#i think that we made kevin a himbo | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bippot · 2 years

Text

Summary: Kevin's niece shakes up Jake's little peanut head, in the best way possible. For the first time in his life, he's nervous to even flirt with a girl cause, like, what if he fucks up? That would suck.

Despite how hard he tries, it takes Jake a while to get out of the dreaded friendzone because of overbearing Uncles, pigeons, drunken nights out and the famous Jake Martin reputation.

Tags: Idiots in Love, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Himbo, Slow Burn, Co-workers, Friends to Lovers

The Crew, Jake Martin Masterlist - here

Chapter 8: Heavy Disguise

More drinks? Did they need more? Absolutely not. Did they get more? Yep. Yeah, yeah they did. Because when you're already buzzed, it seems like a great idea to get more buzzed.

Jake took a deep breath and tried to control himself. No matter how much his body insisted on wanting to follow its instincts, his mind was telling him to stop. Not just to stop drinking, but the way Y/N had been dancing against him, got him a little hot and bothered, so he needed to stop squeezing her hips and leaning towards her, to stop looking at her face and the way her hair fell softly over her shoulders and her lips parted ever so slightly. And no matter how hard he tried to stop, he didn't want to stop. There was something about being this close to her that made everything in him go haywire. So, he excused himself to the bathroom when they got drinks in the hopes he could calm himself down.

While Jake was absent, the sugar daddy-looking man slid next to Y/N as she sat at the bar, leaning across to flirt, "How was the Cosmo?"

"It was good. Thank you."

The man grinned, flashing his perfect white teeth and reached out his hand to caress Y/N's forearm but she subtly moved it, pretending to get distracted by whatever Grant was doing. She saw the annoyance flash across the man's features but he quickly composed himself. "I could get you another?"

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass," she said, gesturing to the bartender who was making their drinks. She picked up her own drink and gulped down half of it, needing it to get through this interaction.

She heard the man sigh, "You're too cute to stay away from. Can't you give me an hour? I promise I'll be a perfect gentleman."

Y/N laughed, "Sorry, but I've had my fill of gentlemen today." She smiled politely and waited for the man to leave her alone.

Sugar daddy just kept going, "Well, maybe we could take our conversation somewhere private? Maybe somewhere a little less crowded?"

Was this guy ever going to give up? The first thing Jake heard as he returned was "Your eyes are amazing," and he rolled his eyes. The guy had a point, but still, it was obvious that Y/N wasn't into it.

"Funny enough, I grew them myself."

Walking up behind her, Jake placed a supportive hand on the small of her back and picked up his drink. He placed his head on her shoulder and asked, "Want a sip, babe?"

Perfect. The ol' boyfriend routine might get him to piss off and leave her alone. They didn't have to wait long before Sugar Daddy finally decided to go away. Why do men only stop pursuing someone when they are presumed to already be in a relationship? Isn't a woman's clear disinterest in them a sign to back off?

Grant paused his conversation with a new girl and called out, "Jakester, bring me my drink," like Jake was his butler or some shit. The pair looked at each other in disbelief before Jake obliged, taking Grant's drink from the bar and heading towards him.

Y/N followed and hugged Jake from the side after handing him his drink that he'd left. "Thank you for the help, 'Jakester'," she told him. He couldn't hear but could tell what she said by how her lips moved and the sparkle in her eyes.

"Always, 'babe'." At the pet name, Grant raised one eyebrow, watching the exchange with a puzzled expression on his face. Hadn't he noticed how in love the two of them were before now? Then again, he was a very affectionate guy, so maybe that was why he hadn't realised. Jesus, the amount of random people Grant had kissed tonight was a sign of how big of a slut he was. His companions had no idea about the true number.

By the end of the night, a very drunk Grant had convinced them to take him to a karaoke bar. He had sung an incredibly off-key version of My Heart Will Go On. Y/N didn't understand most of it due to his slurring, but she had to admit it was a very confident performance. "It's your turn, Jakey boooy," Grant urged as he slumped down against one of the sofas, looking extremely pathetic.

Jake chuckled, "No thanks, pal." But he knew he wouldn't be able to resist Y/N's puppy dog eyes, especially when she was drunk.

"Go on. Have fun," Y/N pleaded. "Please, Jakey?"

He surrendered, only under the condition that she had to sing with him, which was fine with Y/N. She thought about saying no, but she had never been one to shy away from a challenge. Plus, she used to dabble in theatre in school. "All right. One song. Come on!" He pulled her up from the sofa to the microphones.

A loud "Yay! Yay!" came from Grant, who clapped his hands like a child on Christmas morning.

Before it started, he leant across and told her, "You be Aladdin. I'm the Princess," so that's how they proceeded. Despite occasionally getting the words a bit off, they made it through a not too awful sounding rendition of A Whole New World. Jake had quite a good singing voice. She wondered whether the crew knew that.

Beth would love that information.

Singing a duet had sobered them up a little, and they made sure Gary got home okay before crashing at Jake's house. They had to carry him all the way through the Air B&B that he stayed in, making sure he was tucked in with a bottle of water and painkillers were close when he woke up. Fuck. The headache they were bound to get was going to be hell.

Once he was sufficiently tucked into bed, they left and waited outside for their uber with the cool air prickling against her arms. Not even asking, Jake took his jacket from where it was tied around his waist and draped it across her shoulders. But, he was cold too. She could see the goosebumps on his bare arms so she turned around and ordered, "Hug me." She didn't realise until she saw his eyes widen a bit that she sounded like a spoiled child but honestly, this would keep them both warm. So he complied and wrapped his arms around her, letting his chin rest on top of her head. And he felt her relax into the embrace, melting against him. They stood there silently for several minutes, holding onto each other until the car arrived.

When they arrived at his house, they thanked the Uber driver and walked up to his front door. On the way, she tripped on a bit of uneven ground, but he managed to catch her before she fell. To ensure she didn't trip again, he quickly placed one hand under her knee and decided to bridal carry her the rest of the way. Lightly hitting him, she cheerfully protested, "Put me down. I'm not that drunk." It was true, she definitely wasn't drunk anymore. Just tipsy. But Jake was always ready to prove a point, so she let him carry her inside.

Once they were safely inside, he playfully dropped her on the couch then leaped into the air and flopped down, his head haphazardly landing in her lap and the rest of him sprawled out on the cushions.

"How are you still so energetic, Princess?" She laughed, carefully running her hand through his hair. He looked so adorable gazing up at her, every hand stroke calming him down further and causing him to sink deeper into the couch.

"Do not tell the crew about that," he responded, grinning at her so wide. "Beth will force us out for every single karaoke night until we die."

She giggled, resting her other hand over his heart, feeling its rhythm slowly slowing down. Her fingers traced circles on his chest and he closed his eyes, savouring this moment while he could.

Maybe she wouldn't tell them. She'd keep it all to herself and have it be their little secret. She liked the sound of that. A little secret just between them, a slither of information just for them.

Still, she teased, "I don't know if I can keep my mouth shut about such hot gossip. I might even tell TMZ." She gave him a devilish smile as he opened one eye to see if she was messing with him.

This made him giggle, and he replied, "I'll tell them all about your slutty dance moves. Kevin's face will be all like." He did the most over-exaggerated shocked Kevin face that he could muster.

Laughing, she slapped his chest lightly, "Hey! That is totally not funny."

Hip swaying made up around 75% of her dancing. When she was pressed up against him, it was like hell and heaven mixed into one for him. It took all of his willpower to not get a boner. Thankfully, he had some self-control.... only some.

Completely changing the subject, Jake inquired, "What was up with that Cosmo guy?"

"I honestly have no clue." She sighed, pulling a strand of hair out of her face. "He was persistent."

"Well, he was obviously taken by you."

"Who isn't?" she joked, laughing slightly at the absurdity of her statement as she ran her finger over the collar of his shirt, feeling the material rub against her skin. His eyes softened at her comment, a warm feeling spreading throughout his body as a soft smile appeared on his face. Did she not believe people could be interested in her?

Did she even notice how attracted he was to her? Or was she oblivious to it?

He gently grabbed her hand and brought it up to his mouth, kissing it briefly. "You know, if you want a sugar daddy, I'm right here. I'll get you anything you want."

She snorted, rolling her eyes at him. Was he serious? This was one of those Jake Martin moves she'd heard so much about. Without the alcohol he'd never had said that, she was sure of it, so she dismissed it. "I think I'll pass for now, Jakey. I'm content with hanging out with you for free." He smiled at her answer. 'For free'. Even if he wasn't Jake Martin™️ he knew she'd still spend time with him. That meant more than he ever could express.

As she ran her fingers along his jawline and cheekbones, she realised that couldn't stop. He looked so serene below her, almost like an ancient sculpture that was so pretty that all restraint leaves your body as you're filled with the overwhelming urge to swipe your hands across the smooth marble. Her breath quickened as she watched him; it was as if her entire world had slowed down as she focused solely on him.

"Can you order some food? I'm starving and too comfortable to move," he mumbled, closing his eyes and leaning into her hand.

"Of course, Princess." She selected her order on his phone, then accidentally dropped it on his head. With a groan, Jake sat up and rubbed his forehead. "Shit."

"Oh fuck, sorry," She apologized, brushing her thumb carefully over the place of impact, "I'm sorry."

"Well, the only thing to do now is to kiss it better."

The alcohol had given him the confidence to say that. He was so thankful for booze. She smiled widely and brushed her lips across his boo-boo. She had left a lipstick mark there and wiped it away as she inquired, "Better?"

"Uh, no, it is still very painful," He lied, his eyes widening. He didn't think she'd actually do it. Well, she'd done it once there was no harm in asking, "You might have to try again?"

So she did.

Their order came quickly, and they scoffed it down. During their meal, they settled back in to watch television, trying to decide what they'd eventually fall asleep to. It became obvious that they weren't going to stay awake long enough to even make it though half an episode. Their eyelids began drooping lower and lower as they continued talking animatedly, completely forgetting that they had work in the morning.

Once their food was utterly demolished, Jake threw the wrappers on the floor and brought his arms around Y/N, suddenly jolting backwards and taking her with him as he lay back against the sofa cushions with her on top of him. As his head hit the cushion, she automatically curled closer to him, wrapping her arm around his middle and laying her head on his shoulder. There it was again. That smell. She complimented, "We've been in a sweaty club and you still smell amazing."

It must be the alcohol. He thought to himself as he ran his fingers through her hair, enjoying how the strands caught on his fingers, tangling themselves together in a way that caused him to smirk. It was also a nice distraction as she shifted, placing her legs over his lap and settling comfortably against him. It just felt right to have one hand in her hair and the other clutching at her thigh. His eyes kept dropping shut for a few seconds but he forced them open when she nuzzled her nose against his neck so he could revel in the sight of her for just that bit longer.

Before she fell asleep, she took another deep breath, inhaling his scent again and mumbled, "So.. smell good. So good." After saying that she immediately drifted off to sleep.

Jake stayed awake for another half an hour or so, watching her sleep peacefully against his chest, occasionally tracing patterns into her thigh with his thumb. Eventually his eyelids started getting heavy as well and he couldn't keep them open any longer. Listening to her soft snores, he finally allowed himself to succumb to sleep.

Hangovers suck major ass. Jake had one that was so bad that he felt like he couldn't get out of bed. But had to. His alarm went off, and she quickly reached out to where she thought the sound was coming from to turn it off. Instead of finding the phone, hand came into contact with his temple. "What is it with you and hitting me in the head?" He grumbled, the smack waking him up. He reached back to his phone on the side table and turned it off.

"Sorry, Princess," she humorously apologised, nuzzling further into him to go back to sleep. He was warm and soft and she didn't want to move. Plus, the after-effects of alcohol caused her to have a dull pain in the frontal lobe of her head.

His fingers found her hair again and gently started playing with the small curls there. The sensation was soothing and he sighed contently. They both laid still in bed for several minutes until he mumbled, "We are going to have to get up soon."

"No," she whined, pressing closer to him. She wanted nothing more than to stay here, lying next to Jake like this forever.

"Y/N," he warned, lightly shaking her shoulders.

With a loud groan of "Five more minutes," she burrowed deeper into his embrace, holding him firmly against her, ensuring that he couldn't get up. She was not prepared to wake up yet. No, she would sleep a little longer.

When those five minutes were up, she groggily opened her eyes, squinting at the light streaming in through the windows. Her head was pounding, her stomach was hurting, and she was a little sore. Looking over, Jake seemed just about awake and had a goofy grin on his face, which wasn't as big as usual but still cute nonetheless, he asked, "How many shots did we drink?"

Groaning, she sat up and rested back against his shoulder, rubbing her temples and yawning, "I don't remember."

"Me either," he replied, stretching his arms up above his head. "I don't feel so good."

She could tell he was going through it after their night out. His forehead was creased and his eyes narrowed due to the light. He had a small phone shaped bruise on his forehead, but it didn't look too bad. Sitting up straighter, she reached out and gently massaged his temples as she said, "As your handler, I suggest you take it easy today. Okay?"

A small chuckle escaped his lips, and he said, "Yes ma'am."

"Good boy." A faint blush spread across his cheeks at her words as she moved her hand from his brow to the side of his face, gently running her fingers through his hair. Her voice grew softer as she spoke, "Let's go get something for the headaches, princess."

That was probably best. He nodded before standing up and holding out a hand to help her up. She gladly accepted it and stood beside him as they slowly made their way to the kitchen to down a glass of water and painkillers. "Better?"

Honestly, he appreciated her taking the time to check up on him, even though, technically, it was her fault. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine. You're hungover."

He deadpanned, "So are you."

"Touche."

Why would she use that word? He would have no idea what that meant. Thinking she was delirious, he retorted, "See, you're worse than me. You're making up words."

Stopping her hands, she started chuckling and let her head dip to his shoulder. It was adorable. He was just so clueless sometimes.

Chapter 10: Hangover :(

#jake martin x reader #jake martin #the crew

21 notes · View notes

medusas-stylist · 2 years

Text

No Nuance November, the sequel:

because there is no way in hell i am getting this out before midnight so let’s pretend i live in cali

Athena is racist, stop giving her poc children

So much sex happens at camp. Stop acting like it doesn’t.

On top of that, camp isn’t band camp. It’s a 24/7 training facility for teenagers. People have literally died in the practice arena.

Percy can’t make friends to save his life. He isn’t friends with people at CHB he’s just their leader.

Annabeth does not struggle in school, she struggles to stay in school

Percy and Jason were at odds with each other more than they were friends with each other

Percy became praetor at CJ without having made more than two friends there. Once again, he can’t make friends he’s just their leader

Centaurs can get drunk off of root beer. How.

Chiron raped girls back in the day why does he care about teenagers doing the dirty.

In ancient Greece, (around) 12 was the age of sexual maturity (go see the Hymn to Demeter, Persephone is like 12 there). In ancient Greece, satyrs were symbols of sexual promiscuity (and rape; trust me, go look up the term ‘ithyphallic’). To the ancient Greeks (you know, the people whose stories Rick based his entire work around) demigods “finding out” they’re demigods (you know, maturing) at age 12 and being found by a satyr (bringing them to a centaur just to make it all worse)… well hopefully you can do the math.

Also, by the way, the ancient Greeks weren’t gay. They also weren’t straight. They also weren’t bi. Please don’t headcanon rapey gods as LGBTQ heroes please and thank you. If you want to do that go use Kevin Spacey.

Okay, back to PJO. Piper is a canonical “I’m not like other girls” girl from 2010. She’s a pick me girl.

Leo hides his pain behind toxic masculinity and incel-ism.

Frank is

Hazel is

Just kidding you can’t say anything bad about Hazel and Frank

Frank shouldn’t have become buff. It’s a poorly adapted mythological trope. It’s also fat shaming.

Hazel is black and it doesn’t matter what tone her skin is. Also her hair is black. Her eyes are brown. No more of this fucking gold shit.

Should I keep going?

Fuck it yeah.

Jason is Madison Cawthorn (I got kicked out of a discord server for saying this but we all know it’s true)

Why was Reyna so love-focused. Why.

Annabeth is very social. She’s been at camp since she was 7 the girl has connections

Everyone forgets that as much as Percy would die for Annabeth, she’s proven she’d die for him too.

If Demigods were designed by the gods to be perfect soldiers they shouldn’t have PTSD.

So why is Nico the only character with PTSD.

Why is everyone worshipping a relationship of two 13 year olds with like two lines of dialogue.

Did I fail to mention that NICO IS THIRTEEN AT THE END OF HOO??? THIRTEEN???

I’m calling the FBI on y’all.

Like actually please stop fetishizing a thirteen year old gay boy. It’s kinda gross. Also on that same note Hazel is 13 too. 16/17 yo Percy and Annabeth is enough of an issue.

Poseidon and Percy barely interact. Percy isn’t going on a fucking vacation to Atlantis.

On top of that, the gods don’t care about their children unless something really terrible is happening to them. None of them are good parents stop trying to force them into being that.

New Rome is dumb. Cut New Rome out of your own canons. #nonewrome and I will not explain myself.

Percy and Annabeth are not going to the same school.

Also what is it with slow burn senior year fanfictions where they get together right before they go across the country to separate schools? Just make it happen in Junior year.

Frank is the himbo, not Percy

A ‘swimmer’s body’ doesn’t mean what you all think it means.

All the demigods are like superhuman athletes but that doesn’t mean they have to be shredded. Abs ≠ performance.

Wow I’m on 49? Okay a few more and I stop.

Percy should not trust Paul until after TLO.

Percy doesn’t want to be a hero. He’s like Spiderman. He just wants to live a normal life. dark!Percy is hot and all but it ain’t who Percy wants to be

Luke should have waited in his reveal. He could have groomed Percy into joining him.

The demigods on Kronos’ side are literally terrified of Percy to the point of nightmares.

Percy killed demigods in the Battle of Manhattan.

My final hot take: Annabeth didn’t not join Kronos because Kronos was evil. She wanted to achieve the vision she had with the Sirens, but she knew that she’d have no control over creating that vision with Kronos. For clarity: If Kronos had convinced Annabeth she could create the Sirens’ vision, she would have joined him. He and Luke just failed to make their case.

#pjo #no nuance november #but late #percy jackson #annabeth chase #frank zhang #hazel levesque #piper mclean #jason grace #leo valdez #nico di angelo #will solace #hot takes #hoo #dark!percy

311 notes · View notes

laurenairay · 3 years

Text

Unexpected - K. Hayes

Summary: After being just friends with Kevin for over four years, can you ever be anything more?

Word Count: 10.2k

Warnings: a little angst, a lot of fluff, a smidgen of smut, friends to lovers because that’s my jam

A/N: so this originally started as a blurb which got mildly out of hand and turned into this fic. I have repeated the scene from the blurb to keep the flow the same. I have no regrets.

This is particularly inspired from Talk About by Seaforth (thanks @antoineroussel!) and Just Friends by Virginia to Vegas (thanks @broadstbroskis!)

@danglesnipecelly @princessphilly @chicagoblackhawkslover96 @himbos-on-ice @whoeverineedtobe @flybabyfly @ipuckwithhockey @antoineroussel @babytkachuks @broadstbroskis @texanstarslove @tippedbykreider @thebookofmags @horsesandhockeyplayers @denis-scorianov @lulucanwrite @rangersftflyers @notaccurateornice @pandorasbox2020 @mattytkachuk19 @whatishockey @no-pucks-given @fanfics-for-the-hockey-fan @troubatrain @joelsfarabee @nuenyyx @miracleonice87

A party was never just a simple party when Kevin Hayes was involved. Music was pounding, beer was flowing, shots were poured, and weed was an easy haze on the back porch. You had no idea what the occasion was for one of your oldest friends to be throwing this shindig, but you weren’t complaining. Hanging out with him and relaxing after a long hard day was infinitely better than sitting at home and eating cold pizza. Again.

People always teased you about being so close with Kevin, always hinting that there must be something more between you, but you just laughed it off, knowing that he would never be interested. How could he? He had the perfect hockey WAGs lining up in queues to flirt with him – and you were just his friend. You’d known each other since you both lived in Tribeca years ago, and there had never been anything to even hint at anything more than friends. He’d never flirted with you outside of his natural charm. He’d never made a move on you in the slightest. He’d never shown the smallest bit of interest in anything other than platonic – so you knew how he felt. And to be honest, his friendship was amazing and it was something you never wanted to lose, so why would you put yourself out there when you already knew what the answer would be?

No, being friends with Kevin Hayes was exactly where you were meant to be.

You’d spent a few hours with a rotating cast of Flyers and their better halves, drinking and sharing stories about your mutual friend, but it had been a while since you’d seen him. At least a couple of non-Kevin hours. So what if you got a little needy when you were drinking? How could you not want a hug from your beautiful friend? No, bad drunk brain. Crossing that line was never worth it.

You still wanted that hug though.

So bidding the other drunk partygoers adieu, you wandered about the house in search of Kevin, coming up empty in every room…until you spotted smoke outside the kitchen window. Hah, of course. You knew how much he loved to wind down with a blunt or two. His easygoing nature was one of the things you loved most about him.

Putting down your empty drink, you walked outside, spotting Kevin and Nolan lounging on the outside sofas, Nolan with a blunt in his hand.

“Hey! You’re here!” Kevin grinned.

You shook your head fondly, wafting the pungent smoke out of your face.

“I’ve been here for hours, Kev. You’ve already seen me,” you said, smiling.

Kevin pouted, and Nolan just snickered, making you laugh.

“Weed always makes you forgetful,” you mused, sitting down on the seating next to him.

“Nuh-uh I don’t forget everything,” Kevin shrugged, turning to face you properly, “Not the important things. Like the fact that I love you, you know that right?”

Your jaw dropped slightly as his words hit you. What the everloving fuck? Why would he joke like that?

“Goddamn Kev, how high are you?” you asked, frowning.

Without waiting for him to answer, you looked over at Nolan, who just shrugged.

“I don’t know, he’s pretty baked. But I’m going to let you deal with all of that,” Nolan grimaced, waving a hand in Kevin’s general direction.

You rolled your eyes as he quickly passed Kevin the blunt and walked back inside. Yeah, thanks for the help.

“Why did Patty leave?” Kevin asked, frowning.

“Because he’s allergic to emotions? I don’t know. Maybe he just knows that you’re talking shit and he doesn’t want to deal with it,” you muttered.

“I’m not talking shit,” Kevin shot back, “I love you,”

“No you don’t,” you said, rolling your eyes again.

Seriously? Where had this come from? This wasn’t fair, he couldn’t say that when you knew it wasn’t true. Where had he gotten this lot of weed from? Clearly it didn’t agree with him.

“Yes I do! I know my own feelings,” Kevin insisted.

“Right, yeah, sure you do,” you sighed.

You were neither drunk enough nor high enough for this conversation. This was…not how you expected this evening to go. And just like that, your good mood was ruined.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” Kevin asked softly.

“Not even in the slightest, Kev,” you said, smiling sadly.

Of course you didn’t. Why, after all this time, would he be saying the words you most wanted to hear from him? There was no logic behind it – there was no way it could be true. He’d never ever shown any hint of this to be true.

“I’ll prove it to you,” he said firmly.

And then he placed his hand on your thigh, making you inhale sharply, the warmth of his large hand sending tingles through your body. No.

“This is not the time or place, Kevin,” you said shortly, “You are stoned out of your fucking mind,”

“You said my full name. You never say my full name,” he said sadly.

Of course that’s what he picked up out of that. Clearly he wasn’t going to get any easier to talk to…and while normally that made for some pretty fun conversation, tonight it wasn’t going to happen. And you couldn’t sit around and listen to more of this.

“I’m just going to go,” you sighed, nudging his hand off your thigh and standing upright.

“What? No!” Kevin said, eyes wide and sad.

“I can’t,” you said, forcing a smile, “I can’t stay and hear this, when I know you don’t mean it when you’re sober,”

“But…”

“I’ll send Nolan back out, okay? I’ll…talk to you later, Kev,” you said firmly, interrupting him.

Without waiting for another answer, you quickly walked back into the house, heartbeat racing in your ears and a lump in your throat. At least you didn’t have to go far to look for Nolan – he was standing just inside in the kitchen.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he frowned.

You just shook your head, smiling thinly, not wanting to go into it. “I’m going to go,”

“But he…”

“Kev will be fine – you don’t mind going back out there with him, right?” you said, interrupting.

Nolan pressed his lips together but shook his head. “No, I don’t mind,”

“Good. Good. Um, I’m sure I’ll see you around?” you offered.

Would you? Who knows. How long would you even need before you could see Kevin again without your heart aching?

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Nolan nodded.

You missed the determined look in the younger man’s eyes as you walked away, too intent on locating your jacket without giving in to the tears that were threatening to fall. Sleep, sobering up and some distance – that would help, right?

01:21

From: Kevin

Why did you leave?

Please come back?

01:57

From: Kevin

I meant it.

I swear I meant it.

Please call me.

03:00

Missed call – Kevin

10:17

From: Kevin

Fuck I fell asleep.

Are you ignoring me?

Please call me when you get this.

10:35

From: Kevin

I get it if you don’t love me back.

But please don’t ignore me, I can’t take that.

Please call me?

We need to talk. Please.

10:55

From: Kevin

Please?

11:00

To: Kevin

Kev, I can’t do this.

It’s too much.

Please just give me time and space.

11:02

From: Nolan

I’ve taken Kev’s phone off him.

His sad face is too much.

I know you asked for space and I’ll make sure he gives it to you.

But please, just think over what he said?

You know he doesn’t say shit he doesn’t mean, not when it’s important.

11:17

To: Nolan

Yeah, okay. I’ll think it over.

Mornings were generally your worst time of day. But this morning in particular was a terrible one. The slight bleurgh of lingering sleep made you feel groggy enough, but nothing that a quick shower and a slice of buttered toast couldn’t fix. No, this morning was terrible because your heart was still aching from three days ago. You still had no idea what Kevin was playing at, acting like that around you, but it hurt and you knew you weren’t going to be able to forget it any time soon. Kevin’s increasingly desperate text messages and the single message from Nolan hung over you like a bad shadow, but you knew were right about not just giving in straight away – you were still emotional enough now as it was, and you knew it wouldn’t have been a good idea to see Kevin immediately. No, space was exactly what you needed, even if it hurt.

Your second cup of coffee woke you up enough at least to not leave you in a pit of despair. Like Nolan had asked, you’d thought about Kevin’s words over and over again. His declaration of love, out of nowhere. His confusion and sadness and fucking desperation. You know he doesn’t say shit he doesn’t mean, not when it’s important. It still didn’t give you the answer, any answer. Because in your heart, there was still that little whisper of doubt, telling you it wasn’t true, not really. And unless you were 100% sure, there was no way you could take that chance, not with Kevin. His friendship was too important in your life to risk not having it at all, so if it meant needing time to get over him and drag yourself out of this swirling despair then you would take it.

Despair was for people who didn’t have a life to get on with. You had lived long enough without Kevin in your life before you’d met him, and you could damn well succeed in living without his presence for a couple of weeks or so. At least until you’d built up those walls again.

It had been three days and the struggle was real.

Around 9am, you were jolted out of your thoughts by a series of knocks on your front door. With a frown, you walked over to the entrance hallway, and peeked through the peep-hole, only to see Kevin. What the fuck? Why was he here?

He had a sad but determined look on this face, you could see that much – fuck, was he going to say he didn’t mean anything he said that night? That now he’d thought about it properly, it wasn’t real? It was bad enough hearing his emotions from him when high as a kite, but you couldn’t bear for him to admit it was fake when he was sober. But maybe it was what you deserved, seeing as you’d asked for time and space. Fuck. No, you’d definitely done the right thing for you…but had you done the right thing for Kevin?

What you did know for sure was that you couldn’t leave him standing outside, when he knew full well that you had no real plans today. He knew your schedule too well for that. So with a deep breath, you put on a smile and opened the door. There he stood, eyes warm albeit sleepy, that hair so perfectly tousled. Why did he have to hit every single tickbox on your list? How was that fair?

“Look who’s up before midday on an off-day,” you teased, “What are you doing here?”

Kevin smiled at your teasing, but it was as fake as you knew your smile was. Fuck. “I was in the neighbourhood and figured I’d see what you were up to. Mind if I come in?”

Ouch. He definitely wasn’t in the neighbourhood, he was here for one reason only. To talk. Fuck.

But you nodded, letting him past you into your apartment anyway. He’d given you three days’ space, like you’d asked, it was only fair that you let him say his piece now right?

“Coffee?” you asked, shutting the door behind him.

“Yes please,” Kevin groaned, nodding.

Your smile slipped a little as you headed to the kitchen, you heart already aching with the preparation of it being broken completely, but you managed to keep yourself together as you reached for the coffee pot, pouring him a large mug of the caffeinated lifeblood in silence.

“Here you go,” you said as cheerfully as you could manage.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling.

He sat down at the kitchen island, looking up at you with those beautiful big eyes, until you sat down opposite him.

“I still mean it, y’know,” he said bluntly.

You frowned, not understanding. “Mean what?”

“Mean what I said that night. That I love you,”

Oh God. Fuck. Your breath hitched in your throat, your lips parting in surprise. What…what was he doing?

“Kev, please don’t…”

“No, I’m going to,” Kevin interrupted, uncharacteristically solemn, “Because you seem to have some pretty incorrect ideas in your head and I need to set them straight,”

You swallowed heavily, biting your bottom lip. How were you even supposed to respond to that? Kevin saw the anxious look on your face clear as day, his own seriousness softening to a sad smile.

“Patty said you looked pretty upset when you left that night,” he said softly.

You shook your head, desperate for a sliver of control. “I wasn’t upset, I-”

“Even if he hadn’t spent the last three days ripping into me, I know you were upset. You’ve never just left like that,” Kevin said firmly.

Normally, you hated being interrupted. But in this case, you really had nothing else you could say. Nothing that you could say, not when he knew you so well.

“No, I haven’t,” you sighed, leaning back in your chair.

“I’m sorry that me confessing how I felt made you leave but I wasn’t messing around! I was trying gather the high courage to tell you, after all this time!” Kevin said desperately.

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.

He was serious, wasn’t he? Of course he had to bulldoze right through, in typical Kevin Hayes style.

But Kevin took your silence the wrong way.

“How could you not have known?” he frowned.

“How could I possibly have known, Kev? I’ve seen you flirting with women before – and you’re never like that around me. How could I have known that you wanted anything more than friendship when you’ve never acted like it?” you retorted.

Kevin’s cheeks flushed, and he ducked his head briefly, before he looked back up at you. Fuck, he looked a little sad? Like...like he was about to genuinely open up his heart. Fuck.

“I always thought you weren’t interested in me. Why would you be interested in dumb stoner Kevin? I figured if I could only ever have you as a friend then I would latch onto that, because having you in my life in any way is so much better than not having you in my life at all,” he said sadly.

You had never heard him this eloquent before. To be honest, it made your heart ache all over again. But he was never like this…why now?

“Are you still high?” you asked, frowning.

Kevin laughed dryly, shaking his head. “Why do I have to be high to tell you how I feel?”

“Because that’s literally the only time you’ve ever said it before?” you said, raising an eyebrow.

Kevin groaned softly, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.

“You know meaningful stuff doesn’t come all that easily to me,” he huffed.

“I also know you’re not just Kevin-the-hockey-playing-himbo-from-Boston,” you pointed out, smiling slightly.

Kevin laughed softly. “You always have figured me out pretty well,”

“I’m just not a mind reader,” you mused.

He laughed again, nodding his head. “I guess I just…I saw you and I had to say it. I’ve liked you for years, sweetheart, ever since we lived in Tribeca. And I thought, maybe, just maybe, you getting your job transferred to Philly meant that it was finally our time. But it never happened. Maybe it was the weed. Maybe it was the weed and how beautiful you looked combined that actually took down those barriers which have kept me from blurting out my feelings in the past. But I swear to you, I meant every word,”

Sweetheart. Wow. Never had that word affected you more. You swallowed heavily, looking down at your hands. It was true that you’d always been able to read him well – and he was being so sincere right now that it had your stomach tied in knots. He really meant it, didn’t he? He really meant…that he loves you. That he’s loved you for years. Fuck.

It was everything you’d hoped to hear, and you’d spent the last three days trying to convince yourself he didn’t mean it. But he really did mean it, didn’t he?

“Say it again,” you murmured.

The grin that spread across Kevin’s lips sent a shiver up your spine.

“I love you,” he said clearly, firmly, looking directly into your eyes.

Your breath hitched in your throat, butterflies exploding in your stomach. Fuck that was so good to hear. Holy fucking shit.

“Kevin…” you whispered helplessly.

“I gotta know…because I’m holding onto a scrap of hope that you feel the same…do you…”

He trailed off, his voice a little desperate, a little lost, and you found yourself nodding like an idiot, tears springing to your eyes. If he could be brave, then so could you.

“Yes, Kev, I do. I love you so much,” you admitted.

Kevin laughed in triumph, a little incredulous, and he quickly stood up from the island, taking one large step towards you, and tugging you to stand up on your feet too.

“Fuck, fuck, can I kiss you?” he asked, happiness sparkling in his eyes.

You found yourself laughing, but nodded and clutched at his sweater, holding on in case your weak knees gave out on you. Kevin grinned, resting his forehead against yours briefly, before he closed the distance between you with a firm kiss. You couldn’t help but melt into his arms, kissing him back just as eagerly, throwing your arms around his neck a little desperately as his tongue slid against yours. His hands went to your hips and he easily picked you up to place you on the kitchen counter, and you gasped into his mouth at how effortless the motion was, moaning a little as he just stepped right in between your legs. It felt like second nature to hook your legs around his waist, pulling your bodies even closer together, earning a soft moan from the man that sent a pulse of heat right between your thighs. Fuck.

“Kev, wait, we shouldn’t…” you gasped, tilting your head back to break the kiss.

Because as much as you wanted to hop right into bed with him, you needed to let him know that this wasn’t all this was for you. It couldn’t be.

“Fuck, you gotta know this is more than sex for me, right?” Kevin groaned, eyes a little wild as he looked down at you.

How did he always know what to say?

“Again, I’m not a mind reader,” you laughed.

Kevin laughed as well, ducking his head to press gentle kisses into the soft skin of your neck.

“I want to take you out on so many dates. I want to tell my mom about you properly rather than just mention you in passing. I want to ignore Patty crowing in the locker room that he gave me the kick up the ass that I needed. I want to tell Brady and Jimmy that I finally took a chance. I want to show you off to the world as my girlfriend,” Kevin murmured between kisses, finishing with a nip to your earlobe.

Fuck. That was all that you wanted, and he was offering it up on a silver platter.

“I want that too,” you gasped, tilting your head more to the side.

You felt Kevin smile against your skin, nipping at you again before he lifted his head to look at you properly.

“Now can I kiss you again?” Kevin asked hopefully.

You laughed but nodded, threading your fingers through his messy curls. “You can kiss me any time you want,”

Kevin grinned and did just that.

Pulling into the practice arena, Kevin realised he still had a stupid smile on his face. He’d spent all morning at your apartment, mostly making out on the sofa with a little talking dotted throughout, and he’d only been able to tear himself away because Nolan had texted to remind him about the mandatory afternoon practice today. Obviously he would much rather have stayed with you, especially now that he knew what it was like to kiss you, how your lips felt against his, how easy it was to hold you in his arms, but if he skipped practice there would be hell to pay.

That, and he now knew how easily he could get carried away, how easily he could get lost in you. He hadn’t lied when he said that this was more than sex for him. Loving you was everything – overwhelming, all-consuming and wonderful – and there was no way he was going to let sex ruin that. As much as he already knew it would be incredible. He’d waited four years to be in your bed more than platonically, he could wait a little longer. Especially now that he knew you loved him too.

Fuck, you were finally his. He could finally call you his girlfriend. Fuck.

Kevin was so lost in his thoughts as he parked his car, that he didn’t notice a familiar figure walking up to him, and flinched as they knocked on the window. Nolan. Fuck.

“Way to give me a heart attack, baby cat,” Kevin groaned as he got out of the car.

“You made me catch a lift with Teeks last minute – now we’re even,” Nolan smirked.

Kevin just laughed, rolling his eyes as he pulled his bag out of his car and locked it. When he turned back to look at his friend, he saw that Nolan looked incredibly smug, almost unbearably so, and steeled himself for an interrogation. He hadn’t exactly been forthcoming in his text earlier to say that Nolan would have to find his own way to practice. Oops.

“Please tell me you came from your New York girl’s place,”

Hah, your New York girl. When you’d first moved job to Philadelphia, Kevin had referred to you as ‘a girl friend from New York’, to try to play it cool, to try to hide how excited he was that you were finally going to be reunited…and the name had stuck. Pretty much everyone on the team, including some who’d been traded away, referred to you as ‘your New York girl’, mainly because of how red Kevin had blushed when Claude had called you that when you’d first met the team.

The team liked teasing their usually-unflappable teammate.

You liked that Kevin talked about you in the first place.

Kevin just liked that people had always called you his.

“Yeah, I did,” Kevin shrugged, trying to play it cool.

But Nolan just rolled his eyes, not having any of it.

“You two talked right? Like, actually talked,” Nolan asked firmly.

That and other things. But Nolan didn’t need to know that. Kevin just smirked, nodding, and laughed as Nolan whooped.

“I swear to god I’m not getting those three days back, you owe me so bad. And I’m claiming victory for this matchmaking,” Nolan grinned.

“Meddling more like it,” Kevin mused, rolling his eyes, “You got the result you wanted though,”

“I did?”

“You did,”

“Fucking finally,” Nolan groaned.

“Finally what?”

Kevin turned his head to see Claude walking up behind them and winced. If Nolan kept his mouth shut then maybe Kevin had a chance of not being ridiculed for the entirety of practice…

“Hayesy ditched me to finally talk about his feelings,” Nolan smirked.

Oof.

“With your New York girl? Fucking finally,” Claude grinned.

One day that nickname would fade. One day.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Better late than never,” Kevin mused.

“Only took you a few years,” Nolan snorted.

Four long miserable years. But who was counting.

“Well I’m glad you finally took a chance. Fuck knows it’s been painful enough watching the two of you dance around each other,” Claude teased, before his face suddenly went serious, “She returned your feelings, right? Like, fuck-”

“She did,” Kevin said, interrupting, “She loves me too,”

Saying it out loud like that made him grin, earning laughter from his two teammates.

“Thank fuck for that,” Claude huffed, teasing with a grin of his own.

Thank fuck indeed.

From: Kevin

Dinner at mine tonight?

I’ve got that wine you like…

To: Kevin

You had me at wine.

What time do you want me?

From: Kevin

I always want you.

I’ll have food ready for 7pm.

But come over whenever!

To: Kevin

You ridiculous flirt.

Can’t wait to see you.

Kevin’s messages kept a smile on your face for the rest of your work day, and you didn’t bother going back to your apartment after work – heading straight to his place was all you could think about, so that’s all that you did. And the smile that he greeted you with when he opened the door – bright, genuine, happy – told you that you’d made the right decision.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Kevin murmured, tugging you against his body.

You couldn’t help but laugh, leaning into his hold as he shut the door behind you. “Flattery will get you everywhere,” you grinned.

Kevin grinned back. “Good to know,”

You rolled your eyes fondly, leaning up on your tiptoes to press your lips to his in a soft kiss, smiling at the happy noise he made as you embraced sweetly, your arms sliding up his chest and around his neck. Fuck, even just knowing that you could do this now, kiss him whenever you wanted, sent a shiver up your spine, let alone how good it felt to brush your tongue against his. It was like the floodgates had opened – now that you could kiss him, touch him, hold him, you never wanted to stop. You took every opportunity, and Kevin was exactly the same – maybe even more so, with the way his hands always seemed to stray to your ass.

The kisses eventually slowed to a few gentle pecks, Kevin looking a little stunned even as he tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear.

“Hi,” you murmured.

“Hi,” he said back, a little helplessly.

Both of you laughed, Kevin resting his forehead against yours briefly before he stepped backwards a little, taking both of your hands with his.

“I gotta finish up some dinner prep, but I can pour you a glass of wine while you wait?” he suggested.

Sweet, thoughtful man.

“That sounds perfect to me,” you nodded, squeezing his hands in agreement.

Dinner was perfect. Wonderful. Incredible. It was only a simple pasta dish, but full of vegetables and spices and flavour, and the fact that Kevin had clearly poured time and effort into making this for the two of you made it even more special. Sitting across from him at the dinner table, each talking about your days, Kevin making your sides ache with laughter…it was all you could ever have dreamed of.

Was it all too good to be true?

That niggling thought followed you to the sofa after you’d finished eating, Kevin joining you with two fresh glasses of wine. He spotted your creased forehead and frown immediately, like you feared knew he would.

“What’s that face for?” Kevin mused, raising an eyebrow.

Sometimes it was a blessing how easily he could read you. But you weren’t sure if now was one of those times. As his smile started to slip, you took a deep breath, steeling yourself. There was no point in hiding your thoughts from him. Honesty and communication were a good thing, right?

“I guess I’m just nervous, that’s all,” you admitted.

Kevin frowned to match you, his eyes immediately going serious. “Nervous? Why?”

“Things are just different now. You know that,”

Kevin’s frown immediately shifted to a smile, making your heart beat a little faster. His faith in you was mindblowing. “It’s just you and me, how it’s always been. How it always should be. Nothing’s different about that,”

But still you shook your head, smiling fondly. “I know you as Kevin-the-friend. I don’t know you as Kevin-the-boyfriend. It’s whole new territory…and I have a horrible thought in my mind saying that it’s all too good to be true,”

Kevin’s face fell again at your words, and he quickly put his wine glass on the coffee table, shaking his head as he reached out to take one of your hands in his. Your breath hitched in your throat at the emotion in his eyes, like it genuinely hurt him to hear the words that came out of your mouth, and you put your own glass down on the floor with a wince.

“Are you…having second thoughts? About…us?” he said quietly, like the words left a bitter taste in his mouth.

You quickly shook your head – you knew that wasn’t it. Not even close. But still…

“What is it then?” Kevin asked, confused.

Here goes nothing. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel real, us being together. Like I’m going to wake up and you’re going to want to only be just friends. It scares me,”

“Shit,” Kevin groaned, eyes closing briefly.

When his eyes reopened his eyes to look at you once more, the fire in his expression startled you…but also made your mouth go dry. That intensity was a good look on him, one you hadn’t seen directed your way before. Fuck.

“Sweetheart, I can’t predict the future. Hell, I can barely figure out what to make for breakfast, let alone where our relationship is going to go. But I do know one thing for certain,” he said firmly.

You swallowed heavily, letting out a shaky breath. “And what’s that?”

“That I want us to have a future. That I am all in. I’m putting my whole heart into this baby, and I just wish I knew what to do so you would believe me,”

Fuck, you did believe him. You absolutely did believe him. How could you not, when you could feel his heart so strongly?

“Kev, I…” you trailed off, a little helpless, not sure where to start.

“What can I do?” he asked, eyes a little desperate.

“I don’t know! I wish I knew. I want this to work so badly,” you murmured.

“All we can do is put the hard work in, right?” he said firmly, eyes bright and shining, “Like, if we both try with our whole hearts, then it’s got to be worth it, right? We’ve been friends for years – that isn’t going to change. We have that foundation already. Now we’re just taking that next step, learning more about each other, rather than starting something scary from scratch,”

Your eyes filled with tears at his heartfelt words, and you found yourself nodding before you could stop yourself.

“It’s still scary…but it could be scarier,” you agreed, biting your bottom lip.

Kevin nodded, smiling encouragingly, to which you let out a shaky breath.

“And no matter what, we’re in this together, yeah? We’ve got each other, more so than ever before,” he said softly.

Your eyes dropped to where his thumb ran back and forth over your hand, a small smile spreading across your lips. “I like the sound of that,”

Kevin’s shoulders seemed to relax a little, like he was letting out tension, sending a guilty pang through your body. Fuck, there you go, making him feel bad again.

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, shrinking back a little.

“Hey, no, no apologies. I’m glad you told me,” he replied, shaking his head, “I’d rather we talked about stuff like this than let it build up to something ugly, y’know?”

He had a good point – you couldn’t imagine having a nasty all-out fight with Kevin, and you didn’t want to. He was one of your oldest friends for a reason, and you didn’t want to lose that through a stupid fight, no way.

“Same goes for you too, yeah? You can…should talk to me about anything that worries you,” you said softly.

Kevin smiled, nodding. “Alright, it’s a deal,”

He reached out to pick up his wine glass from the table, holding it towards you in a ‘cheers’ motion, making you laugh. But you picked up your glass from the floor anyway, and clinked it with his, both of you taking a long drink. Kevin was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment, before he quirked a smile your way.

“Let me take you out, show you what Kevin-the-boyfriend is like,” he suggested, “Let me show you that this new thing between us is going to be something amazing,”

How could you say no to that?

“I’d like that,” you grinned, relaxing into the sofa a bit more, “I already know I love Kevin-the-friend…so I think I need to meet Kevin-the-boyfriend properly,”

And as stupid as it felt saying those words out loud, you knew you were right – you needed to see this next stage in your relationship clearly, to banish away those niggling doubts. It was still Kevin, right? Just…more.

Kevin stretched his leg out onto the sofa, nudging your hip with his foot with a big smile on his face, nudging nudging nudging until you gripped his ankle tightly with your free hand, raising an eyebrow. All you got in return was his eyebrows wiggling at you, a stupid grin on his face.

“This is going to be great, you’ll see,” Kevin said cheerfully.

You were counting on it.

A first date was always something to be nervous about, right? Shaky hands, pounding heart, butterflies in the stomach, sweaty palms…it was all natural, right? Because you were experiencing all of these things while you got ready for your date with Kevin.

But was it truly nerves? You weren’t nervous as in apprehensive. No, not at all. Any time you spent with Kevin was always full of warmth and laughter, even when you were just friends, and you knew that tonight would be so different. No, it was nervous as in excited. Nervous butterflies? Shaky giddiness? Whatever it was, it was more than a little overwhelming, but it only took one glance at the last text Kevin sent you to keep a smile on your face.

From: Kevin

I can’t wait to see you, beautiful 💖

Simple, but effective. He always knew what to do and say, even when he didn’t know he was doing it. So instead of getting cold feet or freaking out, all you did was put on your favourite playlist and bop around while you got yourself ready. You’d already gotten your usual leg and bikini wax this morning, having planned to wear a slinky black dress with bare legs, and as soon as you shimmied into the dress you knew it was the right choice. Figure hugging without being clingy, sexy as well as classy – a little black dress is a classic for a reason. After putting on a little makeup and a pair of your favourite heels, you were ready.

Kevin had insisted on picking you up so he could drive the two of you to the restaurant, rather than meeting there, and he arrived to yours right on time. But as you opened the front door of your apartment to greet him, his face was a little stunned, and he was uncharacteristically silent. Huh.

“Everything okay, Kev?” you asked hesitantly.

He quickly nodded, the stunned look on his face slipping into a wide smile.

“You just look so beautiful. Caught me off guard,” he shrugged.

You felt your cheeks heat up with warmth, and you batted your hand at his chest, making him laugh. Ridiculous man.

“Well, you scrub up pretty well yourself,” you teased.

A crisp white button-up shirt, a nice fitted pair of jeans and tailored jacket? Such a good look on him. Kevin just grinned at your words, ducking his head to kiss you softly, making your breath hitch in your throat. Yeah, this was going to be a good night.

“Ready to go?” he asked, as he broke the embrace.

“Yeah, let me just grab a jacket,”

The drive to the restaurant was short and smooth – a Spanish tapas place, on recommendation from Claude – and you were shown to your table immediately, Kevin pulling out your chair for you with a bright smile on his face.

“Welcome! Here are your menus – would you like to see the drinks menu too, or do you know what you would like?”

You looked from the waiter to Kevin with a shrug, to see him looking at you with a hopeful smile. Huh. He already planned this out, didn’t he? So you just nodded at him and smiled back.

“Can we have a glass of Rosado each?” Kevin asked, smiling effortlessly.

“Of course, I will be back momentarily,”

As the waiter walked away, you raised an eyebrow at Kevin, who just shrugged a little bashfully.

“I never have any clue which wine goes with what. So I asked Claude when he recommended this place – a few of the guys around us chimed in with their thoughts too, and apparently Rosado goes with tomato-y garlic-y things. I figured that’s the majority of what we’d be eating, so I hope that’s okay” Kevin explained.

The fact that he had put so much thought into tonight, asking his friends and really researching, made your heart clench, and it was all you could do to nod. He really was so sweet – no-one had ever put in this much effort for you before.

A silence fell over you for a moment, not awkward, but still not fully comfortable, until you looked at Kevin and the both of you huffed out a laugh.

“This is weird, right?” you giggled.

“Nah, not if we don’t let it be,” he shrugged, smiling.

His ease and nonchalance was something to be jealous of, that much was true.

“So confident, Mr Hayes,” you mused, raising an eyebrow.

“Easy to be confident when I’ve got the most beautiful person in the room sitting opposite me,” he replied smoothly.

Oh so smooth.

“Kev…” you groaned, hiding your face with a hand.

“Come on, I’ve been wanting to say these things for years! Indulge me,” he teased.

Years. The very thought of it sent a shiver down your spine.

“You think I haven’t had my moments of weakness? Where I’ve thought about us over the years?” you asked simply, raising an eyebrow as you lowered your hand back into your lap.

Kevin inhaled sharply, making you smile. Good.

“I like that you have. Thought about us, I mean. I just can’t believe how stupid we’ve been. We’ve wasted so much time,” Kevin sighed.

You reached across the table, resting your hand on top of his with a smile. “We’re here now, right? That’s all that matters,”

“Yeah exactly,” he nodded.

Then he bit his bottom lip, as if he was hesitating on something, making you smile a little more.

“What is it, Kev?” you asked softly.

He stayed silent for another beat or two, before he looked at you intensely.

“I see my future with you, sweetheart,” he blurted. Oh wow. “And yeah, maybe that’s too soon to say, but this isn’t some brand new fresh thing – this has been building for years, and now that we’re finally together, it just feels so right, y’know?”

Your heart clenched at his sweet words, and you couldn’t stop the smile that spread across your lips. Fuck. Who knew a hockey player could be so open and in touch with their feelings? Well, it was Kevin after all. Might as well speak your own thoughts too.

“It does feel so right. I’ve never felt anything for anyone like I feel for you,” you admitted.

Kevin’s answering smile was a little stunned and a little helpless. “Fuck, same. Same for me,”

You ignored the butterflies filling your stomach, looking down at the menu in front of you to stop your smile going stupid. What was it about this man that made you feel so different? His honesty? His smile? His laugh? Fuck, all of that and more. All you did know was that you didn’t want it to stop.

The date continued on to become the best date you had ever been on. Not that you were surprised – it was Kevin after all, and you already knew there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do if it would make you smile. And you were quickly learning how true it was for you too. Having all that adoration, that attention, that smile focused solely on you? It was addictive, and you didn’t want it directed towards anyone else. You wanted his whole heart, you knew that much already, and you could only hope that he wanted the same from you.

Both of you only had one glass of wine with your food, as Kevin was driving you home, and by the time the two of you had reached the front door of your apartment (Kevin had insisted on walking you to your front door, even though it was an apartment building), you felt giddy. Giddy and ridiculous and unbelievably happy. This was it, this was what you had been waiting for. This moment, this knowledge, that same confidence in this thing with Kevin that he’d had all along. You only wished it hadn’t taken you so long.

But you were here now, that’s all that mattered. You and Kevin, together. As it should be.

As you unlocked your front door, you felt yourself pausing in the doorway, Kevin making a questioning noise as you stopped moving. You bit your bottom lip gently, before taking a deep breath to steel your nerves. “Do you want to come in?” you asked, looking up into those beautiful blue eyes.

Kevin’s lips parted in surprise, a stunned expression filling his face.

“Like, come in come in?” he asked, voice a little breathy.

The sheer want in his voice made you shiver, and you knew you’d made the right decision in asking him. You could basically taste the tension between you as you nodded slowly, Kevin swaying forward as if he couldn’t help himself.

But then he stopped, freezing still, making you frown.

“Are you sure? Like, it’s not too soon?” he forced out, eyes a little wild.

So you quickly shook your head, smiling at him checking.

“Kev, it’s us, right?”

He’d been saying it for weeks, that being together was just a next step in your strong foundation of friendship, so both of you giving in to that obvious desire wouldn’t ruin anything at all. You wanted him…he wanted you…so why not take things up another notch?

“Yeah, it’s us. Endgame, baby,” Kevin grinned.

And just like that, the tension burst like a balloon, making you laugh. Yeah, this was the man you were in love with alright.

“Come on loverboy,” you laughed, rolling your eyes fondly, “Let’s not give my neighbours a show,”

Kevin smirked, wiggling his eyebrows as he followed you into your apartment, making you laugh all over again. There was none of that nervous apprehension you’d felt with other guys before – it was all just excitement, fizzing and buzzing through your skin, and your mind swirled with ideas.

Stripping him down slowly, piece by piece.

Getting your mouth on him, every inch of his body, especially his cock.

Having him pin you down on your bed, all gorgeous 6ft5 of him surrounding you in the best way.

Fuck.

“I’ve been thinking about getting my hands on you since I saw you in that dress,”

Kevin’s soft words tore you out of your lustful thoughts, and you moaned softly at the shiver it sent up your spine. Fuck yes, you were getting laid tonight and it was going to be good.

“Then how about you get your hands on me?” you suggested, corner of your lips lifting up in a smirk.

He wasted no time in pressing you into the nearest wall, barely making it out of the entrance hallway, and you laughed as his hands went straight to your ass.

“Feeling better?” you mused, toying with the top button of his shirt.

This wasn’t a fiery desperate rush, crashing about, rough and riling up – no this was a slow build-up of lust and want, much like your relationship had been a slow build-up. No, this was a slow seduction, sweet and all-consuming, bodies moving in sync and taking what they wanted. And you couldn’t fucking wait.

“Hmm, a little,” Kevin grinned back.

“Only a little huh?” you teased.

“Oh I have a few ideas of what could help,” he murmured.

The flash of heat in his eyes sent a flare of heat through your body, and you couldn’t help but to dart your tongue out to wet your bottom lip, Kevin’s eyes tracking the motion, making you smile. But you had no time to tease him before he took your lips in a kiss, making you whimper at how quickly it got heated before Kevin broke away with a gasp, leaving your head spinning.

“So that’s one idea,” he grinned.

Oh fuck, this man was going to ruin you. But not before you ruined him a little bit first.

“What’s your next idea?” you breathed.

Kevin just grinned, stepping backwards a little bit, making you whine before you could stop yourself.

“Stay right where you are, beautiful. Keep your eyes on me,”

That you could do. You dramatically placed your hands against the wall, making him laugh as he dropped his jacket carelessly to the floor, and his fingers went to the top button of his shirt. He kept his eyes on you as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his strong broad chest inch by inch until he was able to drop it to the floor, leaving him in just his jeans. Fuck. You would never be able to get enough of the sight of him like this, let alone the touch (and you couldn’t wait for the taste) – the strength in his shoulders, his chest, his core, his arms…fuck.

“Get back over here,” you said, voice low and rough.

Kevin inhaled sharply, and he wasted no time in stumbling back over to you, arms caging you in against the wall in a way that made you want.

“Great second idea. What’s next?” you breathed.

Fuck. This was winding you up and up and up and you knew the night had barely even started.

“I want…can I taste you?” he blurted.

What? But before you could ask what he meant, Kevin dropped to his knees, making you gasp. Oh fuck. Oh yes.

“You want to be on your knees for me?” you asked, swallowing heavily.

“Yeah, so bad,” Kevin nodded, a little desperate.

Well how could you say no to that?

Biting your bottom lip, you reached up under your dress, hooking your fingers into the sides of your panties and tugging them down. Kevin whined as his view was blocked by the skirt of your dress but you just grinned. This was the least he deserved for stripping his shirt off so slowly. You let your panties drop to the floor when they were past the thickness of your thighs and slowly stepped out of them, kicking them to one side.

His move.

Kevin’s eyes were wide and dark as he raised his hands to rest on your thighs, lips slightly parted.

“Please, can I?” he murmured, thumbs brushing under the skirt hem.

Fuck. This was all too much, the desire, his patience, his asking. Bring it on.

“Yeah, go ahead,” you nodded, inhaling sharply.

He slowly dragged the skirt of your dress up to your hips, moaning softly under his breath when you were revealed bare to him. One of his hands bunched up the dress to hold it in place, the other placed large and firm on your thigh, and his thumb lightly stroked over the wetness in your folds…before he stopped.

Kevin looked up at you, wordless asking one last time. And you just nodded, too overwhelmed in the moment to utter any words, your heart racing at the very sight of him kneeling so comfortably between your thighs. With a smile, he shuffled a little closer to you, ducking his head to place a reverent kiss to your clit, making you gasp, earning a soft laugh.

“Fuck, sweetheart,” Kevin mumbled, mostly to himself.

Then he ducked his head down and dove right in, tongue running over your folds in a wide stripe, his tongue flicking at your clit in a way that made you gasp. Fuck. How was he so good at this, straight off the bat? You could feel him smirking against your skin, before his tongue flicked at your clit again, and you couldn’t stop your hips bucking to chase the feeling. Fuck. The hand holding your dress out of the way adjusted to rest across your hips, pinning you to the wall, as his tongue ran back and forth over your core, gathering and tasting your wetness, dipping in and out of you, making you clench down on nothing. You didn’t hold back the soft moans that spilled from your lips, your body trembling with how good he made you feel. But as you clenched down empty again, you knew you could feel even better.

“More, Kev, please?” you begged.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” he groaned, resting his forehead against your hip.

You giggled, pushing his hair out of his eyes so he would look up at you.

“I want more,” you said firmly, eyes holding his in challenge.

And fuck did he rise to the challenge.

Kevin buried his face back between your thighs, eagerly running his tongue back and forth over you, into you, winding you up higher and higher, until he backed off to just sucking on your clit. Then you realised why he’d changed tactic, as his fingers moved to trail through your folds. With a fingertip teasing at your entrance, Kevin looked up at you, those big blue eyes questioning, and it was all you could do to nod. Leisurely Kevin slid a finger into you, letting you get used to the intrusion before he started to move it, gentle and slow, sending sparks up your spine and making your eyes clench shut. Then his teeth scraped over your clit and you wailed at the electricity that shot through your body, eyes flying open to glare down at him, wild and weak-kneed. Kevin’s eyes just sparkled with laughter, and he wasted no time in sliding in a second finger, sucking at your clit in the same rhythm in which he fucked his fingers into you. Fuck. You could feel a familiar heat start to build and you moaned – it wasn’t fair how quickly he learned the cues of your body.

Two can play at that game.

“You look so good on your knees for me,” you breathed, running your fingers through his messy hair.

Kevin’s eyes flashed with fire as he moaned at your words, sending a shockwave through you, making you gasp. Good. He leaned back slightly, tongue darting out over his swollen lips, before he smirked.

“You look so good with my fingers inside you,” he rasped back, curling both fingers over and over again in a come hither motion, “Going to look even better on my cock,”

Game, set, and match. Fuck. You cried out as the onslaught of his fingers sent you crashing through your high, Kevin smirking before he returned his tongue to lick between the two digits, prolonging the wave of pleasure until you were shaking and overwhelmed. Kevin backed off a little bit, leaning back to sit on his heels, but his face radiated smugness, of a job well done, even as the hard line of his cock strained against the denim of his jeans.

It was all you could do to fall to your knees to join him, straddling his lap lightly as you fought to regain control over your breathing, his hands going straight to your hips where your dress had fallen back down.

“Fuck, Kev,” you said with a shaky laugh.

He just smirked, wiggling his eyebrows, making you laugh for real. Ridiculous man. Without saying another word, you rested one hand against his bare chest, lifting the other hand to cup his face. You stroked your thumb over the wetness lingering on his bottom lip, before pressing down lightly on that lip to get him to open his mouth, and Kevin took the hint straight away, accepting your thumb into his mouth. You couldn’t take your eyes away from the sight of him closing his plush lips around it, sucking the wetness away, the same wetness that was still between your thighs.

Then his teeth scraped over the pad of your thumb, imitating his treatment of your clit, making you moan and clench down on nothing, even more evident where your thighs were spread across his lips.

“You’re such a tease,” you gasped, pulling your thumb free.

“Not a tease if I’m planning on following through,” Kevin said simply, smirk still playing with his expression.

The intensity in his eyes paired with the way his hands squeezed your hips sent a shiver up your spine, and you let a small smirk of your own drift across your lips.

“Hmm, yes, you said something about how good I’ll look with your cock inside me?” you murmured.

The noise that tore from Kevin’s throat was barely human, more feral than anything else, and the want in his eyes sent a wave of heat through your body. Fuck, yes.

“Fuck, yes,” he groaned, “I know I just said it in the heat of the moment, but do you…do you want…”

“Yeah, Kev, I want,” you nodded quickly.

Kevin all but growled. “Hook your legs around my waist,” he said firmly.

What?

And then you felt his abs tense, as Kevin anchored himself to stand up from the floor with you in his arms, and you shrieked as you hurried to do as he said, hooking your ankles together against the swell of his ass.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” you breathed, arms firmly around his neck as he held you securely.

It was all you could do not to think about how your bare core was pressed against his abs. Fuck.

“Yeah?” he smirked.

You rolled your eyes fondly. “Take me to bed, Kev,”

Kevin swallowed heavily, his eyes flashing dark and serious.

“Yes ma’am,”

A party was never just a simple party when Kevin Hayes was involved. Music was pounding, beer was flowing, shots were poured, and weed was an easy haze on the back porch. At all the parties he’d thrown like this in the past, you’d always drifted to and from him, flitting from group to group just like he did, always separate. But this time, no – this time you were sitting on the sofa with his arm wrapped around your waist, leaning into his body because now you could.

And fuck did it feel good.

“So, tell us, how does it feel to be finally be called Kevin’s girl, rather than Kevin’s New York girl?” Claude grinned.

Ah yes, that nickname. Finally, it could die.

“Feels pretty fucking sweet actually,” you said simply.

Everyone on the sofas around you burst into laughter, and you could feel the rumble of Kevin’s own laughter deep in his chest. You couldn’t help but look up at him with a smile, earning an adoring smile back, as well as a soft kiss. Yeah, this was exactly where you wanted to be.

“How did you two actually meet?” Ryanne asked, smiling, “Like, I know you’ve been friends for years…but how?”

You found yourself smiling as you looked back up at Kevin, and he smiled down at you. It was true, you really had been friends with him for years at this point. And your first meeting was pretty funny.

“Go ahead,” Kevin shrugged.

His loss.

“Alright, so it went like this…”

Sunday night was grocery run night – and this week was no different. You walked into the lobby of your apartment building with both your arms full, trying to figure out how you were going to call the elevator, when you noticed a very tall guy already waiting, the elevator call button pressed. Huh, that solved that problem.

He smiled as you stopped next to him, giving you a little nod. “Hey,”

Holy shit this guy is hot. No, not the time. Tall…hot…great smile…no, focus. Be cool.

“Oh hey, you’re one of the new guys, right?” you smiled, tilting your head to look up at him.

“Yeah, I’m Kevin. I just got a place with my buddies Jimmy and Brady. A couple of floors up from you, right?”

Oh wow. He froze as your eyes widened in surprise, and groaned.

“I swear I’m not a creep?” he offered, wincing, “I’m just really good with faces,”

For some reason, you believed him. Call it intuition, or vibes, or whatever. This guy was being genuine. Huh.

“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it,” you teased.

His shoulders slumped a little as if releasing tension, making you smile. As if by fate, the elevator pinged its arrival, and Kevin gestured for you to enter first before following you in.

“So,”

You couldn’t help but laugh as you spoke in unison, Kevin just grinning. Oops.

“Go ahead,” you mused.

“I was going to say, if you fancy meeting my other flatmates too, we’re having a little housewarming of sorts. Like, a bunch of our friends are coming over, sort of a drop in and out whenever time kind of thing. It’d be nice to meet you properly, and show you I’m not actually a weirdo? Friday, if you’re free?”

Oh wow. That was really…sweet? Sure, it could blow up in your face, and he could actually be a creep…but again, those intuitive vibes were saying he wasn’t. And it definitely beats sitting at home and eating cold pizza. Again.

And damn, if his flatmates looked anything like him? Eye candy for days.

“Friday huh? I could do Friday,” you said simply, trying to keep your cool.

His answering smile let you know you’d made the right decision.

“…and after that, we became really good friends, all four of us. He never flirted with me after that time in the elevator and I tried my hardest not to flirt with him. I stayed in touch with Kev when he went to the Jets and then here to the Flyers, and he was one of the first people I got in contact with when my job moved me to Philadelphia. And then everything changed a few weeks ago. The rest is history,” you shrugged.

Kevin grinned, although he definitely had a blush on his cheeks.

“You were such a creep,” Claude said, laughing.

Kevin blushed a little fiercer. “It just came out! Of course I noticed the prettiest girl in the building – that was the least awful way I could’ve said it,”

You rolled your eyes as his friends hooted and jeered, although you felt your cheeks heat up with warmth.

“Just couldn’t help yourself, huh?” you teased.

“I got there in the end, didn’t I?” he shot back with a dramatic wink.

“Only took you a few years,” Nolan snorted.

Kevin just grinned, unashamed.

It may have taken a few years, but Kevin was right – you had gotten there in the end. All the years of self-doubt and insecurity, thinking you’d never be more than just friends, had resulted in a beautiful – if unexpected – relationship. A build-up of such a solid foundation of friendship over the past four years had already given you the opportunity to learn so much about him – and you couldn’t wait to learn even more. To learn about Kevin, the boyfriend. And, maybe even more than that, if you were lucky. Yes, unexpected as this may have been, you were in this for the long haul. And you couldn’t wait.

#my writing #kevin hayes #there's just something about this big guy #where can I find myself a guy like this kevin?#I just love a bit of friends to lovers!#kevin hayes fic #kevin hayes x reader #kevin hayes imagine #kevin hayes fanfic #friends to lovers #nhl writing #nhl fic #nhl imagine #hockey writing #hockey fic #hockey imagine

450 notes · View notes

arotechno · 3 years

Text

Jughead (2015), Issues 9-11: Discussion and Commentary

This brings us to the first arc written by Ryan North, who saw that the aroace Jughead train had left the station and simply could not resist tagging along for the ride. If you’ve followed anything about Jughead as a character at all, then you’ve probably seen many screenshots from these three issues before. It’s the Sabrina arc (that’s right, as in the teenage witch)!

I have a lot of analysis at the end of this one, so buckle up!

The gang ends up at Pop’s, as usual, where Jughead meets the shop’s new mascot, a talking burger lady. Jughead is, unsurprisingly, thrown off his game by this. After all, burgers are his one true love, but girls? He doesn’t really have an interest in them. It’s a confusing moment for him, and when his friends witness this, well… they assume he’s got a crush on her.

This is an iconic page in the “aro Jughead” canon. Here we have Betty trying really hard to be a good friend and doing what in her mind is the best for him, trying to help him through what she and the others perceive as his first crush. Jughead, meanwhile, is diving headfirst into a spiral of confusion (and later, discomfort) at the idea of having any sort of interest in another person.

I want to give my utmost respect to Ryan North for explicitly having Jughead say that he doesn’t get crushes. It’s not the only time that North does this during this arc, and I think it makes all the difference between making this awkward and relatable rather than making it seem like Jughead is being stripped of or “cured” of being aro.

Betty pushes Jughead to talk to Sabrina (the burger lady—it’s Sabrina), and after a while of running into each other day in and day out as Jughead frequents Pop’s on a regular basis, they strike up a friendship. Jughead has gotten what he wanted—to be friends with the cool burger lady—and he seems genuinely satisfied.

…But unfortunately, things do not go as planned for Jughead. The next time they see each other, Sabrina asks Jughead out. And Jughead, in true stereotypical oblivious aro fashion, agrees, without realizing until it is much, much too late that what he has just agreed to is a date. Like, a real date.

If you think about it, Jughead has probably never been asked on a real date before. And this is something I ABSOLUTELY would have done (and may still do today, if I’m completely honest with myself) as a teenager. Jughead’s immediate regret is so palpable here, and so relatable to me as an aromantic.

In his panic, Jughead turns to his friends for help. They are… not helpful. They’re trying to be helpful, sure, but whereas Jughead doesn’t really seem to want to go through with this at all, his friends are more set on giving him romantic advice (with varying degrees of usefulness). Jughead really has to go out of his way to defend himself and insists on multiple occasions that he thinks the girl in the burger costume is cool and interesting, but that he doesn’t like-like her, he doesn’t even really know her!

Unfortunately for Jughead, he ends up going on the date. And who does he call for help? His only other openly queer friend (I say openly because let’s be real with ourselves, none of those kids are cishet), Kevin Keller.

And okay, this scene with Kevin is genuinely kind of funny. You get the impression that Kevin has had a lot of practice dealing with straight bullshit, and that he’s more than a little disappointed that Jughead’s “big emergency” turned out to be something this totally mundane and not worth his time.

Ultimately, Kevin is also super not helpful, even after Jughead steals his phone in an attempt to get him to come to the table and diffuse the awkward situation Jughead has found himself in. So Jughead resorts to what I can only assume is plan Z, which is to call Archie for backup.

Only semi-related, I really love the way Ryan North writes conversations between these two. It just feels really genuine and believable. And anyway, I don’t know what Jughead was expecting, but resident himbo Archie Andrews is of no help to him, and only ends up making things a hell of a lot worse.

This leads to Sabrina rushing off to the bathroom and casting multiple spells to try to get Jughead to at least play along, if not outright fall in love with her, all of which fail spectacularly and only end up making her far angrier with him. I don’t blame her for being upset—the date was a total disaster, and right at the moment Jughead was about to be honest with her, Archie showed up and made things worse. Sabrina storms out, and vows that she’ll get revenge on Jughead for this, somehow.

All of Sabrina’s subsequent spells on Jughead also backfire. She tries to make him fail his classes, and he passes with flying colors; she tries to make him spend the whole day with resident asshole Reggie, but he ends up befriending him against all odds. She even ends up unleashing a giant eldritch horror by accident, and—well, that’s not important.

In the end, Jughead decides to make things right. He never meant to hurt Sabrina, and she seems to be in a tough spot, having just moved to town, so he brings her some food as a peace offering and explains what really happened. And Sabrina is… surprisingly receptive, in fact more receptive than Jughead’s friends were when he came to them for help, despite the fact that this is something they should already understand about him. Being upset with Jughead wasn’t doing her any favors, so Sabrina already seems to be at peace with what happened and is more than willing to forgive him and be his friend despite all that transpired between them.

This is a really great scene. There’s a nuance to it—the way Jughead acted on their date was unfair, both to Sabrina and to himself. He needed to be honest from the beginning, but instead, he just kept trying to escape. At the same time, Sabrina gets it, and it wasn’t very cool of her to try to use magic to get what she wanted, either (not that Jughead knows she did that).

Jughead helps Sabrina re-enroll in her old school and quit her job at Pop’s to move back in with her aunts, so that she can live out the rest of her teenage years the way she’s supposed to. Afterwards, Sabrina and Jughead both seem really happy, and thus volume two ends on a positive, quiet note.

I really like this arc, for the reasons I’ve already stated and more. It’s funny and awkward and endearing (I say that a lot about this series, don’t I?), and it portrays a realistic and relatable aromantic problem without it being aboutaromanticism. It’s more about Jughead being honest about his feelings and making a new friend than about Jughead being aro, even though that contextualizes the situation. A great deal of the series is about that—Jughead being honest with himself and others. In the first arc, it’s Jughead shaking off a persona of apathy. In the second, it’s Jughead being honest with Archie about their friendship and the way Archie’s behavior has been making him feel. Here, it’s about Jughead being honest about who he is at his core, and accepting it about himself—and Sabrina accepts it, too, no questions asked. Even if he never says “I’m aromantic,” the sentiment is there plain as day, and it’s a refreshing beat for the story to land on.

That said, I do have a bone to pick with this arc. There’s a line in the sand here between Zdarsky and North. In the last arc, we saw Zdarsky portray that really subtle but meaningful interaction between Archie and Jughead, in which Archie seems not only keenly aware of Jughead being aromantic—even without the word—but also tacitly supportive of him, such that he knows immediately when he’s crossed a line. Here, we see Ryan North take a bit of a step back from that, such that Archie may be aware of Jughead’s orientation but seems way too quick to assume all that’s changed the moment there’s even a sliver of possibility that Jughead has a crush. That’s the reality of having different writers stepping in to interpret the same characters in loosely connected stories like this, but it still bothers me. I prefer Zdarsky’s style of storytelling in general, but in particular I also prefer his portrayal of Archie, as much as Ryan North’s on-the-nose aro moments and undying love for Reggie make me very happy. As a whole, nobody ever stops to ask Jughead what he wants, they only tell him what they think Sabrina wants. Jughead says so himself:

I suppose one could make the argument that Jughead’s friends, or even Jughead himself, are only really aware of the asexual bit (if at all—for all we know Veronica and Reggie have no idea, for example) and that’s why they don’t only never mention aromanticism but also sometimes seem ignorant of it. It’s possible that the aro side of Jughead’s orientation is still something he doesn’t have the words for, despite it being a truth he knows about himself, and in fact I think that would have been an interesting angle to take, had this series continued beyond 15 issues. But what I have an issue with isn’t so much the fact that Jughead’s friends are unhelpful (because let’s be real, sadly a lot of us have been there), but the fact that never are they asked to apologize for pushing him to do something he so clearly didn’t want to do. Whether he or they know he’s aromantic or not, he was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of going on this date—and not just due to a lack of experience. I would have liked it had Archie, or Betty, or Kevin apologized, or even once asked him what he really wanted. Betty comes the closest, by talking it out with him in the first place, but even she still earnestly pushes him to go through with the date anyway.

Anyway, there are two arcs left for me to discuss, and frankly I’m not as enthused by either of them as I was for these past three, for a variety of reasons. The Ryan North train continues for one more arc, and then it’s on to Mark Waid and Ian Flynn’s big finish. Those two updates might come a little slower. Until then, I was going to include a compilation of Jughead looking uncomfortable, but I've only got one image slot left thanks to tumblr, so instead I leave you with this:

Same, Jughead. Huge same.

#mr. north i promise i respect you #techno's jughead reread #aro #aromantic #aro jughead #ace jughead #aroace jughead #jughead #jughead jones #jughead comics #op #long post

381 notes · View notes

ninja-librarian · 2 years

Note

Can I have number 12 for Fendra please?

12: Is there a wedding? What was the proposal like? Any kind of honeymoon?

Okay, so, the wedding and honeymoon went well despite not having an auspicious start with the proposal.

In the name of avoiding spoilers for a later story, I'm going to skim over a lot of what happens with the proposal and just lead with these particular details.

1: Fenton has a very special ring.

2: Fenton needs to get said very special ring resized to fit Gandra's finger.

3: Fenton needs to pick up very special ring from jeweler from being resized, and asks Huey to pick up very special ring because Gandra's starting to suspect something is up because we all know how well Fenton can keep a secret.

4: Huey picks up the ring without a hitch.

Now, this is all going off to a great start. So things go horribly wrong, of course, because,

5: Dewey is Dewey. And a precious himbo-in-training. And inherited Della's impulse control.

6: Dewey. Puts. On. The. Ring.

7: The ring is now stuck on Dewey's finger.

8: Huey. Loses. His. Shit.

Huey: WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?

Dewey: I dunno. Better question: why are Gandra's fingers so small?

Though Huey does bring out a hatchet at some point in a moment of wrath, no fingers are severed in the name of getting the ring off Dewey's hand. And it does eventually come off with both ring and Dewey unscathed.

Everyone has a new appreciation for the Lord of the Rings. Yes, there are many jokes and puns made about it. Yes, Huey is called Gollum at one point. After Gandra actually gets the ring, some of the kids call it "Precious" and say it in the Gollum voice.

This isn't even half the other chaos that is going on at the exact same time. This is a C plot to this story. Maybe even a D plot.

Anyways. After all the proposal is made and accepted, pretty much the first thing Rosa does is take Gandra by the shoulders and say,

"I'm going to do the exact opposite of what my future-mother-in-law did and insist that you not have a Wedding Mass."

Rosa got guilt tripped into it and somehow had never attended a full Wedding Mass, and had no idea that it would be a two-hour-plus ceremony. On her knees at the front of the church the entire time. (This, by the way, is inspired by my sister's in-laws' wedding, in which they were also guilt tripped into a full Mass not having a clue what they got themselves into.)

Yeah, Rosa was not going to let that happen to Fenton and Gandra.

They do, however, get married at the Catholic church. Gandra didn't think that she'd want to get married in a white dress but agreed to do a single appointment of trying on wedding gowns, mostly just for fun. Except she actually ended up loving it and found three different dresses that she absolutely loved, all out of her price range, and Minnie took what she loved from each of the dresses to create a custom-gown for her.

Yeah, Fenton totally cried when Raymond and Kevin walked Gandra down the aisle. (The three of them weren't much better...)

Violet and Lena were co-maids of honor, and Huey was the best man.

Huey took planning this wedding very seriously. The engagement ring was barely on Gandra's finger before he pulled out the rather large three-ring-binder that was labeled "Fendra Wedding" that he had been assembling since the success of their third first date.

He... clashed slightly with Violet over it. Because she also had her own three-ring binder...

Lena, whom both called upon to settle matters as the third member of the bridal party, was firmly "Team Bride and Groom". Violet and Huey could be arguing about something small and Lena would just shoot Gandra a text like "You want X or Y?" and whatever Gandra chose (even if it was Z) was what they went with.

At the reception, Dewey and Clara do a duet of "All I've Ever Known" from Hadestown, because that's Gandra's favorite musical and the song is just so "them" according to Huey. (And he just ignores Louie when he says "Isn't that the number in which the characters are implied to have sex during the instrumental?")

Fenton tries to very nicely feed Gandra a bite of wedding cake. She smushes it into his face. Fenton retaliates by smearing frosting on her beak, the two of them laughing hysterically.

They honeymoon in Puerto Rico for two weeks. Fenton had always wanted to go and see where his family was from and where Rosa spent most of her childhood, and Gandra wanted to go somewhere where they could chill on a beach, eat good food, and be far away from Duckburg. It was a win-win.

#Fendra #Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera #Gandra Dee #The Many Adventures of Duckburg's Heroes!#Ducktales

22 notes · View notes

nugnthopkns · 3 years

Text

may fic round up!

what's up babes? may brought us playoff hockey and me a lot of stress, but around here we focus on the good parts! here's a small collection of fics i read this month that i treasured and adored!

smut is marked with *, minors dni

denis gurianov

rules were meant to be broken by @denis-scorianov

ky and i are in the midst of trading brunette hockey boys to be in love with, and this sweet little fic was with perfect introduction to guri! check it out :))

erik johnson

fourth line grinder (1) (2) (3)* (4) (5) by @horsesandhockeyplayers

yo this series is the bomb and you should read it asap!!! i miss ej constantly and this really fills the void. one day i hope to love my job as much as nell loves hers

jamie oleksiak

sleeping in* by @senditcolton

goofy feel-good big rig smut that feels like morning sunshine when you read it. so good!

joel farabee

i'm with you by @hotgirlhockey

a sweet little beezer fic that made my day when i read it. unrelated but mel is a sweetheart and you should deffo check out her writing if you haven't!

you drew stars (1) (2) by @broadstflyers

a super cute little series that's a mix of childhood friends to lovers/soulmates from what i can tell so far! v excited for the next part

like doves in the wind (1) (2) by @museinmind

joel x oc that looks like it's shaping up to be co-workers to lovers? sign me up!! i love everything about mattie and wish i embodied more of her free spirit

kevin hayes

cape cod confessions by @miracleonice87

adorable summer wedding fluff with everyone's favourite himbo. what isn't there to love?

got a hold on me* by @antoineroussel

this is technically a re-read i did for kev's birthday but it was to be included because it's phenomenal and i think you should read it at your earliest convenience

hell of a view (1) (2) by @danglesnipecelly

this little series is fulfilling all my needs of a summer romance!! there's also a healthy does of fake dating that i can't get enough of. i can't wait to see where this is going to go

matthew tkachuk

twisted in bedsheets* by @troubatrain

best friend's brother has never been my fav trope, but kim is a writing genius who can literally do no wrong. adorable but still so hot

loving you is easier than i had expected by @aereres

i didn't know i needed to see matty as a rockstar but i did and now i think about it daily. so so so good!

bend the rules by @denis-scorianov

angst! angst galore! this hurt so bad but was so beautiful

mikko rantanen

only you* by @hookingminor

who doesn't love mikko?? very hot but also domestic enough to hit me in the feels

sidney crosby

all bets are off (10) (11)* by @princessphilly

i seriously love this story and pray that sid and nina get a happy ending. i want to be as strong as nina when i grow up

tyson jost

like this (1) by @matbaerzal

amalie was kind enough to let me get a sneak peek of this before it got posted and y'all need to get behind this asap!! roomate fics are weakness and this if going to be a good one

#i hope this month brought everyone happiness 💛#monthly round up!

67 notes · View notes

wiypt-writes · 3 years

Text

Stark Spangled Banner

Ch36: I Bid You Farewell And Good Luck, Morons. Part 1- It’s Like A Pirate Had A Baby With An Angel.

Intro: Thor wakes up on a strange ship, surrounded by even stranger people, a talking tree and a rabbit. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the fight to save Vision is won and the group make their way back to the compound to understand what exactly it is that they’re facing.

Warnings: Bad Language words.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: So I HAD to write Thor and Tony’s POV over the IW chapters too, because, frankly, they had some of THE best scenes in Infinity War, and I love that freaking Norse God Himbo and chaotic Stark chemistry so bad! I know this is Katie and Steve’s fic, but Steve had so little screen time in this film all things considered…we were so robbed!!! Once again, I can’t thank @angrybirdcr enough for her edits, they’re awesome!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Chapter 35

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Thor wasn’t dead. But he felt like it. Every inch of his body ached and when he was jerked back to consciousness for a moment, just one split moment, he thought he saw Little Stark. Only it wasn’t her. The woman had dark hair, yes, but as he focussed he realised she looked nothing like the woman he loved dearly as a sister. This wench had huge eyes and antenna dangling from her forehead. And, whilst he knew it had been a while since he had seen his friend, she wouldn’t have changed that much.

Finding his feet he looked around, chest heaving, at the band of people stood in front of him; a woman with green skin and red hair, a man with grey/blue skin covered in red designs, a tree creature- a Flora Colossus unless he was mistaken- which was off to the side draped over a chair, some kind of furry, animal thing- a rabbit maybe- and finally a man who appeared to be a normal, human being. That was until he opened his mouth and Thor realised he was probably the most stupid human being he had ever encountered.

His rescuers had offered him soup, and then when he had explained about Thanos, the green skinned lady called Gamora had told Thor what the Titan wanted the stones for. Which she knew, because she his daughter.

Thanos had a daughter. Interesting.

“Families can be tough,” Thor spoke wisely, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Before my father died, he told me that I had a half-sister that he imprisoned in Hell. Then she returned home, stabbed me in the eye so, I had to kill her.” He shrugged. “That’s life though isn’t it I guess? Round and round, but I feel your pain.”

The human, Peter Quill, pushed his way between Gamora and Thor, and looked at her “I feel your pain, as well, because, I mean it’s not a competition, but I’ve been through a lot. My father killed my mother, and then I had to kill my father. And that was hard. Probably even harder than having to kill a sister. Plus, I, came out with both of my eyes.”

Thor wasn’t paying attention. The man was clearly a moron, and he’d just noticed he had bent the spoon in the bowl of soup and was having a flashback to the time he had tried to bend the Captain’s shield. Little Stark had laughed so much at how annoyed he had gotten when he failed that she had cried. And then, to make it worse, a few days later the Captain had managed to move Mjolnir. Just a fraction, but it moved. No one had seen it, bar Little Stark of course, but there was something there, Thor was sure. Steve Rogers was a man worthy of a lot of things, but his hammer was complicated. You have to prove your worth. That had been explained to him by his Father the day he had given it to him. Of course, he hadn’t realised then that Eitri had actually made it for Hela first.

Eitri… Oh, yes!

“I need a hammer, not a spoon.” Thor mumbled, as the idea took hold and he looked at the pod at the back of the ship. “How do I open this thing?” He began pressing random buttons on the screen next to the door. “Is there some sort of a four-digit code? Maybe a birth date or something?”

"What are you doing?” the rabbit animal, Rocket asked.

“Taking your pod.” Thor replied nonchalantly.

And then there was an argument in which the moron Quill tried to imitate Thor’s deeper voice telling him he could not take the pod, but Thor was going to take the pod anyway because he was the God of Thunder after all, and then the lady Gamora cut them off quite rightly directing the focus back to Thanos by stating they needed to find out where he was going next.

But Thor had already thought of that. “Knowhere,” he answered as he brushed past Quill and over to the refrigerator he had seen Gamora get his soup from.

“He must be going somewhere.” Mantis argued innocently.

“No,” Quill shook his head and Thor noted his stupid voice was back to normal. “Knowhere? It’s a place. We’ve been there. It sucks. Excuse me, that’s our food.” He jabbed, suddenly noticing what Thor was doing.

“Not anymore.” Thor shrugged, stuffing it into a backpack he found.

“Thor!” Gamora cut across the pair of them again. “Why would he go to Knowhere?”

“Because for years, the Reality Stone has been safely stored there with a man called the Collector.” Thor stated.

“If it’s with the Collector, then it’s not safe.” Quill snorted. “Only an idiot would give that man a stone.”

“Or a genius.” Thor shrugged.

“How do you know he’s not going for one of the other stones?” Gamora asked.

“There’s six stones out there.” Thor began to explain, “Thanos already has the Power Stone because he stole it, last week, when he decimated Xandar.”

He didn’t missed the shocked and horrified look the group shared with one another.

“He stole the Space Stone from me, when he destroyed my ship and slaughtered half my people. The Time and Mind Stones, are safe on Earth. They’re with the Avengers.”

“The Avengers?” Quill asked.

“They’re Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”

“Like Kevin Bacon?” Mantis called out.

“Errr he may be on the team now, I don’t know.” Thor shrugged, having no idea who the man named after a breakfast meat was. “I haven’t been there in a while. And as for the Soul Stone, well no one’s ever seen that. No one even knows where it is. Therefore, Thanos can’t get it. Therefore, he’s going to Knowhere. Hence, he’ll be getting the Reality Stone. You’re welcome.”

“Then we have to go to Knowhere, now.” Gamora stated, looking around.

“Wrong. Where we have to go is Nidavellir.” Thor picked up the backpack.

“That’s a made up word.” Drax, the blue man countered.

“All words are made up.” Thor smiled, slinging the backpack onto his back.

“Nidavellir is real?” The animal called Rocket’s eyes grew wide and he jumped up onto the table and looked at Thor. “Seriously? I mean, that place is a legend. They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the Universe. I would very much like to go there, please.”

“The rabbit is correct.” Thor grinned at Rocket’s excitement. “And clearly the smartest among you. Only Eitri the Dwarf can make me the weapon I need.” He turned to the furry animal. “I assume you’re the captain, Sir?”

Rocket grinned and nodded, “You’re very perceptive.”

“You seem like a noble leader. Will you join me on my quest to Nidavellir?”

“Let me just ask the captain. Oh, wait a second, it’s me!” Rocket grinned. “Yeah, I’ll go.”

“Wonderful.” Thor beamed.

“Uh except that I’m the captain,” Quill chipped in

“Quiet!” Thor was now beyond bored of the moron.

“And that’s my backpack.” Quill continued pointing to the bag that Thor was stealing.

“Quill, sit down.” Rocket tapped at the pad and keying in the digits to open the pod.

“Look, this is my ship. And I’m not going to - wait, what kind of weapon are we talking about here?” Quill looked round.

“The Thanos-killing kind.” Thor smiled.

Boy, was it going to be a big, fucking weapon like no one had ever seen before…

“Don’t you think that we should all have a weapon like that?” Quill frowned.

“You lack the strength to wield them. Your bodies would crumble as you minds collapsed into the madness.” Thor shook his head.

“Is it weird that I wanna do it even more now?” Rocket asked.

“Erm, a little bit weird. Yeah.” Thor looked down at him, frowning.

“If we don’t go to Knowhere and Thanos retrieves another stone, he’ll be too powerful to stop.” Gamora stepped forward.

"He already is.” Thor shrugged.

“Look, I got it figured out.” Rocket interrupted, looking at Gamora. “We got two ships, and a large assortment of morons. Me and Groot will go with the Pirate Angel here, and the morons will go to Knowhere to try and stop Thanos. Cool? Cool.”

“So cool.” Thor grinned before he climbed into the pod.

“For the record,” Quill said leaning down to Rocket, “I know that you’re only going with them because it’s where Thanos isn’t.”

“You know, you really shouldn’t talk that way to your captain, Quill.” Rocket smirked, walking backwards and gesturing outwards with his arms. “Come on, Groot. Put that game down. You’ll rot your brain,”

As Rocket sat down Thor nodded out of the pod to the rest of the people on the ship. “I bid you farewell and good luck, morons. Bye.”

******

It wasn’t hard for the team to track Wanda, her red power flashing bright against the dark sky over Edinburgh City Centre, and as the jet followed her movements, the four friends saw her spiralling through the sky with Vision and crashing through the train station roof, just as Sam put the jet on the ground.

Within seconds the Ex-Avengers were sprinting off the jet.

“Katie, Nat, take the side!” Steve yelled, as he vaulted over the railings at the edge of the road running down onto the bottom half of the concrete ramp which led to the station. “Sam, up high and remember, we protect Vision at all costs!”

“Got em.” Sam spoke over the coms. “Platform seven, near the café.”

Steve vaulted over another set of barriers, the station now deserted thanks to the evacuation taking place by the local police. As he ran onto one of the walkways over the lines, he was just in time to see two of the aliens crash through the station roof. Weighing up his options, he realised it was going to be quicker for him to hop down onto the platform he was currently overheard, and jump across the lines to help. He swung his legs over the railings and landed easily, looking up. Across from him he could see Natasha and Katie emerging to the right, as Wanda stood and moved protectively in front of Vision, building power in her hands. An express train whizzed past him and he stood still, waiting and it wasn’t long before the taller, blue looking woman spotted him, and she launched her spear over the platform. Steve easily snapped his left shoulder back whilst leaning over his body with his right, catching the staff in his hand.

“Heads up.” Sam muttered, and as Wanda and Vision turned to see Steve step out from the shadows, fury lining his face, Sam swooped in and kicked one of the aliens across the platform and through a closed café’s security gate, causing tables and chairs to go flying, before he spun and started to fire on the other alien.

Steve launched the weapon he had caught across the tracks where Natasha caught it and stabbed the second assailant in the gut as Katie moved in to head off the other who was stalking back towards them. The weapon Natasha had been using flew back into the alien’s hands and Katie ducked as she swung, jabbing her in the back of the leg with an electric powered escrima stick. The alien let out a yell, stumbled slightly and Steve cleared the platform in an easy leap, rolling and scooping up the second assailant’s staff from the floor, holding it up to block the blow that the creature aimed at Katie. He grit his teeth, planting his legs to absorb the power of the hit, as Katie rolled to the side, jumped up and the two of them began to fight the alien, joined shortly by Natasha. Steve had to admit, the woman (if you could call her that) was a force to be reckoned with, but the three of them were just about getting the upper hand when they heard Sam yell.

“DUCK!”

The three of them did so and Sam flew in hard, kicking the woman backwards where she fell and scuttled over to her fallen friend. Sam landed next to Katie, drawing both his submachine pistols on the couple.

“Get up” The alien instructed to her fallen partner, her voice was deep.

“I can't.” His gravelly, robotic voice replied.

“We don’t wanna kill you.” Natasha spoke coolly “But we will”.

“You’ll never get the chance again.” The female levelled them, with a cold glare and with that a beam shot down from the hole in the station roof and the two were transported upwards. The weapon Steve was holding also shot out of his hand. He frowned in surprise for a moment, looking at his hand then upwards as the beam of light disappeared and the ship sped off.

“Can you stand?” Sam asked Vision as Katie replaced her sticks and walked towards Wanda and the android. When Vision shook his head, Sam moved forward to help him up.

Supported by Wanda and Sam, Vision looked over at Steve, Natasha and Katie, electricity shimmering over his surface. He’d been badly damaged in the fight, and as he spoke his voice distorted.

“Thank you, Captain.”

Steve took a deep breath and nodded. His face stern, but his eyes were much softer than his expression and Katie knew why. It had been a while since anyone other than Sam, Nat or Wanda had called him Captain.

Steve looked at the android, he might have been damaged but they had the stone, and that was the main thing. Nodding, he spoke. “Let’s get you on the jet.” His voice was soft and he moved to let Sam and Wanda support Vision on their way past him, Natasha following.

Katie hung back a little, trying to stop the light-headedness she was feeling from washing over her.

“You okay?” Steve turned to her as she blinked.

“Yeah, just took a whack that’s all. “I’m fine.” She assured him as they took up the rear of the group, her fingers lacing into his.

Once Vision was safely settled in a seat at the side, Sam dropped into the pilot’s seat. Katie hit the button to close the ramp as the Jet rose into the air.

“I thought we had a deal.” Natasha spun angrily to Wanda. ”Stay close, check in. Don’t take any chances.”

“I’m sorry. We just wanted time.” The younger woman said gently.

Katie glanced at Steve, he was stood up in the middle of the jet, hands on the buckle of his utility belt, staring seemingly at nothing but clearly contemplating something.

“Where to, Cap?” Sam asked.

Steve looked up, he glanced at Sam then locked eyes with Katie as he spoke one word, one simple word that they had all been waiting to hear for almost two years.

“Home”

*****

After a few hours, with the morning sky being the only thing in sight, Sam started to lower the jet through thick white clouds and Katie couldn’t help but inhale sharply when the compound began to take shape as she watched out of the front window. It looked the same. The buildings, the grounds…she wasn’t sure why she had expected anything to change, maybe because it felt like everything had changed for them, but either way, there it was. The exact same as the last time she had seen it.

Steve noticed her demeanour change slightly as they landed. She stood up straight, her shoulders squaring as if she was about to face an onslaught. And they were, in a way. On their way Steve had called Bruce to tell him that they had Vision and were heading back, but had had no idea what they were heading back to, nor did he care. Be it Ross, police, the army, whatever, Steve was done bowing to anyone’s will, he was over playing other people’s tunes. The two years they had spent hidden had shown them all that they could operate on their own if required, and he wasn’t afraid to fight anyone who got in his way.

They stepped off the ramp and strode over the lawn, Katie taking a deep breath as she looked around. So many emotions flooded her system, she couldn’t explain or identify half of them. Memories flashed in front of her eyes, visions of long summer nights spent outside in the garden and on the BBQ patio until sunrise. Laughs during team dinners. Sam and Wanda collaborating on pranks. Training sessions with the team and Vision reading Tolkien aloud to Wanda before asking questions about humanity’s love of fiction. Walks and picnics and other things in the ground, just her and Steve. Their wedding, God their wedding! Frequent visits from Tony, bringing in new ideas and improved gadgets. Getting back safe after being out on a long mission. Feeling relaxed and at ease.

Feeling at home.

Steve’s arm curled round his wife for a moment before he pressed a kiss to the side of her head as Vision opened the door.

“Still no word from Vision?”

“Satellites lost him somewhere over Edinburgh.”

“On a stolen Quinjet with four of the world’s most wanted criminals.” “You know they’re only criminals because you’ve chosen to call them that, right, sir? “

“My God, Rhodes, your talent for horseshit rivals my own.”

The sound of the call between Ross and Rhodey echoed down the corridor reaching the group that were making their way through to the lab.

“If it weren’t for those Accords, Vision would’ve been right here.” Rhodey shot back and Katie glanced back at Vision as the sounds the voices grew louder as they neared their destination.

“I suspect it will be a Hollo Call.” Vision said gently, answering Katie’s unasked question. His suspicions were proven correct as they rounded the corner and the lab came into view. Rhodey was stood across from where the holographic image of Secretary Ross was facing off against him.

"You have second thoughts?” Ross was challenging Rhodey, who smiled simply as his eyes shot sideways. Steve strode forward, his presence as intimidating as ever, and the first thing Rhodey noticed was just how dark he looked. Gone was the upstanding, All American Hero, and in its place was someone much harder, far rougher round the edges. Kiddo looked different too. Her hair was shorter and she looked slimmer.

“Not anymore.” He grinned.

The holographic Ross followed Rhodey’s gaze and his eyes fell on Steve who was stood next to Katie at the front of the group, Natasha, Wanda, Sam and Vision behind them. Steve raised his chin a little defiantly and moved to take his power stance, feet apart, hands on his belt, before he greeted Ross politely.

“Mr. Secretary"

Katie couldn’t help the smirk on her face as she watched Ross attempting to cover up the shock he had clearly felt at the group of outlaws turning up again. She locked eyes with Rhodey who gave her the smallest of winks before he glanced back at Ross who was shaking his head slightly as he approached Steve, his holographic form almost trying to square up to him. Steve simply raised his chin further and looked down from the steps he was stood on.

"You got some nerve.” Ross sniffed, staring up at him “I’ll give you that.”

“You could use some of that right now.” Katie shot back bluntly, Ross turned his head to face her for a second. She held his gaze and arched an eyebrow until he turned back to Steve.

“The world’s on fire.” Ross said incredulously. “And you think, you can just walk back in here and all is forgiven?”

Steve levelled the secretary with a firm gaze. “I’m not looking for forgiveness.” his voice took on a threatening tone as he spoke “And I’m way past asking for permission.”

At that point the smirk on Katie’s face grew even wider as she stole a glance up at her husband, pride swelling in her chest as he continued, stoic and unyielding.

“Earth just lost her best defender, so we’re here to fight. And if you wanna stand in our way,” he stepped down to be at level with the hologram, and stared it square in the eyes “We’ll fight you, too.”

Ross was practically foaming at the mouth as his eyes went to Rhodey and he spat out his order, “Arrest them.”

“All over it.” Rhodey promised nonchalantly before shutting off the hologram, shortly after a beeping noise sounded from the computers.

“That’s a court-martial.” He informed the group as he slapped the back of his right hand into his left palm, though his tone said told Katie that he blatantly couldn’t have cared less for Ross’ demands. There was a short pause as the group glanced down at their friend, Steve smiling softly, before Rhodey’s face split into a huge smile of his own.

“It’s great to see you, Cap.” He stepped forward.

“You too, Rhodey.” Steve answered, taking the last two steps down before he shook Rhodey’s hand. Katie threw herself at her brother’s best friend and he gave her a huge bear hug before he looked down at her.

“You do something to your hair?” He teased. Katie smiled, stepping back from his embrace while he looked the rest of the group over.

“Well. You guys really look like crap. Must’ve been a rough couple of years.”

Steve looked round, an amused smile on his face as he glanced at his wife then to the rest of the team.

“Yeah, well, the hotels weren’t exactly five star.” Sam quipped back cheekily, the banter flowing between them like no time at all had passed.

“Uh, I think you look great.”

Steve turned at the new voice to see Bruce inching his way into the room nervously wringing his hands together.

Steve and Katie remained silent, exchanging a glance. In the rush around and the fray of the fight, we’d forgotten to explain exactly who it was that called.

“Yeah. I’m back.”

Katie glanced over at Nat, she had her gaze fixed solely on the scientist as she spoke “Hi, Bruce.”

“Nat.” Bruce answered inclining his head towards her slightly as he fidgeted.

“This is awkward.” Sam piped up. Steve and Katie looked at one another, before they both smiled and looked back up at Sam.

“Any news on Tony?” Katie asked gently, interrupting the silence that had fallen.

“Not yet no.” Rhodey said. “FRIDAY lost him when he left the atmosphere. We got NASA running scans and we’re trying to track his trail but…” He shook his head.

“Typical Tony.” Katie rolled her eyes “Always has to go one bigger and one better doesn’t he?”

Her blasé tone wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Banner.” Steve said gently, looking across the room at the scientist. “Can you fill us in on what we’re up against here?”

“Yeah sure,” Bruce said nodding hesitantly.

Without so much as another word, the group all started to make their way out of the room. As Katie turned to follow Natasha, Steve’s hand gently fell on her shoulder. Without looking at him, she reached up and gently wrapped her fingers round his, giving them a squeeze before she left.

Steve took a deep breath as he glanced around the room once more, before he too followed on, that sick feeling in his gut was getting worse.

**** Chapter 36 Part 2

#stark spangled banner #steve rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #Katie Stark #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers fic #mcu fanfic #mcu #chris evans #chris evans characters

50 notes · View notes

bippot · 2 years

Text

Despite how hard he tries, it takes Jake a while to get out of the dreaded friendzone because of overbearing Uncles, pigeons, drunken nights out and the famous Jake Martin reputation.

Tags: Idiots in Love, Eventual Smut, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Himbo, Slow Burn, Co-workers, Friends to Lovers

The Crew, Jake Martin Masterlist - here

Chapter 4: Keys To A Candy Store

At the end of their shift, she waited for Kevin to lock up, as she did every day. Tapping her foot to a beat, she endured as her uncle took as long as he possibly could. Jake walked out of his room and walked towards her, his face a little sad. He scanned to see if Kevin was around and if the coast was clear, he asked, "Catherine said you hung out with me as a publicity stunt. Is this true?"

Two things could've happened. Either Catherine had implied that Y/N had set up the entire paparazzi ordeal. Or, Jake had misinterpreted something that his boss had said. Honestly, Y/N believed it to be somewhere in the middle.

"No, but we are going to pretend we were on a first date if anyone from the news asks, okay?"

"Was it a date?"

Fuck. She had no idea how to answer that question without seeming clingy or dismissive. Honestly, Kevin's question about the two of them got her thinking. She settled on, "We're just friends. It was a friend date?"

Oh. He tried to hide his disappointment as he replied, "A friend date. Got it."

Ignoring the awkward vibe that was slowly growing, she noticed that his shoelace was untied yet again, so she pointed it out, "Shoelace."

"Oh, thanks," he mumbled. He had done it on purpose so he could show her that he had been practising how to do it. Before she could try and do it for him, he bent down and did it himself, quietly whispering the rhyme as he worked.

Kevin watched in awe. He had tried to teach Jake that years ago, but he had never bothered trying to work on it. The look on his face was priceless. "Jakey? Did you just tie your laces by yourself?"

Proud of himself, he replied, "Yes. I. Did." It was a small victory, but it was still a victory. He had actually listened to her. Kevin could use that. The added bonus of Jake learning things? That could make them number 1. He had the driving skills. The crew spent most of their time interacting with Jake showing him how to do things that they thought he'd already be capable of doing. Eventually, they gave up and just started doing it for him. Now that Y/N was here, who knew? Jake was willing to actually learn how to do things.

When their week of punishment was up, Kevin called them both into his office, declaring, "Y/N, for some reason that I don't want to know about, Jake seems to listen to you. So, as of right now, you are his designated handler."

It took all of Y/N's willpower not to choke on her water. "What? He's a thirty year old man. He doesn't need a handler."

"Apparently, he does. Beth came up with this idea and Catherine approved it."

Neither of them minded this. They loved spending time together. Although, Y/N was a little confused. Jake didn't need a babysitter. He's a fully grown adult man who lives by himself and hasn't accidentally killed himself. Yeah, sure, he is a little accident prone. And can't help but get distracted by shiny surfaces. And she saw him trip over his own feet five minutes ago. And... okay, maybe a babysitter would be beneficial.

"We've been trying to crack into that peanut he calls a brain for years with no success. But, you're here for a month and, all of a sudden, he can do up his own shoes." He sounded a little bitter, but overall, it was supportive. "There are three ground rules to follow. 1) No messing around in the garage."

That made Y/N frown. She stated, "We're not even dating." For some reason, this hurt Jake's feelings a bit. It was true, but she didn't have to say that.

Raising his eyebrow, Kevin argued, "Do you think that's ever stopped him before?"

Nodding along, Jake agreed, "He does make a good point." Why did he have to admit that?

Gesturing towards his niece, he continued, "2) You must get your work done without fail."

Y/N nodded along. That was reasonable. Admittedly, it seemed as if she had gained more responsibilities and Jake had lost the few he did have. "And, 3) He's got to read a book a week. Preferably related to racing. If not, you've gotta teach him something."

This rule caused Jake to groan in disgruntlement. A word he probably didn't know. Learning was difficult for him. At school, his teachers just gave up when he asked for guidance. They had no idea how to teach him things, and now, as an adult, there were a lot of simple things that he didn't know how to do. Kevin sighed tiredly and gave her an example, "He can't tell the time. Maybe start with that? Beth tried, but he couldn't get it."

Jake gazed across at Y/N, waiting for her reaction. He was in no matter what the criteria were. She was about to become sort of like a sexy teacher to him. He was very down with that idea. Personally, Y/N had no problem with any of the rules. However, she could see how Jake might find them demeaning, so she asked, "Are you okay with this, Jake?"

He blinked at her, a bit surprised that she'd let him make his mind up. Usually, Kevin just tells him what to do. He didn't get an opinion. Plus, there was something about the way she said his name that felt different, more intimate somehow. "Totally down for this."

Smiling, she agreed, "This is fine by me."

"I have to tell you, though, Beth is a genius for coming up with this," Kevin admits. If it had been anyone else's idea, he would've taken credit for it. "She's got a real knack for this sort of thing."

Their arrangement worked out pretty well. Within the first week, he knew how to tell the time. By the second, he knew what each part of the car was called. It went so well that Catherine gave Y/N her own office so she could read to Jake in their down time. He liked that better. Her reading to him. It meant that he could ask her what all the long words meant.

While he was playing on the simulator, she would do the bulk of her work. Updating feeds. Tweeting. Adding content to the website. Plus, Catherine often asked if she could talk to the investors online for her. An odd press release here and there. Maybe a proofread of an email that would go out to sponsors. A little lending hand on the communication front.

Jake was faster. And happier. The team cared more about that first thing. But, Y/N prioritised him over the race. She was his training wheels. His safety net. He was learning so much from her, and now that he was getting to know her, his willingness to increase his knowledge was starting to slowly expand too.

Well, calling the area which Catherine had given Y/N to work from an office was generous. It was more like a small storage room that they had mostly cleared and had no idea what to do with. Now, they had an idea. Y/N's School Room was the affectionate (and totally not teasing) name that Kevin and Beth called it.

It already contained a small desk, wobbly shelves, and a singular rusty locker, which was quite depressing to look at but she knew after a little redecorating, it had the possibility to look nice. Especially since Catherine had offered a 400 dollar budget for decorating. This would be easy.

Y/N decided to do everything herself. The painting. The removal of the shelves. The construction of her new furniture. She had even carried in (with the help of Jake) a thrifted sofa that she had cleaned and made sure didn't carry diseases. Everything but the locker had been moved out. It was way too heavy to lift, so she worked around it.

During their work time, she spent most of it fixing up her office so it would look as professional as the rest of the garage. One hand would be painting and the other holding open a racing book so she could read it to Jake. As she sat on the floor following along to IKEA instructions for a bookcase, Jake knocked on her door and let himself in. "Hey, whatcha doing?"

She looked up at him from the instruction sheet. "I'm learning how to put these things together. I think this is going to take a while," she said.

"Maybe I could help you?"

"Nah, I can handle it," Y/N said dismissively as screwed two planks together. "Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Aren't you?" He cheekily responded as he sat down next to her and began sorting the screws into categories. He was going to help whether she liked it or not. He was bored. So very bored. There's only so many times he could run the simulation in one day without becoming tired of it.

With Jake's help, the bookcase was built in no time. Y/N quickly realised that his help was more beneficial than she first realised. He was great at following instructions and found the process easy.

The only problem was that he really liked to watch her work. In fact, he couldn't seem to focus on anything else. Every time she looked up from what she was doing, his eyes were locked on her. It was fine. He didn't really need to be focused. She didn't really need him to build the bookcase.

But, it was fun to have his eyes on her when she was working. It made her feel pretty. Like she belonged in this garage. In this racing team. With this man.

When they were done, she gave him a playful punch on the arm and praised, "Couldn't have done it without you, hot wheels."

"You totally could have."

Agreeing, she nodded and repeated, "Yeah, I totally could've," then paused to joke, "Just take the praise."

Together, they continued talking as she loaded up the bookcase with all of the books she'd been told to read to him. There were a lot of books about the history of NASCAR. She was sure that none of the other members of the crew had ever read, so it was shitty of them to expect Jake to. Y/N was sure that her uncle hadn't read a full book in years.

All was well until Kevin came looking for Jake. He knocked on her door and opened it without her even telling him to 'come in', to see Jake lay with his head in Y/N's lap as she read Harry Potter to him. He'd insisted that he needed a break from all those non-fiction books and had always wanted to read them. So, she gave in.

"What's up, Uncle Kev?" Y/N asked, accidently dropping the Harry Potter book onto Jake's face. She apologised immediately, "Oh, sorry Jakey," and put the book to side so she could gently rub the area of impact.

"It's a good job that you hit him with The Sorcerer's Stone. The Order of the Phoenix would've knocked him out," Kevin teased. In response to their confused faces, he explained, "What? I used to read them to you when you were a kid."

Jake decided to joke with, "I didn't know you could read."

"I didn't know it was your job to fall asleep on my niece's lap." Busted. Jake got up with a huff and made his way to the gym.

Y/N's School Room was where Jake always hid out. It's not really hiding if everyone knows where you are. Still, he could relax on the sofa and talk to her. That's all he wanted to do. Is it a crime? Is it a crime to want to talk to a pretty girl instead of doing your work?

Yet, there was one day a couple of weeks later when Jake truly hid out in Y/N's office. She'd been in the bathroom when he burst through the door, attempting to get away from a telling off from Catherine, and looked for a place to hide.

Under the desk was an option. That would've been the safe option. However, Jake decided to squish himself into the old locker that Y/N had repainted so it didn't look so out of place. Despite the new look, it still was old and untrustworthy. That's probably why it locked shut when he closed the door behind him.

Shit. Shit. He was stuck. He tried the metal door when he was positive Catherine had left the room and no, no fucking way, it wasn't opening. No matter how hard he tried, that bastard wouldn't open.

It was just like middle school.

Now he just had to wait for Y/N to get back, which wasn't long, but he was freaking out so it felt like hours. Thankfully, Y/N walked in, no doubt to help look for him, and he let out a sigh of relief. She was his hero.

"I'm in here!" He yelled, banging on the door to further get her attention. She gave a little chuckle as she tried to open it from her side. "Don't laugh. It's actually really dark in here."

Even pulling from her side, the door wouldn't open. He was truly trapped inside. "Let me get Kevin. He'll call someone to get you out, okay?"

"Don't leave me alone. Just call him. And tell him not to say anything to Catherine!" Just by the frantic nature that he said that in, she knew he was not having a great time.

That was an understatement. He didn't like confined spaces. He wasn't the biggest fan of the dark. And, it reminded him of all those times that George Filmore from the year above him pushed him into the stinky locker of Peter Michael's in middle school. Luckily, this locker didn't have a chronic farting condition.

It wasn't long before Kevin had got one of the mechanics to cut Jake out of the locker with a very scary looking buzz saw, which (of course) scared the driver further.

With a very loud and horrid whizzing metallic crunch, the door was removed. Jake stumbled out and instantly fell into Y/N's arms. Everyone else would make fun of him for this. She wouldn't.

"God, that scared me shitless," he whispered, making sure that only she could hear him. Her arms wrapped around him tighter, pressing him up against her chest. She was so warm and he soon found himself coming back to normal. He had no idea that he'd been shaking until he stopped.

All of this because he refused to wear a Fake Steak t-shirt for the interview he was supposed to do today.

Sensing that he was in no shape to be interviewed, Y/N had a little discussion with Catherine about postponing it until tomorrow, which was a struggle but once Catherine realised how shook up Jake was, she agreed to give him the rest of the day off.

However, Jake didn't go home. He stayed cooped up in Y/N's office. He also managed to convince her that she should do her work on her laptop instead of the desktop she installed so he could rest his head on her shoulder as they sat next to each other on the couch. She even went and shut the door to her office, which she'd never done before. Usually, she left it wide open until he shut it.

It amazed him. Not once has she asked why he reacted so strangely. Not once. Yet, she still proceeded like everything he felt was valid and worthwhile. It was as if she knew he'd tell her once he'd fully calmed down. He really had to give her credit for that. He didn't know how she did it. "Did you ever get stuffed in a locker at school?"

She could tell. Just by the way he'd asked. Trying to express her surprise without saying 'what? You? Super hot, super nice, pro athlete Jake Martin was bullied? That's insane', she commented, "That actually happens? I just thought that was something from the movies."

He'd been too embarrassed to talk about it in front of the rest of the crew. If he'd told anyone, it would've been his mom, and even she didn't know the full extent of it.

"Yeah, kids are mean. Especially if someone is passionate about something. There was this girl at my school, her name was Gen. She was lovely. She also really loved Pokèmon. She had the albums full of cards. The t-shirts. The bedspreads. Eveything, you know. One day she came in with a skirt that had a bunch of Charizard's on and one asshole lit it on fire," Y/N explained sympathetically, reaching up and brushing her hand through his hair. "I saw her just before I moved. She had a little girl in one of those things. What are they called? -"

"Baby carrier?"

"That's it! Yeah, anyway, the baby's little shoes had Charizard's on them. I thought that was so cute."

Was there supposed to be a moral to this story? "So, what you're saying is that I have to have a child to get over my middle school terror of being stuffed into a locker?" He asked, totally confused but interested. If the answer was yes, would she be okay with her being the mother of his child? No. He'd adopt. They weren't even together. Fuck. Get your head away from shit like that, Jake.

"No. I was just telling a story," she clarified, giving him a smile when he looked at her. He smiled back and let out a chuckle. For some reason that was totally unknown to her, she felt the need to kiss him on the temple. So, she did, and teasingly declared, "Just stay away from rusty lockers and I think you'll be fine."

Had she just kissed him? Without him even trying to woo her? It was on the head, but still. He awkwardly laughed and brought out that warm smile that made her feel like she was melting. God. She was losing her mind.

Chapter 6: Sushi And Transformers

#jake martin #the crew #jake martin x reader

45 notes · View notes