’s a monster, Anna. He’s a fucking monster!”

 “HE’S NOT! HE’S ACTUALLY BETTER THAN MOST PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD AND IT’S NOT HIS MISTAKE THAT HE WAS BORN TO BE LIKE THAT! LIKE US, HE JUST NEED TO SURVIVE!”

 “BUT THAT WILL NEVER JUSTIFY THE DEATH OF MY SISTER!”

 That time, she’s suddenly thankful for the loud audio music playing outside. Nobody can hear their yelling’s and shouts.

 Gikwang opened his mouth again and the next words that came out above a whisper.

 “Why are you doing this all for him?” he asked.

 Anna looked up. “I’ve said it before. It’s because I love him that much.”

 “And you’re even willing to even risk your own life to death?”

 She nodded.

 “What did that Park Jimin do to be given such privilege to be with a girl like you?”

 She didn’t reply and watched him eerily laughing in the corner.

 “Do you trust him?” he asked another again.

 “Yes…” she replied.

 “Do you think he trusts you as much as you trust him?”

 She contemplated the question. She knew the answer but why she couldn’t voice it out.

 Gikwang added. “If he trusts you the way you entrusted your life to him, why wouldn’t he trust you to keep this secret from killing my sister?”

 She was taken aback.

 He stares directly at her eyes. “It’s because he’s not really comfortable to be real with his true self in front of you. He’s basically hesitant that you will stay by his side no matter what.”

 The words struck a chord in her ears that it rung all the organs in her body. He makes sense but yet, just like what she promised to him, she will trust him.

 “You might be true… but I believe there’s a reason for that.”

 Gikwang scoffed to laugh sarcastically again. “Love can really be so dumb, huh?”

 Anna remained silent.

 “How far can you go for your love, Anna?”

  How far can you go for your love, Anna?

  The knees on her legs holding the remaining strength of her body have warned for a collapsion anytime soon when she heard that question again. It was the same question she was asked by Kim Taehyung the day she first witnessed how Park Jimin sucked a pitiful old woman back in Daegu. That night when she first caught a glimpse of his real identity—being a vampire living to kill for blood.

The same emotion has boiled up and she found herself looking for an answer all of sudden.

 “I am willing to do anything for him…”

 Short yet firm answer.

 She remembered her answer to Taehyung before.

  Even if it takes me to hell, that’s my answer. I can go for my love even if it takes me to the bottom pit of hell.

  “Anything?” he asked clarifying her answer. The tone and vibrant of his voice made her skin hairs spiked up. Chills run down on her spine and when she turned her head to look back at him, she lost his move in a blink and too late to realize that Lee Gikwang was pinning her against the wall and kissing her lips harshly.

 The last thing she felt was her tears streaming down her cheeks.

  —   —   —

  Park Jimin bolted up from his bed panting and gasping for air. The horrible image of Bae Wangbi kept replaying inside his head. The scene where she was being raped by an awful man who took advantage of her weakness. And the looks on her face which still break his heart repeatedly. The image of her crying, weak and helpless while being molested by a man that up till now he still wanted to kill with his bare hands.

 “Why have I dreamed about it?’ he whispered.

 The whole room was covered with little snores of his roommate Jung Hoseok who sleep on the next bed. Lights are off and all the blinds are closed. Only the tiny lamp gives light to the whole gloomy room.

 Park Jimin gets off from his bed and pace around the room. He thought of Anna but he’s too weak to sneak out to go and visit her. After the controversies, he hadn’t been able to look for another dying person. Now, his strength is about to shuts off if he dared to use it in an attempt of escape.

  —   —   —

  She almost lost her breath when Gikwang pulled away and smashed the wall with his knuckles. Blood gushing on his fingers and all Anna could do is to remain to stand, trembling and crying. She hates herself again for feeling so weak. She winces when she felt a wound on her lips due to his hard kiss that he basically just wants to prove a point, but in the end, Lee Gikwang lost it.

 “HE FUCKING DON’T DESERVE YOU!” he yells exasperatedly, angry and full of guilt and hate.

 “HE’S NOT WORTH FOR YOUR LOVE AND ALL OF YOUR SACRIFICES! BUT—FUCK ANNA! WHY?!” he shouted and leaned against the wall panting, crying, angry and tired.

 “WHY ARE YOU SO READY TO GIVE UP YOUR LIFE JUST TO PROTECT HIM THAT YOU DIDN’T EVEN FIGHT BACK WHEN I FORCED MYSELF ON YOU?!”

 Anna closed her eyes trying to calm herself again. Just like before but the pain in her arms where he held her tight makes it hard.

 “WHY HIM?! OF ALL THE PEOPLE?! OF ALL THE CREATURE?! WHY HIM?! FUCK! FUCK! JUST FUCK!” he screamed again and the raspy voice probably startled out finally the people who might be walking pass that tiny room.

 Lee Gikwang punched the wall again and the stocked boxes of instruments shook and collapsed and fell on the floor which made a more loud sound. Blood continuously gushing out from his wound and cut and droplets of blood scattered on the white tiled floor.

“WATCH IT! I REALLY EXPOSE HIM TO THE ENTIRE WORLD!”

 The door blasted open and it revealed the scared look of Doo- Joon, Deby and the owner of the club.

 “WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!” Doo- Joon yelled.

 “ANNA WHAT’S GOING ON?!” Deby panicked.

 Gikwang pulled his hair in frustration and stormed out the room without saying a word. There, finally, Anna felt the air hit her nasal airway. Her wobbled legs finally gave in and she collapsed on the floor. Deby immediately rushed to her.

She still couldn’t stop from crying but felt relieved she had stopped from shaking too much. Yoon Doo- Joon followed his friend and the club’s staffs rushed over to help them both. Anna refused to get carried for treatment though she’s not even wounded in the first place. She insists to go home instead. However, Son Dong- Woon insisted to call for a cab to take them back safely.

Some things are made for ending.

#JiAnna Jimin Anna

[rivierafireflypodcast]

25: Brexit Pensions Health Citizenship with AmbassadorLlewellyn

This is a Brexit update its early November 2017

Obviously for those who are current affairs followers or already registered on the gov.uk website you will already know the latest.

I have of course been following closely but wasn’t reassured as not all the press is reporting it as so – so we went to Nice to the Embassy meeting with Ambassador Llewellyn

I found the whole meeting reassuring and here’s my summary of where things are direct from the Ambassador in early November 2017.

The 5th round of negotiations just finished a couple of weeks ago.

The most important news was we are in “Touching Distance” from an agreement for citizens. Touching distance being a couple of months with this recording taking place on 7th November 2017.

There are 3 million Europeans currently in the UK and 1 million Brits in the EU and so there top 3 priorities are citizen rights, Ireland and financial arrangements

  In the last negotiations the PM suggested an implementation period post Brexit on the 29th March 2019 that would last for 2 years.

  Ambassador Llewellyn communicated that progress is being made on the issue of  citizens rights “they are uppermost on the minds of British Ministers and the PM” . Citizen rights is “priority number 1” .

  Britain made a proposition for the EU citizens in return they are hoping for reciprocity – this was a key word.

Nothing as we know has yet been formally agreed or signed but it would seem that at the moment things are looking hopeful.

  Britains proposition, is a new status and term called Settled Status would cover the EU people living in the UK lawfully for over 5 years in the UK and for those that are already there at the point of Brexit, they would be allowed to continue staying until the 5 years has been accrued at which point they would then apply for “Settled Status”

This proposition means same benefits, same access to healthcare  pension rights as British citizens.

So the HOPE is that the remaining countries will do the same back!

It needs to be a reciprocal agreement. There are still some issues to be resolved but again he reiterated they are in touching distance.

  Gov.uk the Government website and the chart describes where they have reached the agreement in Red Amber and Green – lots of it is now green.

  Not a fan of public speaking I did the 5,4,3,2,1 ask it and I asked the first question

For Teenagers who will be applying to University at the moment he will apply the UK Brexit’s so in March 2019 for September 2019.. he wasn’t in a position to answer that negotiation is underway but we were put in contact with Michelle from the Embassy who will be ensuring that there is a follow up and they will write to me.

I would say that if this is going to be possibly your case you also need to contact the

    Tracy Leonetti was there and asked a question for early retirees and asked a question around the 5 year criteria for those that have moved to France and how the healthcare and pensions would work for them.

Pensions from the UK here in France it will remain the case and is governed buy domestic UK regulation. Will it continue to be uprated – yes it will .

Under this proposed settled status the S1 would continue for those that are already permanent residents.

If you were on holidays at the time of Brexit then the EHIC would still be valid

If you come after departure then this detail hasn’t yet been negotiated.

Check the FCO website for more details – I’ll put that it the show notes.

  Re the 2 year implementation period after will people still be considered as Europeans or not ..the proposal of course hasn’t yet been agreed – during which the current arrangements would continue to apply a “status quo”

  If you are having a carte de sejour refused you can flag this to the Embassy as it is our right to have these ( I don’t mean whether it’s one of 5 or 10 years here)

  There was obviously a lot of comments and questions from Brits who feel unheard and disenfranchised.

Lots of anger around the lack of having a vote and denied the vote from our home country – we do not have the civil rights.

Which reminds me that if you are a European living in France you have until the end of December this year if you want to vote in European and local municipal elections next year 2018.

Get yourself down to your townhall with your Passport and proof of residence do it today or at least this week. Your right to vote as we know from being British and not having been able to vote is a privilege – use it.

  There is a call to action here – you should get in contact with MPs in the UK and try and get this raised in the houses of parliament – it has been on the manifesto for the last 2 PMs so there is no reason it doesn’t get actioned. While I know they are focusing on Brexit I think that we need to  join our voices and get some action.

Please share , like, review this episode – the more people we can get informed the better.

Join our community on Facebook its 100% free and I will be sharing the latest information on this and many other issues facing us here in France

https://www.facebook.com/groups/cotedazurliving/

  Someone raised the question of Monaco . negotiations with regard to Italy has been progressing greatly but he wanted to go and check the details about Monaco.

  I also asked the Ambassador on behalf of my sister who runs www.pebbles.fr an Au Pair, and Language placement company to flag up the issue of small businesses here in the Alpes Maritimes trading back in UK who’s whole livelihood depends on free trade . Some of these small businesses are already being affected.

He replied that trade between our two countries is  of great value “we do a huge amount of trade every year and we obviously want that to continue and put into place arrangements that allow exactly that.

He said he would take that point back to London for us.

  The question of working visas was raised. It will depend on what France and the other 26 countries agree – it will depend on reciprocity.

  There was also discussion of course about the referendum and its validity…

  To the points of Associated membership and wills , the Ambassador was not able to comment or confirm on those at this time.

  So there is the update from today’s meeting – while I know that many of you already will be up to date on this I thought it was worthwhile sharing the latest from our Consulate and Embassy as it stands. The clock is ticking let’s check back in on this in 2 months time if not before.

  Tracy Leonetti’s Update

You can find out more from her www.lbsinfrance.com/

      IMPORTANT LINKS

Cote d’Azur Living https://www.facebook.com/groups/cotedazurliving/

The Government website and the chart describes where they have reached the agreement in Red Amber and Green – lots of it is now green.

Official website www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-embassy-paris

The current Settled Status offer: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-detail-provided-on-new-settled-status-for-eu-citizens

www.gov.uk/government/publications/voisins-voices-a-newsletter-fr-the-british-community-in-france Voisins Voices Newsletter – sign up on the Gov.UK

www.gov.uk/world/living-in-france  for info on how to get access to healthcare, get documents legalised, lawyers and how to vote abroad etc.

Twitter @UKinFrance and @BritishinFrance

Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/ukinfrance

www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2213 for naturalisation

www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F16003 (for carte de sejour)

  This Riviera Podcast was sponsored by www.kidooland.com The Little English School in the South of France.

  #brexit #ambassador #cotedazurliving #rivierafirefly #health #rights #kidooland #pensions #fco #gov.uk #monaco #italy #pebbles #aupairsbypebbles #visas #lbsinfrance

Check out this Riviera Firefly episode!

#business expat relocation france cotedazur travel school education shopping books

[cavscout81-blog1]

You're Pregnant! Just Kidding. Here's the News You Missed This Week.

Sometimes, I wonder if the internet can be boiled down to a single sentiment: "Oops."

That was certainly the underlying theme of some major news items this week, like the one our headline alludes to -- more on that below.

After all, the digital landscape is a setting that can be described at once as a playground and a hellscape, where mistakes never really disappear (even if you quickly delete them, thanks to screen shots), contentious competition never ends, and consumers are often left wondering, "What the hell is going on? I just want a machine to read my schedule to me in the morning."

This week -- as with many others -- was a busy one in the worlds of tech and marketing. Here's what you missed.

It's a Boy! Nope, It's Just a Glitch From Amazon

If our headline freaked you out, you're not alone: a yet-to-be-determined number of Amazon customers experienced a similar sentiment this week when they mistakenly received emails regarding phantom baby registries.

Last Tuesday, several Amazon customers reported receiving an email from the online merchant reading, "Someone great recently purchased a gift from your baby registry!" And while the internet typically can't be used for a pregnancy test -- unless you count Target's 2012 public relations disaster after predicting a teen's pregnancy by tracking her shopping habits -- it still caused brief moments of panic among those who got the email.

There were some fears that the emails were a result of phishing attempts, but in the end, Amazon confirmed to TechCrunch that the emails were the result of a technical glitch, going on to send apology emails to the customers that received them. It's not clear what exactly happened or what the the glitch entailed, but let this be a lesson to marketers: triple check your email workflows.

Among the panic, Twitter had quite a bit of fun with the error:

More Trouble for Targeted Ads

Following last week's ProPublica revelation that Facebook was allowing advertisers to use anti-Semitic targeting criteria for promoted content, it was quickly discovered that Google and Twitter had similarly flawed advertising technology.

BuzzFeed was the first to discover that the Google allowed advertisers to use anti-Semitic and racially-charged search terms to target certain audiences, and soon after, the Daily Beast reported that Twitter allowed similar targeting criteria, which resulted in an audience of roughly 26.3 million users.

All three companies have since responded that they either have or are working to remove this criteria, with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg publishing a very lengthy, formal apology on Wednesday:

And More From Facebook

Yesterday, Facebook released an official statement on its plans to hand over important documents regarding the ads it sold to Russian organizations to Congress, as well as a second one with answers to several "hard questions" on what happened to cause something like that to happen in the first place.

The gravity of that move is one that cannot be emphasized enough. As Mike Isaac writes for the New York Times:

" ... the move to work with the congressional committees underscored how far the social network has strayed from being a mere technology company and how it has increasingly had to deal with the unintended consequences of the tools it provides to reach the more than two billion people who use the site regularly."

Shortly after those posts went live, Mark Zuckerberg delivered a live address on his own Page to address the efforts it would make moving forward to "protect the integrity of the democratic process."

Some believe that this address, along with Sandberg's statement form the previous day, is the first of many efforts by Facebook to proactively dodge federal regulation by staying one step ahead of congressional actions or attempts to curb what such channels and platforms can actually do. It's even, perhaps, a defensive move, as the legality of the aforementioned ad sale remains in question.

Meanwhile, Twitter is also due to appear at a Senate Intelligence Committee briefing nxt week to further examine its own possible role in influencing the most recent U.S. presidential election.

The Uber-Alphabet Lawsuit Got Even Messier

Last week, we filled you in on the ongoing lawsuit between Uber and Alphabet, Inc company Waymo over proprietary self-driving technology. Since then, there have been a few key developments.

First, over the weekend, Alphabet requested that the trial be postponed after receiving crucial information that the court ordered Uber to turn over. Seeing that information, it seemed, made Waymo realize just how much was at stake with Uber being in possession of these materials, and needed more time to review all of the evidence supporting its case. Megan Rose Dickey of TechCrunch tweeted a key portion of its statement on the issue:

Waymo wants to postpone the trial w/ Uber. Here's Waymo's statement.

Replies

11 Retweet

33 likes

Uber, of course, objected to that request, charging that Alphabet is trying the delay the trial -- December 5 is the proposed postponed date -- not because of surmounting evidence, but because of a lack of it. The full opposition can be found here:

That same judge also gave Uber permission to publicly disclose some of what Waymo is hoping to gain from the lawsuit: $2.6 billion for one stolen (allegedly) trade secret. But there are still eight other secrets that Waymo says to have been stolen by Uber, and no monetary figure has yet been assigned to them.

At this point, the trial is still set to begin on October 10, and recently-appointed Uber has a decision to make: whether or not he wants to settle out of court, or continue to defend the company's name in what promises to be a complex, drawn-out trial.

It's just one of many problems for Uber these days. With the release of iOS 11 this week, Uber was forced to allow users to block the app from tracking their locations.

Additionally, the BBC broke news this morning that Transport for London would not renew the ride-sharing app's private hire license, calling it "not fit and proper" to carry on operations there. Uber has 21 days to dispute that decision and can continue providing services in London until then.

Attack of the Flying Eggplants

I'll admit it -- my new favorite feature of iOS 11, the latest operating system available on the iPhone, is probably the ability to fill your iMessage recipient's screen with the next, image, or emoji of your choice. But just for the sake of due diligence, I tested it by sending this gem to one of my colleagues:

But my low bar for amusement aside, the new operating system comes with some features that are actually, you know, productive. Here are our five favorites:

Screen Recording. So, just how did I capture the magical moment above? iOS 11 has a screen record tool that saves the video in your camera roll.

Do Not Disturb While Driving. This "do not disturb" feature uses your car's bluetooth connection to turn on automatically while you're driving.

Screenshot Tools. The new iOS has a brilliantly simple new screenshot feature, which lets users draw on, crop, or highlight with ease.

GIFs in Camera Roll. The camera roll now allows users to save and view GIFs, plus the newest editing tools even enable you to turn your live photos into GIFs.

Notes App Upgrade. The notes app now features useful tools like a document scanner, and the ability to insert all kinds of formatting into your note.

And, finally -- we can't forget ARKit -- Apple's mobile augmented reality technology -- which has been a big portion of the talk of the iPhone town in the days following iOS 11's release. I tweeted about my experience with using it on Wayfair's home shopping app:

So, I don’t think this is gonna fit. #ARKit

Replies

Retweets

44 likes

What's Google Up To?

A lot happened for the search giant this week, beyond its parent company's lawsuit and a significant team acquisition. First, there were some leaks around the rumored October 4th release of the Pixel 2 and Pixel XL, but they were mostly limited to the device's available colors, as per Droid Life.

That same outlet also leaked the rumored Google Home Mini, a much smaller version of the Google Home, which many are calling the company's response to the Echo Dot. And on Tuesday, a “media streaming device” -- the same language used to describe the original Google home -- with features remarkably similar to the first Google Home was submitted to the FCC. These developments all align with the timeline leading up to the October 4th press event.

In non-Pixel or Home news, Google announced four new features this week:

The Google app on iOS will now have a suggested content feature, in which users are provided with visual links to more information on what they're reading about.Source: Google

Contact information like phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses will now -- finally -- be automatically converted into hyperlinks on Gmail. Official announcement here.Source: Google

Natural language processing has been added to Cloud Search -- a search tool within G Suite -- to help users more quickly find information based on the words that Google deemed to be the most frequently used among G Suite customers: "what," "who," "how" or "when." For example, if you remember which one of your colleagues sent you a shared document, but can't remember what it was called, now you can search for it with a query like, "Docs shared by Karla."Source: Google

Read receipts are coming to Gmail -- kind of. On Wednesday, Google announced the launch of Email Log Search, which allows G Suite users to track the status of sent emails, such as where it is (e.g., the trash), or if it's been opened.Source: Google

Actually, No, Equifax Still Isn't Handling This Data Breach Well

Remember all of those marketing takeaways from the Equifax hack that we outlined last week? Well, it turns out that Equifax hasn't exactly heeded that advice -- or that of too many others, it seems. In fact, it was revealed earlier this week that the company's customer service agents on Twitter were directing customers to a fake website that, visually, was nearly identical to the site Equifax set up for users to enroll in free credit marketing.

The clone site was created by by software engineer Nick Sweeting, whose intentions weren't malicious, but rather, were to show how poorly Equifax was monitoring and managing the situation.

Not only did they tweet the wrong link, they tweeted it 3 times. #Equihax

1616 Replies

8282 Retweets

123123 likes

Sweeting was quite transparent about that in creating the site, which has since been taken down, along with any tweets directing customers to it -- it was titled, "Cybersecurity Incident & Important Consumer Information Which is Totally Fake, Why Did Equifax Use A Domain That’s So Easily Impersonated By Phishing Sites?”

The "fake" site did not collect any personal information, but Sweeting pointed out how easily it would be for other hackers to create an equally identical site that did using the Linux command "wget" -- and he blamed that on Equifax's choice to establish an entirely new domain, rather than create an equifax.com subdomain.

"wget" essentially permits anyone -- yes, anyone at all -- "to just suck their whole site down with wget and throw it on a ... server,” Sweeting explained in an email to the New York Times. His version, he said, had "the same type of SSL certificate as the real version, so from a trust perspective, there’s no way for users to authenticate the real one vs. my server.”

Creating a subdomain should have been the obvious move for Equifax, Carnegie Mellon IS Professor Rahul Telang told the outlet, "so that if somebody tries to fake it, it becomes immediately obvious.”

This development comes amid news that Equifax actually suffered more than one hack this year. In addition to the headline-making breach in July, the company experienced an earlier one in March, creating even more confusion around the decision to wait until September to alert customers, as well as the massive August stock sale by its executives.

Odds and Ends

I Don't Want to Grow up, Because That Means I Have to File for Chapter 11

For anyone who grew up begging their parents to take them to the toy store, this week came with some sad news: Toy store chain Toys ‘R’ Us filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week. Many were quick to blame its demise on Amazon, which has been named the culprit for the financial woes of many other brick-and-mortar retailers, but in reality, the cause may have reached far beyond that. As Recode reports, the move is largely the result of a "cocktail" of limited product selection, a lack of competitive pricing, and piling debt after several 2005 buyouts.

For the sake of our own childhood memories, we hope Toys 'R' Us is able to turn things around.

The DHS Got Served ... By an Association of VCs

Allow us to introduce you to the International Entrepreneur Rule: a federal measure that, had it passed in July 2017 as planned, would have made it easier for foreign entrepreneurs to obtain visas for the purpose of founding startups in the U.S.

However, the same month it was slated to be effective, the current presidential administration delayed it until March 2018, with many believing that it will only go on to be completely dismantled. But this week, Axios reports, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) has brought forth a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, on the grounds that the decision to delay the enforcement of the rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act -- which says that the department must first "solicit public comment."

The formal complaint can be downloaded here.

No Empty Nest Here

Nest, which was acquired by Google back in 2013, held its first major press event this week, where it unveiled a number of new products. Among them were the Nest Cam IQ -- this writer's personal favorite unveiling from the launch -- an outdoor security camera that can detect movement and differentiate whether it's coming from a person or an object. If it's a person, the system alerts you, as well as letting you know if it senses a barking dog or a talking person. Even better: it's equipped with facial recognition, so that if someone familiar comes into the camera's range, like your regular dog walker, the system will recognize that it's likely not an intruder.

Also announced was the Nest Hello video doorbell, which uses similar camera technology to the above to alert users if a person is within range, even if they don't ring. Finally, an overall comprehensive security system was unveiled called Nest Secure, which exists of three key components: Nest Guard, where the system is armed and disarmed with the second component, Nest Tag, which is similar to a key fob and can be used to turn off the alarm system. The first piece is Nest Detect, which can sense general motion and the opening or closing of windows or doors.

Check out the video summary here:

That's all for this week! Next week, we're off to INBOUND 2017: one of the world's largest and most remarkable marketing and sales industry events. We'll be back with our regular news coverage the first week in October.

Until then -- happy autumn.

Originally published September 22 2017, updated September 23 2017