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mental-illness-bingo · 1 year

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Content Warning: Venting about ableism against ADHD and Autism in a book; mentions of emotional abuse, repeated mentions of elitism within the autism community, "corrective" surgery for mental health disorders, demonizing of medication, encouraging young adults to refuse their medication etc. Note that I haven't finished the book yet, but I intend to, so I suppose it could get better, but what it's done already is abhorrent, and I'm grossed out.

Book in question: The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle

This. Book. Is. Killing. Me.

I saw this recommended as a "really good book about autism and ADHD" from someone but I *really* hate it so far (I'm on Chapter 27, about 2/3 way through the book) and it's honestly just blatantly ableist in so many ways. I do not know if Laura Creedle is autistic or has ADHD, but if so? Internalized ableism everywhere. If not then yet another neurotypical asshat who wrote an ableist ass book.

Context: Lily is diagnosed with ADHD and Abelard is diagnosed with "Asperger's".

And let's start there. This book was written in 2017, years after the switch from that N*zi doctor's name to Autism Spectrum Disorder. This is problem #1, and the reason is not that they use that word for it. I can and have enjoyed books while suspending my disbelief around the fact that they maybe didn't know because a significant number of people still don't in 2023.

However, Abelard is the poster child for elitism. He is this super smart kid who just so happens to have trouble with verbal conversation, being late, and sometimes being touched. He is worse than the savant trope because he is literally talked about like a genius. He is inhumanly good at chess, robotics, old literature, video games, just everything he touches, really. In fact, despite him supposedly having serious communication difficulties, when he is texting, he is suddenly able to communicate just like anyone else, with occasional long pauses between texts being the only issue he shows.

And his sole meltdown that has been shown is honestly so toxic and borders abusive to Lily. She is late to their date due to her ADHD, something any of us with it can relate to, and Abelard knows about her ADHD in advance as well as having had seen her symptoms multiple times in person. There is 0 way he didn't know about her having ADHD. Anyway, she's a little late (I think 20 minutes or something but I can't remember tbh with you) and he is visibly angry with her, and she immediately apologizes, explaining that her ADHD causes her issues being on time. Rather than be understanding of his girlfriend's disorder the way she has tried to be with his, he pretty much ignores her. His mother babies him about it, working on setting up everything for him and getting them into the movie wherein he seems to relax (but only after forcing his mother to go get popcorn right this instant because they're watching a movie and he needs popcorn). Then, after a bit, his father is trying to explain the movie to Lily and its history and Abe does NOT like people talking during movies. He yells at his dad, who continues to try and talk, and then has the meltdown in question. Lily tries to touch him to help comfort him and realizes immediately she shouldn't have when he makes a noise as though he is in pain. He begins slamming his head off the table, which is reasonably off putting to Lily, and she asks his father for help. His father mentions his mom would usually be here and that Lily "shouldn't have been late", basically accusing her of causing the meltdown even though he kept pushing when his son told him they were watching a movie. Lily panics and exits to the kitchen because she feels helpless and upset that she can't do anything for him.

All of this is relatively understandable behavior, I guess. I don't really love that he yelled at his father and mother both in this scene for normal things because it paints autistic people as unreasonable and irrational, but it is true that sometimes meltdowns are caused by people continually doing normal things that happen to really get under our skin. His parents should know his triggers and avoid pushing them because they are his parents. Lily, on the other hand, is a child and one with her own neurodivergent struggle, and should never in any way have been strapped with the blame both because it is not her job to tiptoe around a boy she has been dating for a few days with triggers no one warned her about, and because the issue at hand is a symptom of her own disorder and is equally as in her control as Abelard's reaction to her being late is in his.

BUT THEN while panicking in the kitchen, Lily breaks something on accident as she often does and tries to leave and Abe's mom makes a whole thing out of it. She becomes physically intimidating to Lily, smashing a glass on purpose to "help" the situation, which obviously makes Lily uncomfortable, and half-threatens her to go back into her son's room even though she wants to go. Throughout the entire next scene Lily mentions in her narration wanting to go home and while I think it's important that Lily learns coping skills outside of running away, it is equally within her right to be too stressed by Abe's reaction to her being late and choose to break up with him. Lily is not required to stay with Abe just because she's the only girl he has brought home, and intimidating her into staying is disgusting.

To Abe's credit, he mentions that his mother used his sob story to make Lily stay. Then he loses 100% of that credit in the most entitled scene I've read in a long time where Lily is pressured to not only stay in that house and in that relationship, but also promise to NEVER be late again even though it is a symptom of her own disorder. She mentions that this seems to be the only way to make him happy and that "promising to try harder is not enough". So, more or less, she is in a relationship where she cannot ever show symptoms of her disorder without him giving her the silent treatment, yelling at everyone around him, and smashing his head into a table.

No one ever mentions at any time during this or after that Abelard also should be learning positive coping skills or teaching her how to help with his meltdowns or anything like that. She should just be expected to never show a symptom of her own disorder so that he doesn't react in a very toxic/honestly kind of abusive way. Cannot stress enough that he does not treat her kindly again until she promises she will literally never be late ever again. Not try - NEVER late again.

Abe strongarms multiple people like this throughout the book. His mother with the popcorn, his father with talking during a movie, his robotics teacher where he literally stands there and repeats "I invited my girlfriend to robotics" over and over again until, despite safety concerns, the teacher gives up and allows Lily to stay if she signs a waiver (which she doesn't read and is not the legal age to sign anyway), and Lily when he wants to tell her something but tells her she is not allowed to speak until he has finished then gets visibly angry (as noted by Lily) when she answers a question he asked her out loud. His meltdowns are used as a threat of sorts to the people around him and a manner of controlling them. It is worth noting I have only in my entire life met one autistic person who did this and surprise surprise, they were abusive and had a history of using meltdown threats to R word multiple people. That is not autistic behavior. It is abuse being hidden behind the excuse of autism, and it's gross in every context, including this book.

So, onto Lily's ADHD. Lily is constantly breaking things, constantly late, runs out of any even slightly uncomfortable situation, does not care about the emotions of her mother or her sister, and is overall a really gross ADHD stereotype. But that's okay! Why? Because she will be fixed via corrective surgery. Yes, you read that right. But let's go into why medication didn't work for her first.

Lily lists throughout the book her hatred of her current and all past medications, of which there is a number she lost count of. Because the author treats this ADHD character like a goldfish who was just given access to a human body for the first time and therefore cannot remember anything (or walk two steps without smashing something valuable), that number could still be relatively small. The book doesn't treat it as a small number though, so we're going to assume she's tried most ADHD medications, and is currently taking an antidepressant as a manner of treating ADHD which is so far in the past as far as treatment goes that I don't even know which medication they're talking about.

The typical antidepressants (SSRI's) are not used to treat ADHD at all to my knowledge, and SSNRI's are only really used if every other form of ADHD medication has failed you and even then are rarely used as far as anyone I know with ADHD. Why? Because there are actual medications that help ADHD, and a good amount of them. Realistically, the concept that 0 of them worked for Lily is statistically improbable. The only antidepressant really used to treat ADHD actively is Bupropion, but the emotional blunting the surgeon Lily sees says is a side effect of her medication is not a side effect associated with Bupropion. In fact, Wellbutrin/Bupropion is often used for people either in combination with or as a replacement for other antidepressants to counteract the emotional blunting they cause.

The demonizing of medication in this book is dangerous. Lily hates every medication because all of them have stripped her of her ability to feel anything positive. The book does not mention any other ADHD character that tolerates medication well, or even speak about it as though it is just not working for her. It does not explain that if Lily went to the doctor and told them her side effects, that they would *immediately* taper and remove a medication that is causing emotional blunting and sui thoughts. The book doesn't mention that this is an abnormal side effect - in fact it's says it's a common side effect of antidepressants. It also treats medication as some sort of weird muzzle that is put on people with ADHD so their loved ones (in this case Lily's mom, sister, and teachers) can tolerate them. The book does not mention any positive effects of any medication for ADHD at all. I hate to think how many kids were made afraid of or resentful of their meds by this book.

The book details specific ways to avoid taking your medication, and even how to hide it so you can (tw sui mention) take them all with vodka to hurt yourself. This is not something Lily attempts in the book, but was just thinking about, and therefore did NOT need to be described in detail. The book even acts like sui watch is stupid and unnecessary, and does not detail the dangers if Lily were to take all of these medications at once with alcohol. So basically they wrote in a non-precautionary sui method for kids with ADHD that also involves months or years of medication non-compliance. Great. /sarcasm

But like I said, that's not the worst of it. What upset me enough to write this whole rant is the next part. Lily's mother finally giving up on the neurologists (which... weird because everyone I know with ADHD was treated by a psychiatrist not ever a neurologist), and going to a literal brain surgeon for some sort of electrodes to be placed in her brain that is supposed to permanently change how her synapses fire.

This is the ableist buffet, and for a while Lily feels the same and by a while I mean 2-4 pages. Then she decides that she will see the doctor if her Mom does something for her, and forgets all about the upset of having her mother feel the need to cure her.

In fact, when Lily meets the doctor, it takes him almost no time to convince her that she not only needs but also wants the corrective surgery, spouting about how she could go to college right now if she does it, when college would not have even been an option before.

It is gross on every single level and I looked up this surgery and ITS FAKE ITS NOT EVEN REAL. This author literally made up a fake corrective surgery for ADHD, I wanna puke.

I literally do not even want to read this for the story anymore I just have to know how much worse it can possibly get. If it's bad maybe I'll reblog and add on to this.

Edit: HOW could I possibly forget Lily's Dad? A total deadbeat who cheated on her mother and ran off to Portland, who was only able to interact with his daughter while actively drinking when he still lived with them, who is constantly switching what he wants to do in his life to the point that he can't hold a job, and who refuses to talk to let alone see either of his daughters in the years since he's been gone because he "can't keep a phone". And why is he like this? As the books tells you very explicitly about 2/3 of the way in, he is like this because he also has ADHD. Lovely. He had this apparently entirely inspired, amazing, never-been-done idea for his dissertation in college. But then he more or less got bored and overwhelmed with the idea so he just dropped it, left college and his family, and ran away to Portland. All because he has ADHD, because the author thinks that's what this disorder is - an inability to have any responsibility or finish anything ever no matter what it is or how important. The author treats ADHD like it's a lobotomy and I hate it here.

Maybe don't read The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily.

Edit: see reblog. It got so much worse, not better.

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loksthegreat · 4 months

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Okay so I was asked to talk about the most insane and awful Targaryen oc I ever made, and luckily for you all I got a few!!! Here’s my ranking of those!

(Also there are a bunch of targs who I had consider pretty shitty people so imma just list the ones that are also a little mad!)

1. King Aegon XIV (383-446) ‘the false’, had visions and dragon dream that made him out to be the prince that was promised (in his opinion) and was almost as obsessed with becoming a true dragon (like an actual big flying lizard not in a metaphorical sense) as he was with becoming king and fucking his 18 years younger cousin in order to usurp her claim, just to then try and kill their only child and son (the ONLY heir to the throne) because he was insecure about whether maybe baby Aerion was the actual prince.

2. King Baelor II (155-200) ‘the Bright’, was just as delusional as Aegon but unlike him he didn’t actually intent to start a war he just thought everyone should see that he was a prophet and blessed by the seven, so mass burnings, blood rituals and two wives were aye-okay. He also probably is to blame for some of his wife’s Aegaras madness, by locking her up in a dark room all day long to read the entire seven pointed star to her over and over again. Not to mention the religious trauma he forced into all of his close relatives. Man’s really just a petty guy who’s way of dealing with criticism from his uncle was to kill his uncles sisterwife and other sister.

3. King Vaegon II (518-607) ‘the blind king’, was so paranoid he blamed his 11 year old son that he must have impregnated his mom (Vaegons wife) and caused her miscarriage like that. He was a bad father, a worst husband and an downright awful king who held grunges for ever and failed to see any reason because he always thought anyone was after his head, throne or wife. He also tried to make his little sister marry him by force to the point were she had to literally run away and marry in secret so he had led her alone, and he was so angry he married her new husbands sister instead, to punish him. Also caused the death of both of his sons and heirs because of his paranoia.

4. Queen Aegara I (149-200) ‘the mad princess’, was driven to madness after the loss of her first husband king Aegon IX and being held captive by his murderers. She apparently turned to dark vices to try and bring him back to live, which was the reason her second husband Baelor II had her imprisoned and basically tortured to redeem her soul. This led her to become ‘infected’ (read as: brainwashed) by his religious fanaticism, to the point were she told her uncle that his wife deserved death for opposing her true king, while said uncle held her imprisoned, she then demanded a duel under the eyes of the seven to buy her freedom, despite having not swung a sword since her maiden days and going up against a experienced and famed swordsman. My girl was the most delusional of them all.

5. King Aerys II (297-352) ‘Weakflame’, he wasn’t the most awful or harmful because he just was too much of a push over but he did very much start a war with the north, because he really didn’t want his daughters or nieces to sit the iron throne. So there’s that. Not sure if it’s just a bad temper and not that much brainpower or actual madness but I’ll still put him.

6. King Aeralon I (260-295) ‘the king of winter’, also not the most insane, but certainly one very unreasonable guy. He was forced to marry his much older cousin to unite the two claimant lines of house Targaryen, while he had no interest in her at all (he was fucking his half brother, but he had to leave and become lord of Winterfell after their das died and Aeralon has been bitter ever since). He would try to send her away, accuse her of infidelity and finally lock her in her chambers and not allow any Maester in, after she got a cold so that she would eventually die of the fever. All in all man was just trying really hard to self sabotage his house and end the Targaryen line forever.

#asoiaf oc #hotd #asoiaf #asoiaf fanfic

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discoscoob · 2 years

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The fact you guys don’t know how a ship works astounds me.

The character can have 5 minutes of interaction and get ship with another character.

Another character could have 45 minutes of interaction and still get ship together.

That’s what’s happening between Steddie and Hellcheer.

Hellcheer is basically run by headcanons from Grace and her fans. Off of at least a 5-10 minute interaction.

And Steddie is run by queers, who saw their interactions as something else. Especially since they have more screen time.

I just don’t understand why there has to be a ship war, people harassing people, a celebrity trying to make a ship and her headncanon canon, everyone going at each other throats, and some people threatening harm on someone.

You would think both parties are mature, but their not.

I mean I get your point but it’s obvious who’s the aggressors.

Literally no hellcheer shippers were dragging steddie or invalidating people for shipping it until we started getting called p*dophiles, homophobic, racist and whatever else other name under the sun for simply minding our own business and shipping our ship.

We’re actually the tired ones if you haven’t noticed. Look at the difference. Who do you see laughing and making jokes out of the situation most? Steddie shippers putting basketballs in their display name, clearly they found the whole thing hilarious, meanwhile I and other hellcheer shippers were upset by the situation and needed to take a step back for a few hours.

You’ve got them bringing up Grace’s past abuse and trauma and joking about it, accusing her of all sorts which is literally defamation.

And don’t even patronise me telling me I don’t know how ships works when I literally ship Robin and Chrissy and they never even interacted once on screen. I’m fully aware canon doesn’t matter. But we’re the ones constantly told we’re delusional for seeing anything between Chrissy and Eddie even though the actress “who’s trying to make it canon” and the actor both confirmed they were acting flirtatious in that scene. Sorry for picking up on how they were obviously acting.

I will agree with anyone who says this ship war is stupid and you will notice I only engage in it to 1) defend myself. 2) defend the actors or the characters. 3) defend the ship.

I’m not going to take responsibility for a ship war I didn’t and had no interest in starting but have every interest in finishing.

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bethany-thinking · 10 days

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Read Along: For Women Only: Your Love Is Not Enough (part 2)

I'm realizing that if I respond to everything that this book says that's obviously wrong, it's going to take way too long to write this series and I'm not a serious blogger. I think maybe I'll try to just stick to the things we shouldn't do. So far, we have offering to help fix a DVD player, asking our husbands to stop and get directions, and giving advice that turns into instruction and we are only half-way through chapter 2! Can't wait to see what we get to add to this list!

Need #3: Respect in communication.

"Telling your husband that he's not really a fix-it-type person." Lest you think, yes that sounds a bit rude, no worries it's clearly stated that in this particular situation the woman wasn't being rude. So just don't say that.

"a simple female reminder" The example given is reminding your husband that the kitchen wall is damaged and needs to be fixed. Men see this as an "accusation of laziness or mistrust."

Too blunt of a question! Feldman drafted a survey question that would make men feel bad so she needed to soften it. (The bad question: "Do you know how to put together a romantic event that your partner would enjoy?") So, women make sure you "soften your approach." (I haven't read the man book but how much do you want to bet it's going to have some nonsense about how women don't say what they want clearly after this book just told women to be less direct.)

Feldman says we shouldn't have to walk on eggshells but honestly what else is this advice? I mean she even actually states that the men are even seeing disrespect where none is intended. But somehow that is still women's problem.

Need #4: Disrespect in Public

This section actually has a subtitle "the most fragile thing on the planet." Honestly, it's a good thing the men aren't supposed to read this book because I think a lot of men would find being called the most fragile thing on the planet really insulting.

Don't criticize in public (including teasing) -- okay, if you are communicating about your partner in a way that's making them feel embarrassed in public, yes that's not nice but again how is this different from men to women?

Also, don't talk negatively behind their backs.

This advice at this point of life really bothers me. I have seen over and over again how this type of advice is used to control and keep women from getting help and advice in abusive or non-healthy relationships. Yes, of course, we should be kind and not saying unfair and hurtful things about people in front of them or behind their back and you should consider who you are opening up to, but it's not healthy to say that you can never say anything negative about your partner.

Need #5: Respect in our assumptions

Basically, just assume the best even if the evidence point elsewhere. I mean again, this is okayish advice if it were just balanced a bit.

There is a teeny-tiny section of text at the end where she acknowledges that maybe some people are at the point in marriage that they just don't respect their man at all. Her tip, just do it anyways and maybe that will fix stuff.

That's the end of chapter 2. Why are these books handed out still? It's not great advice for any marriage, I know as a woman one of my biggest communication issues has been that I'm not direct enough because of years of socialization to soften everything and be indirect. I've had to unlearn and practice being direct and clear especially if the communication is negative.

I think a great example is the example of nagging about the house project. Women often are socialized to hint or soften their approaches which then makes it less clear to others what they need. A clear discussion about how the project is important to you and that you need reassurance that it is a priority and that your husband is going to take care of it rather than just push it off is a much better solution than just not saying anything and than constant hinting or nagging. But Feldman instead just basically tells you to not say anything. That's only going to prop up one person in the relationship.

In a good relationship, these things often sort themselves out. The wife follows the advice but feels disappointed that the project isn't getting done. When the husband finally figures it out (because he's human and not a mind reader), he feels terrible that he didn't realize it was a priority and says hey, please tell me next time. And the next time there is a project maybe he asks more questions to make sure he understands his wife's needs. Maybe the wife accidentally nags her husband about it and he gets mad, and after a discussion they both decide to be more clear and patient.

But in an abusive or selfish relationship, the wife being quiet fixes nothing. In a relationship where maybe it's not abusive but the couple just struggles with basic communication skills, being quiet isn't going to fix anything either.

This chapter has little advice to actually help people have better relationships. This kind of advice might make marriages seem better because it's going to cut down on conflict if one person stops speaking anything negative. What's the cost though?

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thewingedwolf · 1 year

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omg i can’t tell anyone this but i have to tell SOMEONE rn so i’m telling u guys about this crazy ass shit at work, and when i say “crazy ass” i mean “is this one of those precursor moments where someone says ‘the signs were all there to stop the shooter but no one did anything and now he’s murdered a dozen people’” kind of crazy ass shit LISTEN

so i can’t remember how detailed i got but basically during a meeting of a committee for one our programs, which involves us having themes every month that every department (av, teen, ra, and reference (non fiction)) makes a list of items to promote, someone suggested “intro to romance” as in, The Genre romance. so one girl says “oh i love romance” and another says, a friend of mine, let’s call her emma, “i hate romance” and then a third, my friend as well, jokingly says “rani doesn’t read romance books with men in them” and i said “yeah when i read romance, it’s only lesbian romance” and then we moved on to ask if reference had enough books to fit that as a topic

i come into work to an email saying i’m being investigated for sexual harassment. there is no context, just “you are being investigated.” takes a phone call with our union rep, and like 3 or 4 with the steward before they finally figure out what it’s about. i write down my memory of it immediately as detailed as i can while it’s still fresh. it takes two weeks before i get a meeting with the director. i recount the memory. she says that i am quoted as saying “i hate men *laughs* all men *laughs again* no seriously i hate all men * laughs again*” i said i never said that, they said even if it was a joke it still counts i say again, i never said that.

a week later, we get all the info regarding who accused me - it was the only person in the room who didn’t speak, a man, let’s call him andrew. mid 30s, married with a kid, ex military. he seemed nice, he works with the kids & he likes to do funny voices when he reads & build crafts. well, the next day he goes to the director and writes out this two page screed about how the subject turned to “gay romances” and he got uncomfortable, and then i said i hated men. and how offensive and bigoted it was to say such a thing and how he would hope the library would deal with bigotry like this properly.

it’s another week before we meet with the mayor. the director brings FOUR LAWYERS. they say i have a history of insubordinate behavior and i should be terminated immediately. the following exchange occurs:

union rep: just so you know, the employee uses they/their pronouns.

lawyer, slightly panicked: oh we didn’t realize!

another lawyer, lips practically on the mic: i noticed you were using, was that Mx? to refer to the employee? let me make a note of that.

the mayor: im sorry, how were they supposed to know that? how was i supposed to know that? what does that have to do with anything?

union rep: simply correcting the pronoun usage, that’s all.

the mayor: no you know what that tells me? it tells me she’s going to continue to be a problem.

i got put on 2 weeks leave without pay. they appealed it, the mayor upheld the suspension, the union pushed it to arbitration. our union rep is suddenly given a new, lateral position somewhere else. we get a new guy, and he sends another email saying he’s pushing this to arbitration.

i left that job around valentine’s day. i was obviously losing my mind, you can look at all my text posts from then, lmao, and i’ve got a new job and it seems okay so far and i will survive just fine.

SO THEN. a friend that still works there, amy from the meeting, told me this weekend that andrew was working the same time as her that day. the library has a live chat service and he messages amy on there (instead of like, through an email or something) “is there anything you can use as a weapon around you” and she’s like “bitch what the fuck.” then he sends the same message to the girl whose working the desk next to her. she says “hey andrew” bc she’s the sweetest angel in the world but amy is like “BITCH STOP THATS A WEIRD FUCKING QUESTION TO ASK UNPROMPTED” and the precious angel does realize it’s weird, but she’d already said something so she typed “that’s an odd question. why do you ask?” they get no reply. then, SEVERAL HOURS LATER, amy is at the desk alone, and andrew comes down two whole floors to go ask amy, again, just walked up to the desk and asked “what around you would you use as a weapon?” she goes “very weird question andrew.” and he goes “huh” and leaves. she tells precious angel, and they agree they need to tell the manager. so today, amy walks in and the manager is sitting with precious angel, who cuts amy off to say “oh he messaged back.” so amy reads the message he *only* sent to ang, and it says

“sorry for late reply, with the way i was feeling that day, i asked everyone this question in case a situation were to occur but luckily it didn’t” and my friend was like bullshit, and she let the manager read his original question, then his reply, and the manager was like “NO THATS WEIRD AS SHIT” and prints it out and goes to the director.

well apparently the director first says andrew wants to do a “gun safety class” for TWEENS as a program, and asks the manager his opinion, and the manager is like “no comment, can we focus” and she pushes him AGAIN about how it’s a good idea and he goes “no comment can we focus”

so she finally says that andrew’s manager already talked to him and let him know it was creepy. his manager comes in, apparently looks super embarrassed and apologizes for andrew’s behavior. amy’s manager goes downstairs, pulls her into his office and tells her all this because he desperately needed to call the director a bitch for saying she doesn’t want to do drag story time but will do gun safety for kids and please let this bitch do this program so he can tell all his bougie liberal friends and they can make a big stink about it. lmao, he was pissed, they were both talking about how bizarre all this is, and then andrew calls and says he wants to come talk to them. manager is like “yeah sure” puts the phone down and is like “this boy better not set himself for an intimidation charge by coming down here himself holy shit” but andrew comes down. he has typed up an apology he wants to read to them. he gives them both a paper copy. in his apology, he says that with all that’s been happening [something did happen im not saying what bc i don’t want to like, self dox or whatever aksjd but there was some nonsense going on but nothing came of it] he wanted to be sure that everyone was thinking clearly and being more aware, and that he’s “sorry if either of you two took offense at what i said.” both the manager and my friend felt it was a patronizing apology and were like “we get that you’ve been in the military and been deployed but the vast majority of people haven’t and asking about shit like that unprompted is threatening and you need to acknowledge that.” andrew side steps actually acknowledging he did anything wrong, then leaves.

SO YEAH THATS WHAT HAPPENED. AM I RIGHT TO THINK THIS IS KIND OF NUTS???

#work tag #i feel like i’m losing my mind omg

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taylorswiftstylequestions · 2 years

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On the topic of the taylor/abortion thing even if she does say something at this point people will just use it as way to say she’s being performative bc she was called out, or that she’s only saying something now bc she got backlash or bc her fans told her to. People would make it out like she didn’t do it at her own volition bc she was “forced/bullied” into it. It’s sad bc she can’t win no matter what she does. 1. She jumps the gun and is the first to say something - “she’s overreacting” 2. she waits - “she only did it bc we told her to/she only did it bc she got called out on Twitter” 3. she says nothing - “she’s so performative and fake with her selective feminism.” She’ll never please everyone no matter what she does.

Me personally, I think she should wait until an official verdict has been handed down, right now it’s just a leaked draft. Even though I know it’s likely the final decision, I just think she should wait for it to be official to make some kind of move. I think someone mentioned this yesterday or maybe it was even you Sarah I can’t remember. We know how she feels and we know her stance. And honestly I don’t see her making a statement on the matter right now anything but some form of virtue signaling or way to announce where she stands on the topic, which again, we already know.

Overall I think we need to be little kinder and cut her some slack, for all we know something could going behind the scenes in her life like something with her mom and speaking up on social issues may not be her biggest concern rn. Not saying that to excuse anything, but we can’t know for sure. As we’ve learned with other celebrities they can be going through some shit and we’d have no idea. Outward appearances aren’t everything and maybe her silence is justified rather than tone deaf.

Hi! Thanks so much for this. I think (for now) these are the last thoughts needed on the subject.

To that, I think most of us can agree that the window of time where if she were going to say something has passed and that we are no longer talking about when she is going to say something at this juncture. The consensus atm on TSS is the next opportune time to talk about the issue would be upon the final release and/or midterms. Which time shall only tell.

I don't mean to overlook the genuine lose/lose situations Taylor and a lot of women (famous or not) are put in for basically every facet of our beings - that is real and that happens often. But no, imo she would not have been accused of jumping the gun or overreacting if she had released a statement. And even if she were, she would be in the company of dozens of other public figures and tens of thousands of outraged and upset people reacting to the news. I also genuinely don't think if she announced a significant financial donation to PP services that it would be seen as virtue signalling - which I take to mean saying something simply to say it but not backing it up with action. Again, I'm not saying she should do that now or that it's off the table at key moments in the future - just my personal thought on if she had done something that I don't think she would have gotten flack for it.

Lastly, for me personally I really feel strongly that we should stop evoking Andrea and the state of her health as a possible reason to explain away Taylor's inactivity. While it's certainly possible and you are absolutely right in that we don't know all that's going on behind the scenes (with famous people or anyone - our lives are not meant to only be consumed on social media) ((nuance: It is absolutely possible Taylor made a private PP donation and chose not to advertise it on her social media which is certainly something she could have done)), it makes me uncomfortable to see her used in this manner as a fallback to justify why Taylor may or may not be doing something. And maybe that's a personal reaction to it that is just on me, having been through something similar with my own mom. But it just makes me so uncomfy. And in this particular instance, I think it's safe to assume that Andrea's possible health is not the reason for Taylor choosing not to say something on Roe v Wade (which is her willful choice to not do) - given she used her Instagram Stories to plug CWF (don't @ me - I'm not saying she shouldn't plug it, it's her partners most significant small screen role and I'm sure she's very excited about it and has reason to be).

#opinion

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fanfiction-artist-prototype · 2 years

Note

Yuuga being revealed as the traitor instead of wash and having to suffer the really harsh consequences?

Izuku getting dragged into it too, because his quirk?

Also after wash gets revealed the hatsumes are unter suspicion because they created wash so no one let's them around stuff right now?

Also because I took a nap that was too long I'm tired so this is the last ill do just for you

OKAY SO SO THIS IS THE CLUSTERFUCK AU YEAH??

THE AU WHERE YUUGA IS ALSO AFO'S BIOLOGICAL CHILD AND MIDORIYA AND TODOROKI ARE KNOWN TO BE HIS STEP SIBLINGS??

BECAUSE WHOO FUKING BOY BLOU THIS IS EVIL!

1) Because of how the Clusterfuck Au *works* there isn't any great Shigaraki v Deku fight so the reveal comes out of completely left field and it... isn't actually being a traitor. It's Yuuga emailing his Dad about his life in an attempt to create and real and healthy relationship with him.

But maybe he gets a virus or something breaks so he goes to the support department to ask them to fix it and Powerloader is already *there* so might as well help the student right? Except, Yuuga didn't think to close his emails since there's nothing wrong with them! He's talking to his dad for goodness sake why would he close out of it when it's most likely as simple as opening the settings and playing around a bit.

Except... Powerloader knows what a two way heavy duty encryption and cypher looks like and it's literally written into this kids laptop. Which you know... could be that the kid comes from a well to do family - after all when he helped Yaoyozoru the girl had so many military grade protections simply because of how high in society her family was.

So he fixes the issue and hands the laptop back off to Yuuga before going to take a look at the kids file because he just wants to make sure you know?

Looking up Aoyama Yuuga's file reveals a few things.

1) His quirk doesn't match up with his parents

2) His official medical files claim he's QUIRKLESS

3) Despite the fact he, Todoroki and Midoriya claim to be step siblings NEITHER of his parents have any connection with Midoriya or Todoroki's

4) Yuuga's emergency contacts aren't his parents and are in fact the currently under investigation Washing Hero Wash and another which (when he calls to check out wtf is going on) sends him directly to Shigaraki Tomura's personal phone number.

So Powerloader takes all of this to Nezu and they seize all of Yuuga's devices and basically line up stuff that when he told his 'Father' about stuff at school there were then incidents that took place with the LOV.

Boom, Yuuga is outed as a 'traitor' to UA.

2) He's immediately arrested, and locked temporarily in Tartarus as soon as it's revealed that 'Father' is in fact All For One and then of course, his family come out of the wood work and it gets worse.

People have things to say about throwing a sixteen year old into Tartarus but nobody is louder than Wash and the NUMBER THREE HERO who is apparently this kids older brother!? And then it turns out Endeavour's children are also this boys step siblings??? And it becomes a shit show with half the public being 'well he's probably a villain so lock him up and throw away the key' and the other half going 'with a family that connected to heroes and the dark side of heroes maybe it's possible but also he's a kid!'

3) In UA itself, Izuku and Shotou are immediately shut out of the class dynamic. They're related to Yuuga in some manner and are openly against what's happening to him - obviously. And Bakugou is righ there alongside them but the rest of the class has closed themselves off from them.

How can they trust any of them when it's quite possible that these people are also spilling to the villains as well?

The three have to pull out of UA because the suspicion turns into accusations and distrust VERY quickly and suddenly you've got three prime targets not only for harassment but also as martyrs for villains if anything happens to them.

4) Then Izuku's 'quirk' is revealed not by All Might or Torino or anything, it just ends up getting out from his files because somebody decided to doxx him and wow he was ALSO quirkless and now has a quirk unrelated to either of his parents? It must mean he also got it from All For One!

All Might tries to defend his boy but he gets drowned out, and Izuku gets accused of manipulating the number one hero. Only for it to be revealed that WASH is also his father and Wash recently just came forward and said he was working for All For One because he at least didn't torture children (in relation to Hawks) so now everything is in a even bigger shitshow.

5) The Hatsume family get absolutely DRAGGED through the media mud. Every little issue with their experiments or business' is brought up and over stuffed with false details that it's ridiculous and despite the fact that Nezu knew and had no issue with them because of it, the fact that it was a Hatsume who was in charge of the experimentation that helped create Nezu comes up.

And then people start asking how the fuck Wash was made and they're framed as these evil unethical people despite the fact that any actual look into their research papers and publicly available resources show the complete opposite to what the media is saying about them.

6) All For One had been waiting for his big reveal moment, his big 'ha ha bet you thought I was DEAD didn't you hero society!?' time. But one of his kids (his biological one at that) has been locked up, the others are being turned into social pariahs and now his HUSBAND AND WIVES are being tormented with his parents in law also being subjected to this absolute shit show so the gloves are off.

He comes in with a big bang; blowing up Tartarus style.

They woke up the sleeping dragon.

#Alt ending Clusterfuck au #wash aus #aus with 5+ HCs

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findingjoynweirdstuff · 3 years

Text

Dream SMP Recap (June 2/2021) - Self-Care and Reconciliation

Fundy tries some speedy self-care to follow Quackity’s directions of “finding himself.”

Foolish finds out about the supreme fridge and isn’t pleased.

Antfrost seeks out Foolish, Bad and Puffy to find peace and make amends after what happened with the Egg.

---

VOD LINKS:

Philza

Tubbo

Fundy

Foolish

Eret

Captain Puffy

Antfrost

Michaelmcchill

---

- Phil works on the basement some more

- Tubbo works on his outpost

- Tubbo comes over to the Arctic and visits Phil in his basement to “spy” on him

- They go to Tubbo’s outpost and Tubbo asks if Phil would like to make a TNT canon with him. Phil sees Las Nevadas

- Tubbo’s a changed person since he tried to kill Phil’s friend, and now he and Phil are on good terms!

- Tubbo and Phil start attempting to wrangle a Ghast together for the outpost

- A few days ago, Quackity told Fundy that he could have a plot of land in Las Nevadas under certain circumstances, and Fundy has a choice to join the nation or not

- When he and Quackity spoke, Quackity said that this plot of land can be his if Fundy can find himself. Fundy needs to fix what’s broken

- Living in the middle of nowhere away from other people isn’t good, so today, Fundy wants to take care of himself and become a better person

- Fundy’s snow fox is outside, but Fundy decides to let him roam for the time being

- Fundy goes outside and creates a board with signs:

FUNDY’S PLAN TO BECOME BETTER MAN:

Healthy diet! fish, steak, vegetables, fruit, dary, grains

Take care of himself. be able to cut down tree fast

mine diamonds

be able to accept therapy say “im okay with therapy”

good friends, get 3 people to say im a friend

sleep

take care of pet :)

learn to count

- He sets up a timer to do these eight things, and once it starts, he immediately runs off to fix his diet

- Fundy fetches some cod from the sea and spots Tubbo’s outpost in the distance. Curious, he goes over -- if someone lives there, that can go towards his friend goal

- Seeing that Tubbo isn’t online, Fundy messages Phil instead. He asks if they are friends, and Phil just asks what he wants. After a lot more pressing, Phil says they are friends! Fundy is his grandson, after all

- Phil asks if Fundy is safe. Fundy is overjoyed that he cares about his safety, and counts that as two friends! Fundy says he should come by to play cards sometimes, and Phil likes the idea

- To himself, Fundy whispers: “You are a friend and you are appreciated and worth something. You are cool. You are special. You are loved.”

He counts this as the final friend, and has now completed one goal!

- He creates a small patch of dirt and plants wheat, then goes mining for diamonds

- Fundy chops some trees and returns to his house

- On his bed, he psyches himself up and musters up the courage to say something

Fundy: “I...accept...and am okay...with...”

(he struggles to say the last word)

Fundy: “I accept and am okay with...therapy. I accept and am okay with THERAPY!”

- He then goes outside and learns to count by killing zombies

- After that, he has to go find his pet snow fox. He asks a nearby Enderman where he is

- Fundy and the Enderman go searching together

- Fundy can’t find the fox. He keeps searching around the forest, until he comes back towards his house and finally finds the fox sleeping on a nearby hill

- With all his other goals done, there is only one remaining: sleep.

- He goes to his bed, hesitates...

...and sleeps.

(This is a set up for next stream)

- Foolish returns to his summer home from Las Nevadas and finds the WAR sign, confused. He then notices the disappearance of the supreme fridge

- He reads the war note left in the chest for Ponk and is outraged. That fridge was his gift! Of all the buildings that have been built here, the fridge was the one thing he allowed

- There will be consequences, but as Foolish will be gone for a bit, he can’t do anything now.

- Foolish begins to go through the stages of grief, mourning the fridge, before leaving a note:

---

You destroyed my fridge. It was my gift from Ponk. The one structure that was built for me on this server was destroyed. Once I go through the 5 stages of grief...I will then add on a bonus stage.......REVENGE

---

- He kills one of the L’Sandburg citizen llamas to send a message

- Foolish goes to the main area and visits Eret’s fortress, noticing the totem statue Eret made in mourning. He changes the sign to simply say “in honor of Foolish” instead

- While working on his pyramid some more at the summer home, Foolish notices Antfrost just over the hill. Ant comes over, seeking to apologize for killing Foolish

Foolish: Listen Ant. From the very start I blamed the egg. And I don’t believe the REAL Antfrost killed me. Nice to see some blue eyes as well

Ant: but we didn’t listen to your warnings, we had our chances and we betrayed you and our friends. I wouldn’t blame you if you killed me right here

- Foolish doesn’t. He tells Ant that he’s moving on.

- Ant asks if there’s any way to make it up to him, and Foolish says he could use some help gathering sand (Antfrost finds sand tasty, but Foolish doesn’t eat sand. It has too many calories)

- The two gather sand together

Foolish: I hold nothing against you

Ant: thank you

Foolish: Honestly I think the banquet has changed me for the better

Ant: how so

Foolish: It has given me new found strength. Basically from here on out...I’ll be less timid to take action

Ant: well at least something good came out of it

Foolish: So how about you Antfrost, what’s next for the old sly cat

Ant: I need to talk to Puffy and Bad and Sam and everyone I’ve wronged

- Ant asks if Foolish has seen Puffy anywhere, whether there’s something he can give her as a peace offering. She likes llamas

- Foolish thanks Ant for his help. Ant says if Foolish needs anything, to let him know. Foolish looks forward to happier times

- Puffy comes on later and finds the book Foolish left in the chest. She reads it, but she still thinks getting rid of the fridge was better for the aesthetic, and she had to get back at Ponk

- She writes another letter, this time to Foolish, titled “To my sharkyson”:

---

Dear Foolish!

It was not my intention to make you sad or angry! I didn’t know you cared so much for the fridge as well. it was kinda ugly and it stood out so much from the rest of the builds! But I assure you I’m not allied with Bad, my whole goal behind L’llamaburg was to keep an eye on Bad so he didn’t build any further on your land or cause you more problems.

Once Bad was gone I fully intended to disband l’llamaburg and tear it down!

Sorry for any sadness I may of caused.. you don’t need a fridge though to be reminded of how Supreme you are!

---

- Ant is at the animal sanctuary. Everything’s been destroyed, but at least Floof is still alive

- He saves Asshole the fish from suffocating out of the water and puts the fish back in the aquarium

- Ant goes looking for Bad. They need to talk

- They meet at the Community House. Bad hasn’t seen Ant in a while, he hasn’t been around. Bad asks if Ant is okay, and Ant doesn’t know. He died

- Ant asks what happened. Bad says things didn’t work out according to plan. Ant remembers Quackity coming in at the Banquet...

Ant: “Bad, what did we do? I killed Foolish...”

- Bad says stuff happens and he doesn’t think anyone would blame Ant

Ant: “Bad, I killed him! What do you mean you don’t think anyone blames -- Bad, we’re monsters! Do you know what we did?”

Bad: “W-well, I try not to think about it!”

Ant: “Well you can’t just ignore -- you can’t act like we didn’t do -- Bad, I killed Foolish, we were gonna kill E-- oh my god, Eret’s on the server too.”

- Bad thinks it’s fine, Foolish will recover and Puffy killed Ant but it was one for one. Ant remembers all the horrible things he said to Puffy before he killed Foolish and asks where Bad went afterwards

- Bad had no choice but to run. He couldn’t save Ant, they were outnumbered

Ant: “...Do you not feel bad about anything? Bad, we’re...we’re mon-- we did horrible things!”

Bad: “Well I mean, yeah, you did do some horrible stuff...”

Ant: “No, YOU! You did some horrible stuff! Who pushed Skeppy into lava, Bad? Who betrayed their friends? We betrayed Sam, Bad!”

Bad: “Okay, we did some horrible stuff -- hey, no! Okay, but -- there were good reasons at the time, or we felt like there was!”

Ant: “No! No no, Bad, we let the Egg control us! No! Did the Egg give you what it promised?”

Bad: “No, ‘cause...we never completed the plan...whatever it was. Ant, I can’t remember exactly...it’s not -- look, it’s -- I don’t know...”

- Ant asks if he’s talked to Sam and Puffy yet. Bad’s trying not to think about it, but Ant says they can’t ignore this. They’re friends, they should make amends

- Ant asks if Bad’s been back down there, but Bad’s steered clear. Ant is feeling normal again

Ant: “I...Bad, do you not...We’re fucked up! We did horrible things! Our friends tried to stop us, and we didn’t listen! We didn’t do anything!”

Bad: “There’s a lot of ‘we’ going on here...”

- Bad points out Ant didn’t really say anything. Ant accuses him of blaming him

Bad: “No, I’m just saying that...if the collar fits!”

- Ant says they both did horrible things, they dragged Hannah in, Punz too and Ponk. Bad hasn’t checked up on those three since. It doesn’t seem like Bad feels bad. Ant’s been gone because he felt ashamed

- If there’s anybody that they’ve hurt the most, it’s Sam. They were the Badlands

- Bad says they were brainwashed. He knows it’s not an excuse, that they should still own up to it even if they weren’t fully to blame

- They both killed one person each. Ant accuses Bad of putting the blame on him again and says that Bad killing Skeppy was worse because they’re platonic soulmates

- Ant wants an apology for letting him die and leaving him. Bad didn’t do anything, he just watched Ant die. Bad was caught off guard. On the other hand, maybe it was a good thing that Ant died, since otherwise they would’ve killed more people

- Ant says they should own up. Bad apologizes for letting Puffy kill Ant. He should have protected Ant, not just from Puffy but from the Egg too. Ant forgives Bad and says sorry for not protecting Bad from the Egg either

- Seeing as Puffy’s online, Ant suggests they go look for her. Bad says he’ll talk to Puffy later. Ant asks about Skeppy -- Bad talked to Skeppy right after what happened, but he hasn’t seen Skeppy since. They had a bit of a confrontation

- Ant wonders if Sam will forgive them. The Badlands wouldn’t be the same without him. He leaves Bad

- Puffy comes down the Prime Path and meets Antfrost face-to-face. The two have a bit of an awkward greeting

- Puffy reminds him of what happened. He doesn’t know how to apologize, but he says sorry. For saying awful things, for killing Foolish. He doesn’t expect her to forgive him, but he apologizes for what he did

- Puffy says it wasn’t right that she killed him, even though she was acting defensively, and she apologizes as well. Ant didn’t deserve to die either, he was blinded by the Egg. She holds Bad more to blame -- Antfrost talked to him recently

- Puffy forgives Ant. She asks how Bad handled it, and Antfrost says Bad is full of guilt and is hoping he can just forget about it

- Bad hasn’t apologized to Puffy, but Ant says he’ll get around to talking to everyone. Puffy made a burner Twitter account to hate on Badboyhalo and if she doesn’t get an apology, she might have to use it

- About L’Sandburg, Ant says he was there for like five minutes, but he doesn’t know what’s been happening since

Puffy: “Ant, you have to be your own person, Ant. He always uses you as his little pet to do things for you, and you murdered a man now because of it, because of Bad.”

Bad uses Antfrost to do things. Why didn’t Bad kill Foolish himself? Why was Antfrost thrown under the bus?

- She tells Ant that he needs to stand up for himself. She had to watch so many “RIP that pussy” and “Why’d you have to kill my cat” edits, it was the worst timing

- Puffy messages Bad asking if he’s apologized to Ant. They spot Bad nearby and walk over to confront him. He’s selling arrows

- Bad says he said sorry for letting Ant die, but Ant wants an apology for Bad making him do everything. Bad says they were both just following the Egg’s orders, that Ant had a grudge against Foolish -- but Ant says he didn’t, that Bad said he had to kill people

- Bad says sorry, but the Egg just wanted it that way. They accuse him of making excuses. Bad apologizes to Antfrost for making him kill Foolish, and the two hug

- Bad and Skeppy had a disagreement after the Red Banquet, and he has to check up with him to make sure he’s okay

- Bad says sorry to Puffy for what they did while under the Egg’s influence. Puffy was told that they were turning a new leaf, letting bygones be bygones so many times that if she took a shot every time she was told that, she would get alcohol poisoning

- Bad says sorry for everything to both of them, from the bottom of his heart. Puffy accepts to be the bigger person. They’ve always been a trio, always been friends, and now that the Egg’s no longer here, she’ll let it slide

- They do a group hug

- After some chatting, Puffy accuses Bad of having a Wattpad account to write Skephalo fanfiction and they continue talking about Skeppy’s merch boxes

- Michael joins the call! They all hang out together

- Later on, Eret and Foolish join in as well!

- A while after, they all go over to Ponk’s stairway to heaven to finally destroy it

(The build dates back to at least early July, possibly June, of 2020)

---

Upcoming events remain the same.

#dream smp #dream smp recaps #long posts

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plentyoffandoms · 3 years

Text

Little One (Part 2)

Hook x f/Reader

Just like all my other stories, this has not been proofread, but please enjoy.

Warnings: Some swearing.

Gifs and photos do not belong to me.

Masterlist ♡ AEW Masterlist ♡ Hook Masterlist

Part 2 of Little One

Summary: - F/Reader & Hook have been dating for only alittle while. Reader gets pregnant & Hook accuses her of cheating on him.

HOOK'S POV:

"I am so sorry for the way how I talked you. I know the baby is mine. I know you would of never cheated on me Y/N. Please forgive me." I whispered into her ear.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I quickly looked back to see who it was. My father was looking between me, Y/N and the baby blanket that is still in the box.

"We need to talk Tyler...now." He said almost too calmly. That can only mean one thing, he is very, very angry.

Y/N let me go as my father started to pull me out of the room. I looked back at her and gave her a small smile.

I ignored all the eyes that were now on the two of us. He didn't say anything as he found a room for the two of us to have some privacy.

That moment came too soon for my liking. He found a room and gently pushed me inside and closed the door behind him.

"Tyler, please say that was not your baby blanket you gave her?"

"It was." I wanted to lie to him, but I couldn't.

"So you mean to tell me, you knew all this damn time that you were the father and you didn't tell your mother and me?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but he just held up his hand.

"Is it true then? What Y/N's mom said? That you told Y/N you wanted nothing to do with YOUR child? We raised you better than that Tyler. How dare you not man up and take care of your responsibilities!"

There is is. The explosion.

"If you let me explain what happened, I will tell you Dad."

It took him a few minutes to actually calm down but I waited patiently.

"Y/N and I were together but only for a a few months before she ended up pregnant. We used protection but it didn't work this one time."

"You two were together? Why not tell us?"

"We were going too but when she told me she was pregnant, I was an idiot and accused of her cheating on me."

"I raised a fucking idiot." Was all my father could say to me.

"Today was the first day we have talked since that day."

"And you are going to back out there and be the father of that child. I do not care if you two are together, but you were raised better than that."

"I know I was. Her even hugging me was a big step Dad. Now, we should go before they send a search party out for us."

The two of us headed back to the baby shower and heads turned to look at us but my focus was on Y/N.

I could tell she was tired but she was being too damn polite for her own good to end the shower early as she talked to Jade.

I sat in the seat next to Y/N and started to rub her back. She did a quick look at me and leaned into my touch.

I know we have alot to talk about but I could tell her back was bothering her with how much she has been fidgeting.

Jade looked between the two of us, looked around to make sure that no one could hear her talk and leaned forward.

"Is he the father?" She asked Y/N softly.

Y/N and I both nodded our heads.

"I won't tell a soul. Glad to see you stepped up Tyler." I just gave Jade a tight smile.

I am going to be getting alot of those comments I am sure.

Jade left Y/N and I alone and we noticed that more and more people were leaving.

"You know we have to tell our parents. Well my parents and your mom."

All I could do was groan at that. Her parents are going to kill me and my Dad has probably told my Mom.

Y/N'S POV:

We told our families that Tyler was the father. My Mom had to basically hold my Dad back from Tyler for the way how he treated me, but he has finally come to terms with it all a month later.

I am 3 weeks away from my due date and so done with it all. Everything hurts, my feet my back, my boobs.

Tyler has really stepped up. We moved in together and are slowly repairing our relationship.

Him and his Dad put together the nursery which I am thankful for. We still haven't picked a name, but I know one will come to us eventually.

Brandi tried to get me to go on maternity leave but my job is just sitting at a desk and typing on a computer.

I told her I will go on it once I am closer to my due date.

But tonight is the night I am not working and just sitting in the crowd watching my Hook and Jack Perry aka Jungle Boy have their match.

I was sitting with Simon and Olivia. Simon is Kip Sabian and Olivia is Penelope Ford.

Olivia had a singles match against Julia Hart earlier and Simon is still out due to his shoulder injury. We were sitting behind the commentator booth as Peter wanted to watch over the mother of his future grandson.

I have always enjoyed watching Tyler do what he loves doing. First lacrosse and now wrestling.

My back has been killing me for a couple of hours now and these Braxton Hicks have been going on for a bit now too and are not letting up.

Olivia got up to get a snack and asked me if I needed anything. All I wanted was some nice cold water and some ice, which I asked for.

"Are you okay Y/N? Do you want me to get Peter?" Simon asked me.

"I am good. Just these Braxton Hicks are killing me. Maybe if I fix my position in the chair, my back might not hurt so much."

So I stood up and I felt a gush of fluid between my legs. Thinking I peed myself, I looked down and I noticed that is not pee.

I sat down quickly and put my hands on my stomach and let out a loud groan. Simon looked at me.

"Y/N.." I knew what he was going to say.

"Get..Peter." I groaned through my teeth.

Of course I have gone into labour here.

"Right." Simon quickly jumped out of his chair and leaned over the barriers to talk to the security guard that was there.

The security guard looked at me, eyes wide and turned to tell the feared Taz that I have gone into labour.

I had another contraction rip through my body and I let out a scream. It hurts so much.

Peter and the other commentators heard the scream and turned around. Peter's eyes went wide when he saw the state I was in.

Olivia was back now and put our items on her chair. Simon and her helped me stand and walked me down the row.

The people who were also in the row got up and moved out of the way.

"TAKE HER TO MY CAR. I'LL GET TYLER." Peter screamed to us.

It took us a bit to get to the car because the contractions were so painful and had me almost on the ground.

By the time we got to the car, Tyler and Peter were already there.

Simon helped me into the backseat and I was off to the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital. It was all a blur of me pain, screaming, sleeping, pushing and more screaming.

After almost 16 hours of labour, a beautiful baby boy was laid upon my chest, crying his little heart out.

Tyler and I both had tears streaming down our faces as we both look at our son for the first time.

They took our baby boy to get cleaned up and looked over by Doctors. During that time, I got looked over and cleaned up as well.

A nurse handed me our son. "Want me to go and get the grandparents?" Tyler asked.

"Yes please."

A few minutes later, my hospital room was filled with my parents and Tyler's parents. They all had gifts in their arms for their new grandson.

Tyler came over to me and I handed him our son.

"Everyone we would like you to meet Aidan Tyler Senerchia."

Tag List: if you would like to be added, please let me know. @lghockey @alyhull

#reader imagine #reader insert #female reader #all elite wrestling #aew wrestling #hook aew imagine #hook imagine #hook x reader #hook aew #hook #aew x reader #aew imagine #wrestlers #major league wrestling #wrestling imagine

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issaxcharlie · 4 years

Text

Falling like the stars✨

Pairing: Alive! Luke Patterson x Fem Reader

Summary: Luke and Y/N never got to be a thing. Whatever they had ended abruptly when she settled on someone with far more status than the aspiring guitarist. Months later, now single, Luke entangles her in a scheme to make Sunset Curve more popular. The only thing she needs to do is fake date him for 2 weeks.

Songs used: Holy Ground by Taylor Swift, Loved You First by One Direction and Falling Like The Stars by James Arthur.

High school is a world by itself. It has its own system and everyone moves through it. It is something that although it is not discussed, everyone knows. Including the three members of Sunset Curve, who are lying in the yard trying to find a solution to their latest problem.

"We need more people to support our music. If we can't get this little school to support us, how are we going to fill clubs or sign with a label?” Reggie wonders aloud to himself, no matter how hard they try, they can't get the Los Feliz student body to listen to their band.

“We should have thought about it before, Reg. Now we're just the problem kids who most likely won't finish school. Why would they come to see us at those seedy little clubs when they can go show off at football games.” Luke stands up suddenly after Alex words, one of those huge smiles that comes out when he has a really bad idea on his face.

“Well it seems that the solution is easy, boys. We have to make them see us on the same level as those jocks.”

“Oh yeah, and how are we going to do that, genius?” Alex fiddles with his hands as he rests his head on Reggie, both tired of not being able to come even close to fulfilling their dream.

Luke points to the nearest post, on which there are at least 5 posters to support the homecoming king and queen.

“Really? Do you think someone would vote for you? Before all those star athletes who also have a cheerleader to back them up? You basically have just us and I don't think I can do one of those tricks.”

“We’ll think of something. Winning that stupid thing would put us directly in the top of the pyramid. We’ll find a way, we always do.” Before anyone can respond, some screaming and commotion can be heard.

“Savannah is accusing Y/N to mess with her man! Run, they are in the hall!" students mention as they start running to watch the discussion.

“Oh god, Y/N. I’ll better go and see if I can help her somehow.” Alex gets up and Reggie begins to follow him, but not before turning to make sure Luke is following too. The guitarist makes an irritated face but ends up walking behind his friends.

From the moment they enter the main hall they can hear the screeches of probably the most popular girl in school, Savannah Miller. One of those typical unbearable girls who for some reason always reach the top of the elite in schools despite treating everyone badly.

Y/N Y/L is on the other side of the discussion, she looks calm and even bored. The first thing Luke digests from Savannah's words is that she thinks Y/N was making out with her idiot of a boyfriend during third period. What's interesting about the situation is that Diego cheated on Y/N with Savannah maybe a week and a half ago and had been dating her ever since.

But that's not Y/N's style, no matter how angry she is.

Luke knows her well enough, or so he wants to believe. She was always good friends with Alex and Reggie, and her relationship with them remained strong over the years despite how unstable and fleeting her relationship with the guitarist was.

He's never going to admit how deeply he felt for her. How much it screwed him up that just when he finally began to believe they could be something else, she completely walked away from his life so she could date the man that would end up cheating on her just because he looked more promising at the time. Rich, popular, the quarterback of the football team, the ‘perfect guy’ she said to the boys.

But hey, that's past.

Luke looks up to meet Y/N's eyes on him. In the moment she realizes she was caught, she sneakily turns to Alex, who is just inches from the guitarist and smiles at him.

“Are you actually smiling? You think this is funny?” The girl looks furious, but she's smart enough not to make this a battle of strength.

“I already told you, Savannah. It wasn’t me.”

“I can count, Y/N. Neither you nor Diego were in class."

And that’s when it hits him. The possibility of getting to the top of the pyramid in front of him. Because maybe Y/N is not the most popular, but it is undoubtedly one of the most loved by everyone. Intelligent, caring, beautiful, talented. And she certainly has the status after dating Diego Hernandez for one semester. No one had managed more than 3 months with him and the guitarist thinks that was a good sign that that idiot is not a good idea but well, it wasn’t his choice.

Luke begins to walk towards the center of the circle, Alex tries to stop him but cannot catch his arm in time. Both girls turn to see him surprised, but neither says anything.

"You can go find culprits elsewhere, Y/N was busy with me at the time. You can ask whoever you want and they'll tell you that I wasn't in class during third period either."

Of course, he wasn't there because the trio got into Reggie's old truck to get some hotdogs but no one has to know that.

His hand goes to take her firmly by the hip, just like all those nights that now only remain as memories. He is looking at every inch of her face, searching for her reaction, and is surprised by the naturalness with which the girl accepts the gesture. As if his hand belongs there. And maybe, just maybe, it does.

“Do you really want me to believe this?” Savannah asks, clearly annoyed.

“Y/N and Patterson? There’s just no way in hell. C’mon babe, he’s just pathetic, you could do better.” Diego says out loud as he approaches the scene in the middle of Y/N and Savannah.

There's something about the disgruntled way they both said it that makes Luke want to prove that a girl like her could want him. He doesn’t know how to distinguish if it is pride or insecurity but at the moment he is not interested.

He's barely going to open his mouth to defend himself when Y/N starts talking. "No. You can speak as badly as you want of me but you're not going to bring Luke into this."

Luke lets go of her so he can step back a few inches and see her from a better angle. She’s definitely not calm anymore. Her face looks altered and she is undoubtedly in protective mode. She turns to see him when she feels his hand leave her body but he offers her his hand and she intertwines it between her fingers without hesitation. At this rate she is taking control of the situation so he is going to let her continue and try to achieve his goal along the way.

“I know you need a partner to have any hope of winning the crown, but choosing Patterson is a desperate move.”

And that’s his cue. "If my baby wants that crown I will get it for her. It's that easy.”

“What? I do-” At that moment Luke panics and pulls her by the hand that they have intertwined and with the other holds her face while bringing their lips together. When he reacts to what he is doing he is afraid that Y/N will push him in front of everyone but to his surprise she kisses him back instantly, releasing his hand to bring him closer to the neck.

The kiss is passionate and almost desperate, but it only lasts a few seconds since a voice brings them back.

"This feels like deja vu." Reggie whispers to Alex, they both walked during the discussion towards the circle and are so close that Luke and Y/N heard him clearly.

“Well, we already clarified that she was not with your boyfriend so, I’ll take my girl. It was a pleasure, we should repeat this another day... said no one ever." Luke takes her hand and leads her to the nearest empty living room, Reggie and Alex locking the door behind him.

“What the hell was that crown bullshit? Why did you even cover for me? What are you up to? At least tell me is fun... or that includes you shirtless.” She jokes, a cheeky smile spreads in Luke’s face.

“I need a favor and thought you’ll appreciate an alibi.” She raises her eyebrow in reflex.

“Why would I help you, Lucas?” Luke can only think of how she makes a name as simple and boring as Lucas sound so sexy when she says it. Is incredible.

“Cut the act, beautiful. We both know you've never been able to resist me.” Y/N laughs amused at the boy’s sassiness. She won't admit it but she missed his eyes on her. She missed the way he uses that cocky stupid voice that melts her when he wants something. How he gets closer with each sentence, or his lips on her mouth.

Before she can counter attack, Alex stands in front of the guitarist raising his hands. “I know he’s an idiot, but we really need your help, Y/N. If we want Sunset Curve to gain popularity we have to start here, and this is our last year. Gaining popularity among the elite of the school would help us a lot.”

“We are getting desparate.” Reggie adds, a sad smile on his face.

“And pretending I made out with Luke in third period and getting to be homecoming dance queen and king helps you... why?”

“That crown is literally a test of popularity and status. It would put Luke on the same level as the popular kids like Savannah and Diego. People would be more interested in Sunset Curve after that. For now, for them we are only three good for nothing that one day will not appear around here again. You heard yourself that those two didn't think Luke was good enough."

Her face flushes with anger as soon as she remembers the contemptuous tone of voice they used to refer to Luke. If they hadn't been in the middle of the hall, she probably would have said a lot more than she did. That single comment is enough to make her decide, so without thinking Y/N asks “What do you need me to do?”

“Just play perfect couple with Luke until homecoming dance. Then you are queen and king, Sunset Curve gets the fans we deserve, you get to laugh at Savannah’s face and you can separate next day if you want to.”

“I’m not sure If someone is going to believe it.” She blurts out loud as she glances at the guitarist.

“Oh please, you know each others mouth better than your own names.” Reggie says without thinking, Luke snorted with laughter and Y/N blushes like crazy.

“Yeah, and you used to spend a lot of time together too, two weeks shouldn’t be that hard.” Alex tries to recover the seriousness of the situation to close the deal.

“Okay then. If I can help Sunset Curve and get that smirk of superiority off Savannah's face then sounds good to me. Are you willing to date me, Patterson?”

Their eyes meet again and without a sign of hesitation her now officially boyfriend for the next two weeks, answers.

“Beautiful, you have no idea.”

There is something about relationships that never get to happen that make the heart weigh more, that nostalgia to be stronger, the person more difficult to forget. Luke can't help but remember during the last periods of the day just how good it felt to taste the girl's lips again. Feelings of desire, of familiarity, of belonging. All colliding and going deep into his bones.

He decided a long time ago he didn't do relationships, but if he did, it would have been with her. He was willing to break that rule for her, but she had the final decision and it wasn't him. He accidentally put himself in the perfect situation though. All those what if’s will finally have an answer.

For two weeks he can test what it would have been if Y/N Y/L had chosen him. And when he finally tries the experience he will be free. Free from all the what if’s, free from her, from her memory. And there's also the part of how much the band will benefit. The main objective of doing this, obviously.

The last hour is finally over and Luke sped off toward Reggie's truck. In front of it is Alex already waiting and he can see Reggie and Y/N also walking in the same direction. The four of them regroup and Y/N starts to discuss game plan.

“If we are going to do this, we are going to do it well. There will be a party at Finch's house this Saturday and the three of you are coming with me."

The three members of Sunset Curve make an annoyed face at the words of their friend. "That's exactly why no one supports you. You think you are too cool to hang out with the people but then you want everyone to happily buy your shirts and listen to your music."

“She has a point there.” Alex agrees, and puts his arm around her shoulder.

“Okay, let’s do this. If you all come with me, we can leave early and crash one of those places you usually play. Maybe even have some people of the party to come with us and hear you rock the shit out of that place.” All three smile with bright eyes In response.

“You got yourself a deal, pretty lady.” Reggie says in a flirting tone and winks at her. Luke gives him a light punch on the arm.

"I'll see you on Saturday in my house then, at nine. Goodbye boys." She winks at Luke and walks over to her car, making sure to do a perfect walk because she knows pretty well that the guitarist isn't going to stop watching her until she pulls out of the parking lot.

Luke gives her a perfect smile one last time before Y/N leaves school. These two weeks are going to be weird.

The four members of the band are in the truck, Bobby decided to get out of school recently but a party and a gig sounds like a rad Saturday. Luke gets out and walks to the door to wait for Y/N to come out. When she finally comes down he feels like all the air is coming out of his lungs.

She's wearing the black Sunset Curve t-shirt that he forgot one of the many times he climbed up to the second floor of the house to see her. A short black skirt and one of his red flannels that he probably left there several months ago as well. Black fishnets stockings which he can't help but imagine ripping out with his teeth, her lips in that tone of red that drives him crazy, and her classic black boots that he hadn't seen since she started dating the cheating idiot.

“Genius huh? Is there anything that says more ‘Luke Patterson’s property’ than this? I don’t think so." She smiles proudly and blushes when she notices Luke's gaze locked on her legs. Fishnets may have been included in the outfit due to a certain weakness that the musician has towards them.

The hair that the guitarist is used to seeing in a perfect bun lately, is now loose and tousled. As rebellious as the day he met her, moving in harmonious tune to the rhythm of Now or Never.

Luke reaches out to to entwine his hand in her hair and whispers slowly into her ear “You look... fucking hell, you are not playing fair, baby.” Lightly biting her lobe when he’s done speaking.

They both linger in a trance for a few seconds, considering whether they should just walk in and lock the door. But before they can decide, the boys that already know this story pretty well and are sick of waiting for them while they flirt, get out of the truck. Reggie carries Y/N like a sack of potatoes and between Bobby and Alex take Luke by the arms, putting them in the vehicle so they can finally get to the lame party and then, the gig.

When they finally arrive, the eyes of almost all the girls go to the members of the band, who are definitely dressed for the occasion. Y/N can't help but notice how most of the cheerleaders wink at her boyfriend. Yeah, it’s not real and will last two weeks, but for now she justs wants to forget that part and enjoy the feeling of him being hers.

So she makes a small, harmless gesture to mark territory and puts her hand in the guitarist's back pocket.

Luke turns to see her, an amused smirk on his face. “Jealousy looks so hot on you, I wouldn't mind if you marked my lips with that red lipstick too."

That statement resonates in Y/N’s head. All the times Diego refused to kiss her so as not to stain himself and even forbade her to use that lipstick that for her was part of her brand returning to her head. Followed quickly by every night Luke came down after finishing playing and instantly attacked her lips with his, caring for nothing more than the feel of their tongues fighting for control.

“Not jealousy, just a quick reminder to everyone. You are all mine tonight.” She puts a little more pressure on the hand in his pocket and stands on her tiptoes to kiss the corner of his lips.

“Dance with me?” She asks innocently while giving him a flirtatious smile.

“With you, always beautiful.” He smiles back, winking charmingly.

His hands find hers and she begins to dance and jump gracefully to the rhythm of the music as he spins her around, both singing the lyrics to each other with unmatched energy, happy to be together.

“Tonight I'm gonna dance, for all that we've been through.” She sings with a determined voice, taking the musician by the hair and bringing their faces closer.

“But I don't wanna dance, If I'm not dancing with you.” Luke returns the verse with the same passion, just inches separating their lips. His beautiful and trained voice tends to sound like a more country vibe when he gets carried away and especially in more pop melodies like this, and honestly drives her crazy.

The fact that the rocker at heart gave in to listen to other genres for her and even remembered the lyrics was enough to melt her heart. The last time she was able to let herself go and sing at the top of her lungs like this was with him, listening to a mix of their favorite songs in his car while going for their favorite icecream. Whatever they had was a lot more deeper than what they are willing to admit.

“Did we really just see Luke sing and dance to a pop-country song?” Reggie asks the band, Alex and Bobby behind him laughing at the guitarist who blushes and kisses his date's forehead. “I am not going to discuss this. I'll go get us something to drink." He winks at her and dissapears into the crowd.

“I’ll go too, be right back.” Bobby announces leaving Y/N with Alex and Reggie, who smirk at her.

“It seems that pretending is easier than you thought.” Alex can't stop smiling, Reggie playfully itches the girl's ribs who grins from ear to ear.

"Everything always fits when I'm with him. I ruined my chance. I'm totally aware, and I'm not expecting anything from him, because I honestly don't deserve it. But I plan to enjoy every second of these two weeks that came from heaven to the fullest.”

“You should explain hi-” Before Reggie can finish speaking, Diego appears behind Y/N and tries to forcefully pull her by the arm.

The guys manage to react quickly and release her arm while stepping in front of her. But right away his teammates get behind him.

“Save yourselves the pain, she is going with me.” Diego says confidently, his face showing arrogance.

“Guys, ple-” She tries to stop them from getting hurt, but both step a little forward, determined to protect her no matter the cost.

“You are not taking her, Diego. But you are more than welcome to try.” Alex's voice sounds cool and calm, but Y/N can see how much his hands are shaking and her heart hurts at the sight.

They are all so into their own business that nobody notices the guitarist's return until his lips collide with his girl, who is surprised for a few seconds but immediately recognizes him and gives him space for his tongue to taste her mouth.

They both lose themselves in the kiss for a few seconds longer than necessary and then slowly separate. Y/N grinning from ear to ear as she tries to wipe some of her lipstick off Luke's mouth. He just smirks, as happy as ever.

"Sorry guys, do you need something?" He plays the innocent card. After that kiss, most of the people at the party are watching the scene, so Diego, who looks furious, chooses to leave without saying anything. Right away they can hear a long restrained breath from Reggie and Alex.

“You are a cocky genius, I'm not sure we could have won that one.”

“I’m not sure? Did you seriously think we had a chance?” Alex asks, clearly anxious after what had just happened.

Y/N stands in front of them and throws herself into their arms, whispering how many thanks she can say in a row. They return the hug and begin to relax in each others arms. Bobby and Luke join in the hug, and Luke whispers his own thanks to his friends.

The band decides that it’s time to go and to their surprise, when they let people know that they are going to play at a small club in the center of the city, some decide to follow them. On the way, Y/N spends her time wiping her lipstick off Luke’s face with some wipes she had in her bag, struggling not to press her lips against his every time he made her an adorable grimace or a flirtatious smile.

“You know the drill, beautiful.” Luke turns to see her directly in the eyes, concern on his face just like every time before.

“Front row, not a second out of your sight, so if I need something better wait for you guys to finish performing to get it. Better safe than sorry." She recites, proud to remember every word.

“Thank you, baby.” He smiles a little more calmly, gives her a light kiss on the cheek and starts to help take out the instruments.

They are only doing a few songs from their repertoire, but the energy they transmit drives everyone in the little club crazy. The Sunset Curve members look at a Luke they haven't seen in a long time. The energy and passion in his voice dedicated entirely to the little woman in the front row who sings with all her strength every word and melody, imitating Luke's guitar solos or Alex's drums with her arms.

The 15 students who decided to attend are close to Y/N, trying to get her attention from time to time but nothing can take her eyes off her friends. Not even she knew how much she had missed seeing them play. The look of maximum happiness on their faces.

The last song is one that the little club seems quite familiar with, but she had never heard it before. So it must have been written in the last six months.

“Had my chances, could've been where he is standing.

That's what hurts the most, girl, I came so close

But now you'll never know. Baby, I loved you first.”

The lyrics leave her breathless. Luke, who had made contact with her practically all night, now seems to avoid her eyes like a plague. She definitely has to ask Alex about this song before getting any ideas.

The four bow and get off the stage, Luke launches immediately for Y/N, some of the girls try to get his attention and even try to grab him by the arm or waist but he remains firm until his hands meet his girl's hip.

“What do you think?” Luke's fingers shaking in the grip on her waist tell her he's nervous. The fact that her opinion of them matters so much to him that it makes him feel insecure makes her heart skip a beat.

“It was amazing as always, rockstar.” A huge smile appears on the guitarist's face, who gently takes her face with his hands and kisses her nose. After all, he has to remember that they are only pretending to date and for now he has no good reason to push his lips against hers. It doesn't matter how much he needs her.

The way home is uneventful, Y/N sleeping in Luke's arms while Alex puts the guitarist's red flannel over her.

“Will they ever stop pretending they're ridiculously in love with each other?” Bobby asks Reggie as he turns his head to see the couple.

“They are both stubborn and allergic to real feelings. Especially love. They are so terrified that they have to sabotage themselves somehow.” Alex answers for Reggie who just nods without taking his eyes off the road.

"Do you really have to talk like I'm not here?" Luke asks, resting his chin delicately on the head of the woman in his arms.

Tonight felt unreal. Felt practically like one of the many dreams he has had with the girl throughout these months. Seeing her in his clothes was enough to make the night special, but without a doubt dancing in her arms, savoring every inch of her mouth and seeing her energetically sing each of his songs to end the night with her in his arms is just perfect. Reggie parks at Y/N’s after dropping Alex and Bobby, and as Luke decides how to get her to bed without waking her she sinks deeper into his chest.

"Carry me to the door hotstuff, I like to be in your sexy arms." Luke lets out a cheeky laugh in surprise, another laugh coming from Reggie.

“She’s so asleep, I can’t. Adorable though.” Luke agrees and takes her bag before walking down with her in his arms and carrying her effortlessly to the door.

“Thank you for tonight. I didn’t think I could ever feel this happy and complete again.” She murmurs in his ear before giving him a sweet peck in the lips and enter the house.

What the two of them took from tonight is that indisputably, they are both still head over heels for each other. But it was like that the first time and it just wasn't enough.

Days go by with the couple being the school's favorite gossip. People talking in the hallways about the special way Luke looks at his girlfriend, comparisons about the dry way Y/N used to be with Diego compared to how she is with the guitarist, always touching him somehow and spending all the time with him as possible, visibly much happier. Some also talking about how good the band sounds and wondering why they hadn't heard it before. Everything going according to plan.

On Thursday afternoon, Luke arranged to pick her up for the two of them to find him something formal enough for the dance. When Y/N opened the door she met his beautiful greenish hazel eyes, and swears that for a second she forgot how to breathe.

She knows this scene. He smiles sweetly at her, takes her hand and opens the door of the car for her. Multiple interesting memories inside this car coming back to her mind. His firm hands on her legs, his tongue testing her mouth, his hot moans after biting his lower lip...

“Beautiful? Whatcha thinking?” Luke's voice brings her back to the present, his hand goes directly to her thigh as all that many midnight drives and without saying anything he plays the girl's favorite album.

That’s it. If she wants a chance with him, she needs to make this right. “I- We really need to talk.” Hearing the tone of her voice, Luke senses what is coming. He was here before. So he turns off the car that hadn't even started to move yet and turns to look at her.

"I know we've been putting it off, but we have to talk about how it all ended, I-"

Luke interrupts her before she can finish, his voice sounds broken, sad, angry. "I really don't want to talk about how you preferred an idiot for whom you don't feel the remotest thing just because he'll get a football scholarship and this perfect future.”

She spends a few seconds processing his words. Did he really say what she thinks he said? "It wasn't like that, Luke."

"I know it looks like I can't compete with him, but I would have done anything for you. And I thought you knew that.”

She doesn't know what to do or say. She was so unconscious, so selfish, so heartless, that she didn't even think about how he could have understood the situation. In how much he must have suffered these months watching her with Diego, believing he wasn’t good enough. Believing that she chose someone who wasn’t him, because he wasn’t good enough.

He stays quiet, examining the girl who seems about to cling to tears. The anger evaporates instantly and he leans into her seat to wrap his arms tightly around her. She starts sobbing, but seems determined to talk.

“R- Remember the night we met? It was the first Sunset Curve presentation. I had just entered the little club, but your voice dragged me to the front row like a magnet. And when I was finally in front of the stage, I knew it. It was you. The butterflies that everyone talks about for the first time in my stomach. I knew I could never feel again something even close to what I was feeling at that moment.

I got carried away in your voice, dancing to the rhythm of the melody and recording every sound in my head. And when I opened my eyes again, yours were staring at me. And I understood that you felt it too. It was me, and you knew it. It was so natural, powerful, magnetic, deep. I loved you since the first day, Luke. How is that not going to scare me?

When the feelings started to get so strong they burned, I knew I had to run. You always made it very clear that relationships were not your thing, I could not continue to wait for something that from the beginning you made it clear you could not give.

Then Diego arrived at the right time to give me an exit, and I took it. I knew he just wanted to have me around to raise his good boy status, and feeling nothing was safer than feeling too much. So I lied. I lied to you, to me, to everyone. And I’m sorry, but I was so scared. I was a coward who should have done things differently.”

When she finally finishes pulling out what she's been saving for months, she pulls away from Luke to see his face. His eyes look crystal clear, his cheeks red. But his beautiful white smile lights up his face.

"Next time you love me so much that you can't bear it, let me know, please? I can step on your foot or sneeze in your face. I was literally going to ask you to be my girlfriend that weekend. I even wrote you a song."

“You were? The one you sang the other night?”

“Okay, I wrote you a lot of songs. Maybe too many. But the one I'm talking about is different. Maybe I'll let you listen to it one day. If you stick around long enough this time.”

She smirks and kiss him lightly on the lips, enjoying the feeling of being able to. He knows he reacted way too chill. But he also understands her feelings. What is the point of reproaching her for something they can no longer change? A bad decision made by a love so immense that it left her blind. He is simply not willing to waste any more time. They are finally going to do things right. Neither of them is going to self-sabotage it this time, and since he doesn't trust it, he'll put Alex and Reggie in charge to make sure.

The night of the dance arrives. Y/N is wearing a beautiful black dress and her classic red lips. Luke tried his best to look fancy and he's wearing a pretty cool suit but in a sleeveless version. His still fake girlfriend couldn't stop smiling when she saw him. Just perfect.

Dancing in his arms, letting him go only once in a while to dance with the other three members of Sunset Curve made the night amazing. The rest of these two weeks they spent it talking, laughing... making out. Enjoying the most of the time they lost. Even completely forgetting why they were faking it in the first place, until they ask the candidates to take the stage.

"And your king are queen are... Y/N Y/L and Diego Hernandez!"

They all turn to see Luke in shock. Just hearing their names together is enough to make him frustrated, but there's not much he can do right now. And that's when he remembers what he asked the boys to play for the king and queen's first dance. Great, now dance they’ll dance to his song together. Just his damn luck. He sabotaged himself again without imagining it.

They are crowned and Diego offers her his hand, not without first throwing a face of superiority to the guitarist. She walks but continues straight until she is in front of her lover.

Luke looks at her strangely, she smiles at him.

“But I don't wanna dance, If I'm not dancing with you. Remember?” She sings happily in his ear, and offers her hand.

“Dance with me?” He looks at her adoringly and takes her hand.

“Always, beautiful.”

They walk to the center of the floor, Alex begins to sing the first verse. Y/N rests her head on Luke's chest, her hands around his neck, as he presses her against him by the hip, wrapping her in his arms. His head bent to sing the song in her ear.

“I swear to God, I can see... you're still the girl in the club.”

Tears of happiness begin to flow from Y/N, the words that she never had the opportunity to know, finally getting revealed. Luke's sweet, soft voice in her ear. The perfect melody and the beautiful voice of Reggie and Alex in the background.

“And I need you to know that we're fallin' so fast

We're fallin' like the stars, fallin' in love.”

The moment he sings in love, Y/N lifts her head to meet his eyes. He lifts his hands to her cheeks to wipe her tears, gently holding her face to make sure she sees him recite every word.

“And I'm not scared to say those words. With you, I'm safe.

We're fallin' like the stars, we're fallin' in love.”

The second Luke finishes singing, Y/N stands on tiptoe and pushes her lips against his. Tears of happiness continue to fall from her face, wrapped in a passionate, slow, deep kiss. He's all she wants. Her heart chose him since the very first day.

“I can’t believe one of Luke’s random ideas it's what made them find their way back to each other. Reg, we tried for 6 months and we were never even close. Two weeks ‘pretending’ and bam! they are just fine.”

Both watch the happy couple dance now that they are official.

"You know what they say, Fake it till you make it.” Reggie smirks while watching Luke happily kiss Y/N.

“Fair. At least everything was fixed before we shoved Luke into the pool to see if Y/N would rescue him with a mouth-to-mouth kiss."

“We still could try, you know... for science.”

“Cool. Monday works for me. Do you think that even though he didn't win, we still have a chance to win some more fans?”

Reggie raises his head before answering, a smile appears when he sees the bunch of girls and boys who are spying on them just a few meters away. Probably waiting for them to finish talking to get closer.

“I think Sunset Curve will be just fine too, Alex.”

Thank you for reading✨

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my-soul-sings · 3 years

Text

kiss the girl: ch 5

Fandom: Tears of Themis Characters: Artem x Reader

Summary: Armed with a trusty book, Artem Wing attempts to win the woman of his dreams.

ch 1 | ch 2 | ch 2 extra (ft. marius) | ch 3 | ch 4 | ch 5

***

“Surprise him with flowers.”

It all began one morning, when you went to Artem’s office to look for a case file, and stumbled across a certain incriminating book that was hiding in his drawer.

The title said it all: “The Psychology of Love”. The contents of the book were even more damning—flipping it open took you naturally to the page where a plain black bookmark had been inserted, and you found yourself reading a chapter about practical tips for wooing a woman.

As you read the book, you’d periodically look over your shoulder every now and then in case Artem arrived and caught you red-handed (although you were technically only going through his drawer because you were looking for a case file that he had told you to find in his office).

You immediately recognised the practical pointers as the things Artem had been putting into practice lately. The flowers, the compliments, the dinner… What you’d initially thought was odd behaviour on his part suddenly all made sense, and it basically confirmed your suspicions that perhaps your boss did have feelings for you, and that yours weren’t one-sided like you had thought after all.

The revelation had your cheeks warming and your lips spreading into a huge grin. All that had to be done now was for both of you to confess and then you’d officially start dating, just as you had hoped for a while now.

The next question then was how to go about doing it. You considered asking him about the book directly, but that wouldn’t be any fun at all. Sure, you might get a laugh out of seeing Artem’s ears turn red and his words coming out in a timid stutter, but you wanted to be more creative with this.

And as you scanned through the book, a brilliant plan began to formulate in your mind. One that had your smile turning from gleeful, innocent and warm, to something a little more wicked. Just a little.

With all that Artem had been doing for you lately, naturally, it was only right that you returned the favour.

***

Artem’s morning routine hasn’t changed much as far as he can remember. In the mornings, he makes breakfast, a cup of coffee, then drives to work and enters the office building. He’ll greet his colleagues who are already all set up in the office and doing their work or rushing some prep work before going to court, and then settle down in his room to check his emails.

It’s not a particularly exciting routine, but Artem has gotten used to his life as a working adult; more routines, less surprises and spontaneity.

That’s why Artem isn’t used to being surprised, or having to figure out at 10am why his colleagues keep staring at him or greeting him with vaguely suspicious smiles on their faces. With every step he takes through the office he can feel their eyes on him, like visitors eyeing an animal in a zoo exhibit.

Artem wonders if it’s something about his appearance, but he’s wearing the same thing he usually does, and he has combed his hair like always. Besides, he also subtly checked to make sure his zipper wasn’t down when he first noticed his colleagues acting strange, so that can’t be it either.

His mind runs through the many possibilities for his colleagues’ strange behaviours, but can’t think of a reasonable explanation.

Thankfully, he doesn't need to think for long. He finds that explanation placed conspicuously in the centre of his desk, which is usually left clean and neat when he leaves the office for the night.

Artem is so stunned he doesn’t even realise that someone has knocked on his door until he feels a tap on his shoulder and hears a stifled laugh coming from his left.

“Everyone’s been going crazy since the flowers came. Did you send a bouquet of roses to yourself?” Celestine asks between giggles. Artem doesn’t blame her—the sight is quite incriminating. He can’t think of anyone who would send him flowers when there is no occasion to celebrate anything. Not to mention, roses? That’s quite the choice of flowers for someone who is single…

“Did you do this?” Artem asks, turning to her, although even he thinks the accusation is absurd.

“Me? Of course not. Do you know how expensive flowers are? I’d only spend it on my darling—”

“Enough,” he interrupts her, pinching the bridge of his nose and releasing a vexed sigh. First things first, he needs to do something about the flowers before more people see and start gossiping about him.

“You don’t look so happy for someone who just received flowers,” Celestine says, watching as he places his things down on his chair and desk before moving to inspect the gift. He’s eyeing it about as warily as one might a ticking bomb.

“Is it a secret admirer? Or— Don’t tell me, you’ve been making moves on someone else?”

“Of course not,” he hushes her, casting a wary glance towards the window of his office, in case they’re overheard by mistake. She’s not at her desk, and the anxious beating of his heart calms down slightly when he realises she probably hasn’t arrived in the office yet. That gives him some time to dispose of the evidence.

Turning to Celestine, he says in a low voice, “Don’t be so loud. I don’t want her to get the wrong idea.”

Celestine rolls her eyes, folding her arms. “She already saw the flowers.”

“What?” Alarmed, he looks out the window again, but there’s no one at her desk.

“She just dropped her things off on her chair and rushed to the restroom,” Celestine explains in a dismissive tone that does nothing to quell Artem’s concerns.

She’s seen the flowers. She’s going to think that he’s been flirting with someone else, or that he sent flowers to himself. Either way, it doesn’t look good.

“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” Celestine remarks, scrutinising his expression. He supposes he does. How else should he look? Festive, now that he might have lost his chance at wooing the woman he’s had a crush on for so long?

“Get a grip, Artem. First things first, who are the flowers from?”

Right, right. He should confirm that first. There’s a small card sticking out from the side of the bouquet, and he fishes it out, reading it while keeping it out of view from the curious eyes of Celestine. She immediately fires off protests in response, but he’s taller than her and is able to keep it out of her reach by extending his arm all the way up.

I wasn’t sure what flowers you’d like, so I went with roses, because… well. You should be able to guess why. I’ll see you soon.

It’s a message straight out of a horror movie. Artem doesn’t want to see this person. He doesn’t want anyone to see him with this person, for that matter. He would be ruined beyond repair.

Unfortunately, the card isn’t signed. Not on the front or back, and there’s no other card to be found in the bouquet. So now, he has to deal with a mystery admirer who seems to know where he works or lives. Maybe both.

He briefly contemplates getting a personal protection order but immediately dismisses the thought; there’s no way. It seems his only option left is to wait for this secret admirer (or prankster; he still has his doubts) to track him down.

“Hey! I wanted to read that!” Celestine grumbles when the note is crushed in Artem’s fist and stuffed into his pocket.

“Read something else. You just told me yesterday that you’re drowning in work.”

Not sure where else he can put the bouquet, he decides to put it on the floor, in a corner of his room so it’s less conspicuous to anyone who passes by.

“From how you’re still panicking, I’m guessing the flowers weren’t from her after all?” Celestine asks, clicking her tongue.

“You thought they were from her?”

“Yeah. She saw the flowers in your office this morning and walked away looking quite happy.”

“Oh.” That’s strange, he thought she would be mad. But if she’s happy, that can mean only one of two things: either the flowers were from her, or she’s happy thinking that he has a partner now.

It looks like he’ll be playing a tedious guessing game for the rest of the day and the next couple of sleepless nights.

“I could ask her if you want?” Celestine offers, being helpful for the first time since entering his office.

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll handle it,” he replies, clearing his throat and sitting down. He’s wasted enough time on this—he’ll worry about it after work.

Celestine takes that as her cue to leave, and this time, she graciously doesn’t leave a mocking remark behind when she closes the door.

continue reading on AO3 (see replies to this post)

#artem wing #tears of themis #artem wing fanfiction #tears of themis artem #tears of themis fanfiction #tears of themis fanfic #artem fanfiction #artem fanfic #kiss the girl #my writing #sorry folks i'm linking to AO3 because this chapter is fairly long and im too lazy to copy+paste and comb through the text to #manually add italics #so pls read it on ao3 i will love u hehe

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baseballbitch116 · 3 years

Text

Dixons Next Door - Chapter 4

Introduction: Anna was a small town girl from Atlanta when she became the guardian of her two younger siblings. She was determined to keep them from the same abuse that she endured from her family, so she moved into a small beaten up house just outside the city in 2009. The new neighbors next door - the Dixon brothers - were definitely trouble. She wanted to escape her past, not repeat her parents history with these redneck brothers. Matters only escalate when the news is talking about the possibility of some virus getting out and infecting people… Are Merle and Daryl just as bad as her past? How is she going to keep her brother and sister safe from this virus getting out? What did Anna get herself into?

Setting: Pre-apocalypse

Word Count: 6896

Series Warnings: Offensive language, mentions/suggestion of physical abuse, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, sexual themes, violence & death

Chapter Warnings: Alcohol consumption, drug use, offensive language, assault, violence, sensitive themes - potential trigger warning

A/N: I got a little carried away and made this an extra long chapter, but it’s a good one! There are some sensitive topics in it so this is a trigger warning - it’s nothing too bad but some people may not want to read it. 18+ You’ve been warned.

Previous Chapter

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I had been cleaning out the pool for the kids while they ate lunch the next time that I was interrupted by Merle. He came over with a beer and hand and stood nearby me, watching silently. I gave him a look but he made no comment, he just sipped on his beer. I sighed and continued skimming the bugs and leaves out of the pool. “Isn’t it a little early to be drinking?” I ask without looking back at him. He chuckles.

“Why ya cleanin it? Just gonna get dirty again?” He asks, ignoring your question. You roll your eyes and smack the skimmer on the ground to get the debris off of it.

“Why shower - just gonna get dirty again.” I remark sarcastically.

“Exactly.” Merle agrees, and I look up in momentary shock before catching the sarcastic smirk on his face. “Ew,” I mutter, tossing the skimmer to the side and throwing the chlorine in the pool.

“So what bar ya work at?” He asks, glancing into the pool for a moment before looking back at you. You want to lie, but there’s literally only two bars in this small town, so it’s not like it matters much.

“Happy Hour Tavern.” I respond, wiping my hands off on my shorts and crossing my arms. “Surprised I haven’t seen ya there yet.” Referring to the beer in his hand at two in the afternoon.

He smirks. “Ya wanna see me there?” He suggests, and I roll my eyes.

“Didn’t say that.”

“Don’t ya worry, sugar. I’ll stop by.” He assures me, and I know he probably will.

“Great,” I mutter, and he chuckles.

“Where ya kids at?” He asks.

“Inside eating.”

“Wanna make me somethin to eat, sugarlips?” He asks flirtatiously. I roll my eyes again and huff.

“My name is Anna, and no, I don’t really have the money to be feeding the neighborhood.” I respond.

“Ain’t the neighborhood, doll. Just a friend.” He winks.

“Oh, so we’re friends?” I ask, shifting my weight.

“Yeah sure. Ya seem to be cozying up to my brother and all, ‘course we’re friends.” He responds sarcastically. The grin is gone from his face and he seems more serious now.

“What?” I ask, baffled by what he means by ‘cozying up to his brother.’

“Don’t play dumb, sweetheart. I saw ya the other day. Got him doing shit for ya, too. Impressive.” He rolls his eyes and takes a large gulp of his beer. Suddenly, the mood shifts, and I feel uncomfortable. Is he angry at me for asking Daryl for help? He is so hard to read, everything was just fine - what happened?

“I needed help lifting a heavy ass box. He was there. Doesn’t mean I’m ‘cozying up to anyone.’” I respond sternly. I don’t like being accused of using people. Merle chuckles.

“Relax, darlin, I ain’t jealous.” He taunts, lifting a hand to shield his eyes and looking up at the sky. “Issa good huntin day, bet he’s goin out there soon. I’ll see ya around, sugarlips.” Merle says as he begins walking away from me, leaving me confused and startled. What the hell just happened?

I began getting texts from my father that same day. I wasn’t entirely surprised, but I knew he wouldn’t go to the cops.

1:04 - Bring back my fuckin kids

1:15 - U ungrateful bitch after all i done 4 u

2:06 - Ima have every1 lookin 4 u

2:10 - U best not let me find u

3:34 - Ima tell the pigs u kidnapped em

4:08 - Just wait til i find u

My brother even texted me a few times, too.

12:30 - Pa’s lookin 4 u. He’s mad

1:10 - U took them? Ur not they momma, u kidnapped em

2:30 - U best bring em back or u’ll regret it Anna

The texts continued on and off throughout the day but I ignored them. My prejudice, abusive family would not get the best of me. He was probably drunk and went to find us to pick a fight and finally noticed we were gone. I couldn’t help but worry about if he ever did manage to find us. We were only a half hour away, it wouldn’t be too hard. It was only a matter of how much he was determined to do so. He’s not a smart man, I doubt he could track us down very easily. Plus, everyone who knew him, hated him. No one who knew us would help him - they would know the kids were safer with me. I’d rather be poor than abused.

Eventually I left my phone on silent and tried to keep my thoughts occupied. I didn’t tell the kids, of course. The kids had been playing in their room for most of the day, having fun with the large box that my bed frame had come in, using it as some sort of rocket or something. So I let them be inside and sat on the front steps to think in peace. I looked up at the sky and willed myself not to cry. They did not deserve my tears. They didn’t even deserve a moment’s thought. I forced myself not to think about all that they had put me through in my childhood. The nights I spent crying myself to sleep on my mattress on the floor. The bruises and scars I hid at school. The lies I told to keep myself from being taken away - only so I could protect my siblings.

My eyes burned as I fought back the tears and I hid my face in my hands on my lap.

“C’mon, Anna. It’s over now.” I mutter to myself, trying to believe my own words. Anger boiled over inside of me at the thought of what my father might do if he found us and took the kids back. I would not let him. Even if it killed me - he would not ruin their lives like he did mine.

A crash of thunder made me jump, bringing me back to the present. I looked up just in time to see Merle approaching from the woods, resheathing a knife on his hip. I figured he was hunting, and that gave me an idea.

“Hey, Merle!” I call out, quickly wiping my face and jumping up to head over to him. He looks pleasantly surprised and stopped in his tracks, smirking as I approached him. “I have a question.”

“Whatcha want, sugar?” He drawls, wiping his hand on a rag from his pocket. I notice a bit of blood and then the bag over his shoulder, making me wince. I didn’t wanna know.

“I wanna get a gun. But I don’t know the first thing about them, and I kinda hoped you did?” I inform him, glancing behind me to make sure the kids hadn’t come out. He chuckles quietly and looks me up and down.

“Whatcha want with a gun?” He asks. I resist getting defensive, sure that he thinks a woman can’t handle one.

“To protect myself. Family problems, let’s leave it at that.” I inform him with a look. “Do you think you could help me?” I plead. I didn’t wanna go into town and get scammed into buying a crappy, overpriced gun. Merle looks at me for a long moment, looking up at the darkening sky before shrugging.

“Come with me.” He responds, nodding toward his house. I look at it then back to him, giving him a sharp look. “I’m serious, ya want me help or not?” He demands. I look back toward my house for a moment before sighing.

“I can’t be long.” I tell him, and he smirks, heading toward his porch. I hesitantly follow behind him, dreading entering his place. Considering the trash and overgrown grass outside, I had a feeling the inside was much worse. I stepped inside the house cautiously, keeping my eye on Merle as I did so. He seemed to be the only one here, which relieved me. If any of those men from the other night were, I would have left. Merle tosses the bag from his shoulder onto an old wooden table and heads down the hall toward a bedroom, leaving me alone. The floor is dirty, there’s an old, stained armed chair in front of a box TV, and there’s stuff scattered everywhere. The place smells a little weird too, but I resist complaining. Merle returns a moment later with a case in hand. “Here,” Merle opens the case and reveals a gun, holding it out to me. It’s a handgun, I know that much. I look up at him and he gives me an impatient look, so I hesitantly grab the gun. It’s heavier than it looks, and I make sure to keep my finger off the trigger. “Ya ever shot one?” He asks, smirking at me.

“Once or twice.” I mumble, having flashbacks to the one time my father tried teaching me how to shoot bottles in the backyard. It wasn’t a fond memory at all…

“Ya can have it, but it’ll cost ya.” He winks.

“How much?” I ask, and he chuckles.

“Ion want ya money,” He drawls, and I immediately frown, thinking I know what he is implying.

“I’m not doing that either,” I scowl, going to hand the gun back to him. He doesn’t take it, chuckling some more.

“Whatcha want a gun for anyway?” He asks. I didn’t want to get into it, but maybe this would be a way around having to do something for him for it. I let out a sigh and looked at the weapon in my hand for a long moment.

“My father,” I start, not meeting his eye. “He’s uh, well he’s a piece of shit basically. I took the kids from him in the middle of the night and got this place, never told anyone where we were going. If he comes around… Well, I’m gonna need this.” I finally look up and meet his eye, exhaling deeply. He looks at me for a long moment, his face expressionless. It’s quiet and I am surprised he doesn’t make any rude or sarcastic comments. He shrugs, placing the case down on the old table.

“Keep it.” He tells me, and I raise my brows at him.

“Really?” I clarify, confused why he changed his mind.

“Ya need it more than I do. Got plenty round here.” He mutters, waving his arm up in no general direction. “I know all about piece of shit fathers.” He continues, giving me a solemn look. “My pops was. You was right, yer gonna need that. So take it, before I change my mind.” He drawls, heading over to their fridge and grabbing a bottle of beer, kicking it shut behind him. I don’t argue, despite being shocked and confused.

“Thank you, Merle.” I give him a sincere smile for the first time, and turn the gun over in my hands to ensure the safety is on.

“Takes 9MM. It’s loaded.” He informs me, plopping into the beaten up chair by the TV and opening his beer, taking a large gulp. I nod slowly and shift my weight, feeling awkward holding the gun but trying not to let him know.

“Okay,” I respond, turning to head out the door as he turns the TV on. “Thanks again.” I holler before I head out the door into the humid air. The sky has gotten very dark with storm clouds and the wind picked up, so I jog across the lawn back to my house and tuck the gun into the back of my shorts, hiding it under my shirt before I walk inside. I don’t need the kids seeing this.

“Anna! Look what we did!” Colton calls out from the hallway with a big grin on his face. I smile back at him and walk down the hall to their room, letting out a dramatic gasp when I see the box colored on with a bunch of random colors. “It’s our rocket!” He exclaims excitedly, rejoining his sister inside the big box.

“Wow! It looks so good guys!” I exclaim, grinning as they go back to their playing. I watch them for a moment before remembering the gun and walking into my own room, placing the gun on the top shelf in the closet. This will have to do until I have more furniture and somewhere safe to keep it.

The texts kept coming throughout the rest of the night.

6:05 - ware tf r my kids

6:43 - dont make me hunt u down girl

7:16 - uv always been a cunt this is just like u

8:11 - wat r u gonna do when u get nocked up by some prick u dont have money 4 all dem kids

The string of insults and threats lasted most of the night, the only reason I kept looking at them was to make sure that they hadn’t found us somehow, or had any ideas. I would need a head start if they did. I’m not sure if I would be able to shoot my brother, but I know I could shoot my dad. He deserved it. After all he did to me, all he put us through. Even my dead beat mother didn’t deserve him. He was half the reason she’s as bad as she is. Apparently, my mother hadn’t started using drugs until after I was born. My father had escalated when he had his first daughter, and his true colors began to shine through. My mom used in order to live with herself, the guilt, his abuse. She even made sure to get clean each time she learned she was pregnant, but she always relapsed. She was a strong woman - I had to give her that. If nothing else, she was strong. But still a horrible mother. She should have taken us with her when she left.

But now it was my responsibility. I had to do what she couldn’t. I couldn’t help but think about my parents, my horrible family - as I stood in the doorway, watching them sleep. I may not be able to change what happened to me, but I would do anything it took to prevent it from happening to Bailey and Colton. If it comes down to it, I will kill my own father to ensure he never lays another hand on them.

Watching them sleep peacefully, side by side in their own brand new bed with clean sheets and a safe roof over their head - that made it all worth it.

Jessie and Beau came over at nine with beers and I set up a fire in the front yard. I had found this old firepit someone was throwing away on the side of the road the other night and I took it of course. I was excited for some relaxing adult time before my shift tonight. I hated my job, but I made good money there so far.

“What time you work tonight?” Jessie asks as she pops open a bottle of beer and hands it to me with a grin on her face.

“Eleven to three. At least it’ll go by fast.” I respond, taking a gulp. The alcohol burns as it goes down my throat and I let out a sigh, leaning back into the stairs. I hadn’t gotten around to getting chairs for the yard yet - an unnecessary expense I couldn’t afford just yet. Jessie sat beside me, a lemonade in hand instead of beer, given that she was pregnant, and Beau sat on the hood of his truck, rolling a joint. I always enjoyed nights like this - quiet, relaxing, worry free. Jessie had been the best friend I’d ever had, I’m glad we’re still so close.

“That man ever come back?” She asks, referring to a customer from a few nights ago. He had gotten too drunk and handsy, trying to get me to give him my number. He even waited until the bar closed for me and the manager had to call the cops to get him to leave so I could go home. That was the latest reason I hated my job that I’d only had for a few weeks.

“No. Hopefully he never comes back, I don’t wanna have to use what Merle gave me earlier on him.” I mutter, glancing behind me to make sure the kids hadn’t woken up.

“The neighbor?” Beau asks. I nod.

“What did he give you? Are yous like, talking now?” Jessie asks, leaning on her knees and giving me a worried look.

“No, it’s nothing like that. I wanted to look into getting… a gun, for protection. From Dad.” I explain in a quieter tone. “I figured someone like him would know a place, and he actually ended up giving me a handgun.” I continue, watching Jessie’s disapproving look and wide eyes. “I’ll be safe. I really need it. If Dad finds out where we are…” I trail off, taking a large sip of my beer and letting a huff out.

“Why’d he just give you a gun for free?” Beau asks, looking up from where he was rolling the joint on the hood.

“I dunno. At first he said it was gonna cost me, but then when I mentioned it was because of Dad, he let me just have it. Said he knew all about asshole fathers.” I shrugged. “Either way, works for me.”

“Just don’t let him use that against you. Who knows what he might try to pull, he reminds me of Mack.” Jessie rolls her eyes when she mentions my older brother, grimacing. She hates me as much as I do. He had tried to get with her a million times and it made him resentful, yelling and cursing at her. Which then resulted in Beau beating the shit out of him - which was a sight for sore eyes.

“Yeah, he’s a bit better than him though. From what I’ve seen, at least.” I shrug, taking another swig of my beer. “Dad’s been texting me most of the day, he texted me earlier too. The bullshit you’d expect - pretending to care I took the kids, threatening me.” I explain, handing my phone to Jessie to see the string of unanswered texts.

“I hate them,” She grumbles as she scrolls through the texts. “They won’t find you, don’t worry. They’re too stupid to figure it out.” I chuckle at her comment.

“Yeah, you’re right about that.” I giggle. Beau stands up and offers me the blunt, which I accept and take a long hit from. As I am doing so, I hear a man start laughing and sure enough, Merle and Daryl are standing at the bottom of their porch. I exhale the large puff of smoke and hand the blunt back to Beau, leaning on my knees and resisting the urge to cough.

“Damn girl, who knew ya could have a little fun!” Merle exclaims, walking across the lawn toward us. Daryl and I make eye contact for a short moment before he rolls his eyes and leans against the beat up railing, placing his crossbow on the porch stairs, seemingly waiting for his brother. I roll my eyes with a smirk at Merle’s comment. Ever since earlier, I’ve decided to cut him a little slack. If I was interpreting right, we had more in common than I thought - at least, regarding families.

“Yeah, sometimes.” I respond, offering my beer bottle to him, earning a surprised look from Jessie. I was trying to be nice to Merle to repay him for the gun, so he wouldn’t come collecting in another way. It was the least I could do for a free handgun and clip. Merle looks shocked for a short moment but smirks and takes the bottle from my hand, taking a large swig.

“Yous her family?” Merle asks, looking at Jessie. She hesitates for a moment before shaking her head.

“Friends.” She responds, readjusting her feet uncomfortably. I stand up and suddenly I’m aware of just how close Merle was to me. I am almost touching him as he leans against my railing, my bottle in his large hands, a smirk plastered across his face. He looks fairly attractive in the fire light and his seemingly clean-ish clothes. He’s wearing black cargo pants and a white T-shirt under a jacket, and I take notice of the knife holstered on his hip. “Going hunting?” I ask, taking a step away from him toward the fire and tossing another log in.

“Mhm,” He responds, taking another sip of my beer. “Wanna come with, sweetheart? Can show ya the ways.” He suggests flirtatiously.

“I actually know how to,” I smirk, stepping closer to him and grabbing the beer from his hand, taking a large sip while looking into his eyes. The alcohol and hit were starting to get to me - I was a bit of a lightweight nowadays, since I’ve lost weight and had less time to do this kind of stuff. Merle bites his bottom lip and holds the intense eye contact with me, taking the beer back when I hand it to him and I can feel his eyes on me as I retake my seat beside Jessie.

“Yer loss.” He shrugs, pretending to be indifferent.

“C’mon man!” Daryl shouts from their side of the lawn impatiently. I wish that he would come join us too - I wanna get to know him better.

“Ugh I’m comin! Get yer panties outta a bunch!” He shouts over his shoulder. Merle hands the beer back to me after one last gulp and heads off to rejoin Daryl, walking away into the dark woods.

“What was that all about?” Jessie demands when they are out of earsight. I shrug and set the beer down, not wanting to get anymore intoxicated, given that I still have work later.

“I dunno, gotta be nice. I kinda owe him.” I mumble, kicking at dirt. Truth be told, I found those brothers interesting. Mysterious and dangerous, but alluring. Yes, they were trouble, but I always ended up attracting trouble anyway.

“You better be careful.” Jessie warns me, and I nod.

The night went on peacefully and we all enjoyed talking over the fire and relaxing with the kids asleep. I left for work and Jessie stayed at my place while Beau went out with his friends after dropping me off. He was gonna pick me up after work too, since he was gonna be in the same general area.

My shift was going fine until about one, when I recognized a familiar face and my whole night went sour. The creepy man from the other night was back, and he had his eyes on me. He was with another man at a table instead of the bar, but he was very obviously watching me. I informed the manager on duty but it wasn’t the same man from the other night, so he didn’t know the extent of how creepy the man was. He only came up to the bar once, having his buddy order drinks while he watched me. I remained calm and didn’t even glance at him, handing the drinks to his friend and accepting the two dollar tip without a word.

It took about a half an hour to finish cleaning up after everyone was out of the bar and I was dreading heading outside. I had a feeling that the man would be waiting for me again, but the manager didn’t want me wasting hours and had to stay behind to finish up, so I had to go out alone. I hung up my apron at the door and sighed as I locked up behind myself, leaving the manager alone in the building to finish recounting the drawers. I had already stuffed my tip money into my purse and had my keys tucked between my fingers as I looked around cautiously for a sign of anyone. There were still people out, despite being a bit past three in the morning. Beau hadn’t answered my texts in the last half hour and Jessie was asleep, so I had to wait. Great. Across the street, I spotted a nice looking motorcycle across the street, but that was the only vehicle besides far down the road.

I started walking toward the street light by the corner to wait for Beau when I heard a male voice call out. “Hey! Bitch!” I grasped my keys tighter in my hand and turned my head, spotting the man and his buddy down the alleyway. They stood up from leaning on the wall and started heading my way, so I started walking faster, but then they started running.

“Help!” I hollered and started running across the street. The adrenaline kicked in in my body as fear took over and I ran as fast as I could down the opposite side of the street. They were close behind me and I tried to hop over a fence, but they caught up and threw me onto the ground before I could get all the way over. “Help! Please!” I screamed as loud as I could, trying to kick the men away from me. The main guy sat on top of my hip and shoved a hand over my mouth, smirking evilly down at me as his buddy started trying to lift me. I kicked and flailed as hard as I could but I couldn’t get away as they drug me across the ground into a back alley.

“Hey!” I heard a different male voice holler and then there was the sound of glass breaking. The main man let go of his hand over my mouth to look behind him and I took that opportunity to scream as loud as my lungs would let me, before the second guy punched me in the face. I swore I saw stars as my face throbbed, the two still pinning me, my head propped against the second guy’s chest where he held a knife to my throat.

“Get off her. Now.” A deep male voice demands. I can’t see with the main guy on top of me but I am grateful for whoever it is coming to my rescue. The men only chuckle evilly but then something happens and the second guy jumps away from me quickly, making me slam my head down on the concrete. I groan and my vision goes blurry with tears as the stinging in my head intensifies. “Help…” I mutter as I fight to stay conscious, my head throbbing. The cold, rocky concrete is painful against my cheek, but not as bad as the weight of the man or the stinging in my head.

I can finally see around the main guy and spot a man a few yards away, aiming something in our direction. It’s hard to see with my blurred vision and the darkness, but it looks like a weird sideways weapon. “Ay, man. Chill out. We was just having some fun, that’s all.” The second guy insists, holding his hands up a little. I try to wiggle away but the man on top of me grabs onto my throat and holds a knife toward me.

“Think I won’t? Get the hell outta here or I’ll kill her right here, right now.” The man growls. I stare at the sharp tip of the knife in my face, fearing this is where my life will end. What will happen to Bailey and Colton without me?

The next moment is a huge blur. One second, there is a knife in my face, and the next, the man falls off of me, screaming in pain on the ground beside me. I jump up off the ground as fast as I can and stumble away from them, running blindly in the direction of where I had seen the shadowy figure of the other man. I stumble and trip in the combination of darkness and the pain throughout my body, reaching out to the brick wall to catch myself from falling but someone else catches me and I start flailing and trying to get away, until I look up.

It’s Merle. He hoists me up from where I was half fallen on the ground onto my feet and puts a hand around my waist to keep me up against him. His face is serious and it’s the first time he hasn’t cracked any jokes to me. I’ve never been more relieved to see someone in my life. I reach up and hold onto his neck, trying to keep my balance. The man continues screaming and cursing and I look back, spotting Daryl holding up a crossbow. “Oh shit! Fuck!” The second man screams, running away and leaving his friend behind with an arrow in his ass. Daryl walks over to him and takes his knife, pressing a foot on the man’s back and yanking the arrow out from his asscheek. I turn and hide my face in Merle’s shirt, disgusted and terrified. The screaming continues and then I hear a second scream and a trash can get knocked over. When I look back again, the other man is laying on the ground toward the back of the alley, an arrow in his leg.

Daryl stalks over to him and rips the arrow from his leg as well, kicking the man in the face before heading back toward the first man. “Ya ever, ever - come back here again… I’ll kill ya.” Daryl growls at the main guy who had been stalking me. Daryl rejoins us and puts a hand on my back hesitantly, looking down at me. I’d never been this close to either of the brothers and yet, somehow, I felt safer now.

“T-thank you.” I mumble into Merle’s chest, holding onto him tight, too afraid to let go. Tears stained into his shirt but I couldn’t bring myself to care - I was shaking and biting back crying.

“C’mon,” Merle mumbles, grasping onto my tight and trying to turn me around. I held onto him tight and let them lead me away, not paying attention. I saw Daryl grab my purse and keys in the corner of my eye and noticed Merle was leading me to a motorcycle. “You take her back, little brother. I’ll meet ya there after I finish up here.” Merle lets go of me and I feel like I’m going to fall over from the pounding in my head, but Daryl grabs onto me before I can fall completely over.

“Damn,” Daryl mutters, grabbing me tight and I notice that we are face to face. He’s got me by my waist and my hands grasp onto his shirt collar. “Sorry…” I mumble, blinking away fresh tears. He doesn’t respond but he helps me onto the back of the motorcycle. “Hold onto this.” He takes my hand and places it on these handlebar things, and I do. I do my best to stay up straight while he attaches my purse and his crossbow onto the back of the motorcycle and then sits in front of me. I whip my head toward the alley when I hear more screaming, but Daryl starts the engine and revs the bike. “Hold onto me. Tight.” Daryl hollers over his shoulder, and I do so without hesitation. I wrap my arms tightly around his waist and lean my head against his shoulder, terrified to fall off. I’ve never been on a motorcycle before - if I had been in a normal state of mind, I would have objected. But at this point, I wanted to get home as fast as possible.

The motorcycle is fast and the wind blows past us. I keep my eyes closed and focus on holding onto Daryl, feeling lightheaded and scared of falling off. It’s a short ride and he has to help me off of the bike. Holding onto his rough hand made me feel anxious and insecure but I had to in order to keep upright. He led me inside his house, and I did not object, as I did not want the kids to see me or for me to wake them up. He leads me over to a beaten up couch and I hesitantly sit down, looking around cautiously. I didn’t know if anyone else was here, but it seemed we were alone. I held onto my own arms tightly and tried to focus on my breathing. “I should uh, check ya out.” Daryl mumbles, crouching down in front of me. He waits for me to respond in some way, so I nod and uncross my arms. He runs a hand up my bare leg and I force myself not to flinch. I’m not afraid of Daryl, but tonight’s events have me shaken up. “Stand up,” He says, offering me his hand to help me get up. He lifts up my shirt a little and I flinch when he touches my back. “Yer pretty scratched up.” He comments, removing his hand from my back. “Should put somethin on that, so it don’t get infected.” He stands up when I sit back down and walks away, presumably to grab something. I hold onto my head and wince in pain where there is a large bump already forming.

Daryl returns with a few items in hand. He gives me a package of peas and shrugs, not meeting my eye. “Don’t have ice packs.” He mumbles, kneeling in front of me. “Turn around.” He tells me, and I move so that he can get to my back, placing the ice on my head. He starts applying something cold to my back and I sit as still as I can, wincing at the pain from where I was drug across the concrete. “Yer shirt’s all torn.” He notes when he pulls it back down. “Lemme see yer head.” I remove the ice and he gently runs his fingers through my hair, eventually finding the lump and I jump in pain, tearing up. “Sorry,” He mutters. “How do you feel? Ya might have a concussion.” He says, and I groan.

“I can’t afford to have a concussion.” I mumble and lean back into the sofa, holding the ice against my head once more. Daryl places a gentle hand on my cheek, below my eye, where I was punched. I look into his eyes as he gently rubs his rough thumb over what is surely a black eye. “M’sorry this happened to ya.” He mutters, looking away.

“Thank you for saving me.” I respond quietly.

“Wish I’d been there sooner.” He grumbles, standing up and removing his vest, tossing it onto the seat. He is wearing a black button down shirt and black jeans, his hair is matted against his forehead - but he looks very attractive. I look down at my bare knees that are now scratched up and feel my eyes burning again.

“What were you doing there, anyway?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Merle wanted a drink. Said ya worked there, wanted to bother ya I’m sure.” I let out a small chuckle and he continues. “We were leavin to head back, but we heard ya yellin.” I nod and look down again, trying not to think about it. I should be used to this sort of thing by now, given what I went through as a child.

Before either of us can say anything more, the door opens and Merle steps in, wiping his hands off on a rag. I notice the faint red marks on his knuckles and wonder what he had been doing, but try not to think of that either. Whatever he did, I didn’t care. Those men deserved it.

“She good?” Merle asks his brother, looking over at me huddled on their sofa. Daryl nods and explains my injuries briefly to Merle, who huffs. “Lucky we were there, sugar.” He comments. I don’t respond, hugging myself and shivering a little. Daryl notices but Merle heads to the bathroom, probably to clean up. Daryl walks away but returns shortly with a shirt and sweatpants. “Here. Ya can change in my room.” He mutters, handing the clothes to me. I am shocked but I accept and stand up slowly, following him back to his room. He shuts the door behind himself and I stand there for a moment, surprised to be in his room. He’s a lot sweeter than he likes to come off, it seems. It’s a very standard room. Pretty messy, no decorations, basic sheets on the bed, old paint. He clearly doesn’t care much for the room, it seems like he probably only uses it to sleep. It’s not “homey.” I remove my now ruined shirt and skirt and throw the large T-shirt on and tie the sweatpants on tight so they will fit me. The shirt is baggy and I notice it smells like Daryl. I hadn’t known what he smelled like before today but now I recognize it. It kinda smells like the outdoors, like firewood or something. It’s a nice scent, though, and I find it comforting.

I open the door with my old clothes in hand and spot Daryl waiting down the hall, leant up against the wall. Merle comes out of the bathroom at the same time and we make awkward eye contact. “Look like a Darylina.” He comments with a chuckle, walking past me toward the kitchen. Daryl looks at me for a long moment, until I meet his eye, and then he drops his gaze to the floor. I slowly approach him and give him a forced, appreciative smile. “Thank you.” I tell him gratefully. He has been so kind to me tonight. Before today, I hadn’t barely spoken to him before and he was always standoffish and seemed to avoid talking to me. It was a weird change, but welcomed. If only the circumstances it occurred under were different…

“Want me to throw em away?” He asks, referring to my clothes in hand. I shrug and hand them to him. He tosses them into a trash can and Merle walks over to the chair by the TV, popping open and beer and kicking his feet up. He seemed so nonchalant about the whole situation, it was weird. “Oh shit,” I mutter, realizing Beau is probably worried, waiting for me. “Do you have my phone?” I ask Daryl.

“That’s what yer worried bout?” Merle speaks up.

“No, I had been waiting for my ride. He’s probably worried.” I explain, looking to Daryl, hoping he had grabbed it. Silently, he pulls my phone from his pocket and hands it to me. “Thank you.” I unlock it and find a million missed calls from both Beau and Jessie. He must have woken her up when I never showed up. “Shit.” I grumble. I hated worrying them, after all they do for me.

“Yer boyfriend?” Merle asks, gulping down some of his beer.

“No, my friend’s boyfriend.” I respond as I text both of them in a group message that I was okay and that I would explain.

“Why would yer friend’s man be pickin ya up at three in the mornin?” Merle asks with a wink.

“Ew, no. I’m not like that. He’s a good friend, she’s watching the kids for me at my house right now. I gotta go let them know I’m okay…” I trail off, then remember I’m in Daryl’s clothes. “Uh, I can go change and bring these back-” I start, but he shakes his head.

“Keep em.” He insists, and I feel bad, but don’t fight back. “Ya might have a concussion, so ya should have someone check up on ya when ya sleep tonight, and get it checked.” He explains.

“Doctor Daryl.” Merle jokes sarcastically, and his brother shoots him an evil eye.

“Thank you guys for helping me. I don’t know how I can repay you…” I trail off, refusing to think about the course of the night again.

“Don’t worry bout it, darlin.” Merle smirks.

“Couldn’t just leave ya there.” Daryl mutters awkwardly, shuffling his feet.

“Well, still. Thank you.” I repeat before heading toward the door. Daryl follows behind me, handing me my purse and keys, and I wave before walking out and heading back to my house slowly, careful not to trip. I look back and notice he is watching me and I feel my cheeks heat up, fumbling to get my key out and open my door. I notice Beau’s truck is here and when I open the door, the two of them are sitting on the sofa, waiting for me.

Jessie and Beau were furious when I told them what happened and I ended up crying on her shoulder, letting the emotions from the night settle in. Beau threatened to go back out looking for them but I told him what I suspected Merle did and he didn’t. Jessie helped me get cleaned up and settled into bed. She slept next to me in my bed that night and woke me up every two hours, in case I had a concussion. Beau slept on the couch and I had never felt more appreciative for anyone more than I did for them and Daryl in that very moment...

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hxt1b · 3 years

Text

A Boy Like Him

Jeno x Reader

Requested Prompt 13 Pretend Girlfriend for @deepangelchaos

Genre: Fluff, maybe a little angsty

WC: 2.8k

Warning: Swearing, Mental Health (y/n has a panic attack)

Masterlist

Prompt List, for any requests anyone may have.

There were many moments in a day you wondered 'what the fuck is my life?' Many times you'd look in the mirror and it would be hard for you to remember what your life use to be like. The past four months had been a fast blur of media, paparazzi and fake public cuddles. You weren't made for this shit but somehow you literally drew the short stick.

"You want us to what?" Aera asked looking at your manager shocked. You could tell your best friend was not pleased by what you'd just been told. Sena also grumbled from your left.

"It's only a year." He said looking at the three of you expectantly, "only one of you has to do it and its exposure. Come on." He wasn't selling it very well. You sighed.

"Why us?" Sena asked.

"I don't know they just asked us." He replied.

"Why now?" Aera asked. Your manager shrugged again.

"Look it'll be good for your YouTube careers, that's a lot of people who will want to know who you are and they'll watch you. A lot of new fans!" He said.

"A lot of fucking hate too." You said glaring at him.

"Good comes with the bad." He said. You sighed weighing his options.

"Just think about it."

So the three of you thought about it, in the end, he was right. You could steadily grow your YouTube channel, you already were, but this would make it a lot faster, and it couldn't really hurt could it?

"Are you ready?" Jeno asked snapping you out of your thoughts. You nodded closing your laptop lid and standing up.

Sena fluttered out of the other room, her energy high not matched by anyone else in the room. Aera followed her hands tucked into her pocket. One glance towards Jeno and she had a scowl growing on her face.

You laughed awkwardly getting in between her and Jeno. You realized that you were the reason for the anger directed at the boy however that didn't make the situation any less awkward in your head.

"Let's film?" Sena said clapping her hands. Jeno nodded not saying anything and let you and your friends lead the way to your filming studio.

You watched as Jeno walked up to the two seats set up for you both and sat down next to you. Sena slipped behind the camera, and Aera took a seat next to a table with a laptop on it off-camera.

"Okay rolling in 3, 2…" Sena pointed at you.

"Hello, my dudes." You started clapping lightly getting the attention of every mic in the room and the viewers. You launched straight into a short intro. "Welcome back to our channel. Everyone has been asking for this video a lot so here we are today, as you can probably tell from the title of the video we're doing the boyfriend tag." You looked over at Jeno a smile on your face, he smiled back at you his eyes disappearing.

Your stomach turned, that fluttery feeling that you'd rarely ever felt. And your awkward smile fell to a much more relaxed one as you looked at him continuing to speak to the camera. It was sad though, and you knew it, your crush on him.

"This is fake you know what right?" He clarified the day you met. You nodded quickly irritated in your head, you'd read the damn contract.

"Good okay we're supposed to 'hang out' together for a couple of hours and make sure that we get spotted by the paparazzi." You nodded as he explained that he was going to walk around with you for a few minutes and then you'd be coming back to his dorm to sit around. Little did you know that after your very very short walk around the park that when you'd get back she would be here.

So there you were stuck in NCT dreams dorm while your fake boyfriend didn't even want to get to know you on a basic human level.

He told you to watch TV while he went into his room with his actual girlfriend. Lucky for you Chenle came into the living room only seconds later. The younger boy didn't say anything just sat down next to you and watched the anime you'd put on.

"He's not a bad person." He randomly said you just nodded not knowing what he was saying."I mean you know why the company made the contract right?" Chenle asked.

"How did you two meet?" Aera asked. Her voice flat. You glanced over at her keeping the smile on your face.

"Well," You started.

"At the park." Jeno cut you off, adjusting in his seat. "I was on a bike ride. These three were at the park taking photo's they asked me to take a photo. I thought they meant with me but they meant of them, it was awkward." He chuckled and you also laughed lightly. That had happened. The first time he met your friends you'd all gone to the park, Sena had asked for a picture.

"He's grumpy today." You sighed as the three of you sat on the bench overlooking the green field after taking the pictures.

"He seems to always be fucking grumpy," Aera said rolling her eyes.

"I mean cut him some slack his girlfriend did leave him," Sena said. Aera snickered.

"She was a bitch and everyone knew it. His friend knew it the company knew it. That's why this contract exists in the first place because if word had gotten out that he was dating her his reputation would have plummeted so they looked for someone that would make him look good." Aera sneered in the direction of Jeno, he was on the phone talking to Jaemin. "When she was done with him she left."

After that Aera never warmed up to him.

In all honesty, you regretted telling your friends. Aera was too quick to judgement, Sena was kinder sometimes too kind. You needed a good medium, someone who would complain but not hate, but they were what you had and together you got the balance, but there were moments where you didn't.

You stared at Jeno as Aera and Sena began to debate how he should react and how he should handle it, but you'd been there when she'd left him. You were on the couch with Chenle watching your fifth anime together in the three weeks that you'd been coming over.

Jeno had cried. She was bad for him, but he'd loved her.

The questions continued, and the two of you continued to tell half-truths, stories you'd both been told to create. You didn't flinch outwardly when Jeno pulled your chair closer to his pulling you into his side, and you tried your best to keep calm when his arm circled your waist. It's just for the camera you told yourself.

"Now for the fan questions," Aera said, turning the laptop towards you two. You turned your head squinting at the screen.

"Can you bring it closer?" Jeno asked for you. Aera moved the table in front of you and set up the laptop.

"Press play." You leaned forwards and did as you were told. A video played on the screen, a clip of an anime. A boy was walking holding two popsicles, he sat on a bench next to a girl and passed her both the treats.

"They're both mine?" She asked looking over at the boy shocked. He just nodded.

"You like both flavours right?" He asked as he grew embarrassed. She smiled up at him in the cute anime fashion.

The clip ended and cut to a paparazzi video of you on a bench, Jeno sitting next to you as you held two popsicles, his arms were crossed over his chest as he looked away from you. You looking at him in amazement much like the girl from the anime.

"The question that was asked was, 'did you intend to re-create an anime or are you guys just that damn adorable?" Your cheeks flushed as you stared at the laptop. Jeno next to you was also frozen.

"I guess we're just that damn adorable." He quietly replied. You looked up at him and giggled lightly. He was smiling at you again, you were afraid the butterflies in your stomach were going to kill you. You looked away from him quickly.

"I don't think we've even seen that anime." You added to his answer.

"Why can't I have a guy like that." You whined to Chenle as the two of you watched a cute anime couple stand in the middle of a crowded plaza, his hand in her hair as he ruffled it. He'd just told her that he knew her after she accused him of not knowing a single thing about her. He'd proved that he in fact did by handing the character her favourite flower, a rare type of lily.

"I thought you didn't like romance anime?" Chenle teased. You threw your pillow at him.

"Shut up." Chenle laughed loudly at your reaction making you laugh.

You jumped when Jeno walked into the living room scaring you.

"Want to go for a walk?" He asked. You nodded.

"Sure."

You'd ended up at the park as the sun set.

"Wait here." He'd said motioning for you to sit on the bench, confused you'd sat down as he ran off. He'd come back minutes later with the two popsicles. Handing you them both.

"Strawberry and Lime." He said, "I know you like both the flavours and I know you have a sweet tooth."

"Not going to lie, kinda creepy that someone took a video of you two like that," Sena said turning the camera off after you'd closed off the video.

"It was a paparazzi." You said getting up from the chair.

"Just gotta go to the bathroom." You added and quickly left the room. Sitting that close to him was always hard for you. That popsicle incident was a month after he'd gotten dumped, he'd hung out with you a little bit more before the day at the park and your interactions had only grown after that but they were all friendly not enough to call you guys good friends though.

You turned the faucet on letting the water cool your sweating hands. Your heart was racing and you couldn't calm the damn butterflies, your head replaying the way he pulled your chair to him, flashing you the memories of him giving you the cold treats.

"It's fake." Aera's voice said in your head.

"It's fake." You muttered to yourself.

After drying your hands you pulled the door open and jumped when you almost bumped into Jeno. He was leaning on the wall right next to the bathroom.

"Are you waiting for the bathroom?" You asked, he shook his head, his hand reaching out and grabbing your sleeve. He fiddled with the thumb hole of your hoodie, the butterflies you'd been trying to stomp out coming back.

"I was waiting for you, it's really awkward being in a room with Aera she keeps on giving me a death glare." You laughed, bringing his eyes up to yours.

"Y/N," He started his voice quiet.

"Y/N!" Sena yelled running out and barrelling towards you a huge smile on her face.

"WE JUST HIT A MILLION SUBSCRIBERS."

"WE DID?" You asked your hand flying to your friend forcing Jeno to let go of your sleeve.

"HELL YEAH WE DID," Aera said running into the hallway as well, as Sena pulled you in for a hug. Aera slamming into the both of you not even a second later.

—

You typically never paid attention to the hate, but as your numbers grew so did the rude and obnoxious comments.

"You're not watching," Chenle whined as you scrolled on your phone.

"Sorry." You mumbled as you tossed the phone onto the couch, your eyes caught Jeno's as you turned back to the TV. He'd started watching with you a couple of weeks ago.

You didn't keep your gaze with his long, just turned to the screen. But you couldn't watch, your brain was reeling with the hate. It was like they forgot you were a human being. Some people would act like you having other friends was a crime. There was a portion of the internet rioting over a photo of you and Jaemin.

Renjun had wanted the boys to go get lunch together at a restaurant, complaining about being stuck inside all the time. No one had the heart to say no, not even you.

The picture was taken as you all exited the place, Jaemin had grabbed the back of your shirt as you'd tripped, but it looked odd. The next photo was of him pulling you into him.

That was a week ago the two of you were being called all sorts of names. Chenle had told you to ignore it, that it will blow over, but it was easier said than done. Not being able to focus as your eyes blurred you excused yourself to the bathroom.

Taking your phone with you. Your hands shook as you locked the bathroom and sank to the floor, you were determined to not cry over the hate but it was starting to feel like you couldn't breathe.

You scrolled through your contacts and called your friends, neither answered. Their phones off. You knew they'd gone to see a movie today, but you'd hoped that maybe their phones wouldn't be off.

You went to the sink and turned on the water, watching the cold water swirl into the drain as you tried to calm your breathing, it wasn't working.

A knock on the bathroom door startled you.

"Y/N" It was Jeno. "Are you okay?" He asked.

You looked at yourself in the mirror, your eyes were red with unshed tears and you looked frazzled.

"Y-yeah." You replied your voice shaking slightly.

"Can I come in?" He asked. You froze for a second before turning off the faucet and unlocking the door letting him know he could come in.

He opened the door slowly as he came into the bathroom. He looked at you for a second before his arms came around you pulling you into his chest. You began to cry, as he shushed you. He didn't say anything further, just held you until you calmed down.

An hour later you were sat on his bed Jeno next to you as he told you about his favourite anime that he wanted you and Chenle to watch with him. You nodded as he spoke taking in every word that came out of his perfect mouth.

You couldn't help but want to kiss him as his enthusiasm about the anime grew. His eyes were shining. You hadn't seen Jeno like this, and it wasn't helping with your feelings. Your heart was doing summersaults, he stopped talking as you stared at him.

"Are you listening to me?" He asked snapping you out of your daze.

"Of course." You replied crossing your legs on his bed as he moved closer to you.

"Are you sure?" He asked, and you laughed awkwardly, "what did I just say?"

"Are you sure?" You answered smartly, a teasing tone as you smiled at him. He narrowed his eyes at you, his lips pouting.

You opened your mouth to say something, but the words flew out of your brain as Jeno pressed his lips against yours, his hand snaking around the side of your face as he pulled you to him.

Shocked you pulled back, looking at him; eyes wide.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that." He said moving back from you. Your brain was in overdrive, so many thoughts flooded in as you stared at him. He was moving away from you.

You ignored everything in your head and grabbed his wrist.

"Don't apologize." You said and pulled him back to you, moving your lips to his again, you kissed him slowly taking in the way he felt against you. The way he still tasted like the chocolate he'd just eaten, and given you half of.

You breathed heavily when he pulled away from you again.

"Fuck." Was the only word that left his mouth as he stared at you before grabbing you again.

The next day he texted you asking you to go to the park with him, you met him at the bench he'd given you the popsicles at. He was smiling at you as he approached you, his hand tucked behind his back.

He came to a stop in front of you, and you looked up at him a curious expression on his face.

"I got you something." He said and moved his hand towards you. A Levi pop animation bobblehead in his hand.

"It's your favourite anime right?" You looked up at him shocked and nodded.

"I knew it."

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