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#it's like. obvious. look at the way she interacts with Carlos. and then how she talks to and about Rodrigo
earlgreyflowers · 29 days
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39. we’re not just friends and you know it with max x teammate!best friend! reader. please and thank you!
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A/N time for some Max appreciation besties <3
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Max was starting to think he was the most readable person on earth, with every single member of the paddock seemingly pointing out how obvious his crush on you was.
"Dude, your eyes are literally always on them." Daniel laughs, nudging Max with his elbow as they walk. Max feels a blush rise to his cheeks, "Are they? I haven't noticed." He mutters, his eyes glued to your figure as you talk to GP in the Red Bull garage. Daniel shakes his head, following Max's eye line to meet the shape of you, now waving at your best friend. Max breaks out in a large grin, waving back at you before speeding up to join you sooner.
"He's so obvious." Charles says, rolling his eyes at his childhood rival. "We need to get involved." Daniel states, "Let him know that we all know, and to make a goddamn move already before someone else does." Charles nods in agreement, "I'll let Carlos know the plan."
Daniel smiles, "Perfect, he'll tell Lando and then Lando will tell everyone."
"I'll tell everyone what?" Lando asks, appearing from nowhere. "That Max is in love with Y/N." Charles explains, watching Max interact with you. "Oh been there, done that. I told everyone like two weeks ago, catch up guys." Lando explains, leaving the two smirking that their plan was apparently already in action.
It's a week later when Lando brings the subject up to Max. They're out playing padel, and you're sat on a bench with a book, soaking up the sun and attempting to ignore the yells of Lando and Alex. Lando and Max are stood by the net, casually chatting whilst George and Alex get some water. "So, do you like Y/N or something?" He asks, head tilted at Max as he fumbles his words trying to respond.
"Why would you think that? Me and Y/N? What? How could you think that?" He blurts, hand scratching the back of his neck as he avoids eye contact with Lando, eyes glancing over to you to make sure you're not listening. "You keep staring at her like you're in love with her man, all heart-eyes and gross." Lando explains, causing Max to scoff out a nervous laugh as George and Alex rejoin them.
"Are you talking about Y/N?" Alex asks, smiling when Max gets impossibly more flustered. "So you can all tell then?" Max asks, nervousness overtaking his tone. "Yes, you look at her like she created the universe," George says, "And also you look like you want to kill us whenever we speak to her." He concludes, eyebrows raising at Max in an accusatory manner.
"I need to tell her don't I?" He asks, a resounding yes coming from the group.
The thought of telling you how he felt was eating Max up inside, making him cold and distant towards you. Every weekend you could be you were in the Red Bull garage, a large 33 sprawled across your back as you cheered him on. Max barely acknowledge you during these weekends, instead insisting that he's not happy with the performance of the car and needs to focus on being faster. You roll your eyes, "Sure, you've won 8 races in a row but you need the car to be faster. I'm not stupid Max." You tell him before leaving the paddock without him and heading back to the hotel.
Max sits in the garage glumly after you leave, cowering away from the disappointed head shakes that Daniel sends his way after he sees you leave. He doesn't register anything until he finds himself outside your hotel door, hand raised ready to knock. Before he can make contact with the wood of the door it swings open, revealing his very mad best friend, you.
"I know you're mad at me, please let me in and I can explain." Max grovels, eyes wide with sadness as he pleads for you to humour him. You say nothing, stepping aside and letting him walk in, his shoulders visibly relaxing at your kindness. You sit on the edge of your hotel bed, watching as Max paces the room. You want to stand and help him, bury yourself in his chest until he calms down but you need him to explain himself.
"Did I do something?" You ask quietly, Max halting in his movements. "No, no Y/n you could never do anything." He says, standing in front of you. His hand rests under your chin, tilting your head towards him. He stares down at you, an unrecognisable glint in his eye.
"Then why have you been so distant with me Max? I just- I can't do this." You explain, eyebrows crinkling in worry. "Do what?" He asks, thumb swiping gently back and forth against your chin as he forces you to look at him. "I can't lose my best friend." Max's eyes close at your words, jaw clenching. "That word." He murmurs, frustration seeping into his tone, "I hate that word."
"What word? Lose?" You ask, confusion growing by the minute. Max takes a deep breath, "Friend." He tells you, your heart dropping at his words.
"We're not just friends, and you know it." He explains, "You know that you are the greatest thing to ever happen to me, my support system. Yes, you are my best friend, of course you are. I could never picture my life without you by my side, but that's not because you're my best friend. It's because I'm in love with you."
Your eyes widen at his words, smile creeping over your lips. "I knew telling Lando would work." You laugh, "He can't keep his mouth shut." Max looks at you in confusion, "What do you mean?"
"I told Lando how much I liked you, how much I loved you, and he told me to leave to him, clearly whatever he did worked." You smile, watching as Max mirrors the same smile. "You're lucky I love you, je nachtmerrie." You giggle at his words, "Say it again." You request, voice dropping to a whisper as Max leans in.
"I love you schatje."
His pillowy lips meet yours in a gentle kiss, your stomach churning with pleasure as you slip your hand behind his neck. He follows your lead, deepening the kiss and swirling his tongue with your own. You surrender yourself to him, allowing his tongue to dominate your own as he leans toward you. He breaks his lips from yours before attaching them to your neck, sucking and biting as he explores your body.
You feel the vibrations of his soft groans against your skin, relishing in the fact that he can finally touch you the way he's always wanted. "Been waiting so long for this dropje, can I do everything I've been thinking of?" He asks, kneeling down in front of you as his hands slide under your hoodie. You nod, smiling at your best friend as he lifts your hoodie. He licks his lip, trapping at between his teeth with a muted groan as he sees the lack of bra underneath your clothes.
"So pretty, my god." He mutters, lips meeting the soft skin in between your breasts before traveling over the mounds. His large hands encompass your chest, kneading and squeezing your tits as his tongue swirls around your nipples. You whimper at the feeling, expressing your pleasure with a hand on the back of his head, encouraging him to continue. Your nipples are hard from a combination of his tongue and the cool air circulating the room, your back arching at the tingly pleasure shooting down your spine.
His lips trail down your stomach, leaving a wet line cooled by the breeze, causing goosebumps to rise on your skin. Max's fingers edge into the band of your shorts, tugging them down. He groans at the lack of underwear there too, evidence that you had showered when you got back from the track. Max places kisses on your inner thighs, smirking when your muscles clench at the feeling of his lips. He admires the way your pussy glistens under the light of your lamp, the sheen of wetness making his mouth water.
He licks his lips before hovering closer to your core, the tickle of his breath causing your walls to clench around nothing. Max groans at the movement, "Are you desperate schatje?" You whine at his question, bucking your hips toward his face.
"Please Max, need you."
He smirks at your whiny tone before flattening his tongue against your pussy, using the muscle to split open your folds. He moans against you at the taste, his tongue swirling around your clit. You watch as he pulls his face away, a string of your juices connecting his lips to you. His eyes have darkened beyond recognition, lust clouding his senses. Max dives back in, tongue flicking and sucking every inch that it can reach.
He pays attention to what makes you moan louder, what makes your walls clench and your thighs tighten around his head. He's certain that he could die a happy man between your legs, drowning in the sweet juices that coat his tongue. He seals his lips around your clit, sloppily slurping and sucking as you squirm above him. The tip of his finger swirls around your wetness, soaked now in both arousal and spit just like Max's chin.
He feels the way your pussy jumps at his touch, slipping his finger in gently, curling it up against your g-spot. The moan you let out his heaven to Max's ears, his cock throbbing in his jeans as he seeks friction for the ache.
"Fuck Max, you're gonna make me cum." You whine, hand raking through Max's hair as you pray he never stops. He groans louder at the force of your hand against his head, doubling his efforts until all that can be heard in the room are your moans and the wet sounds of his tongue between your legs. He flicks his tongue as fast as he can, ignoring the burn in his jaw and the need to breathe as he gets smothered by your thighs. He's rewarded when your orgasm hits, flooding his tongue with the taste of you as your hips flinch in sensitivity.
Max stands from the bed, quickly ridding himself of his clothes. In your hazy state you still manage to admire him, the thickness of his thighs, the bulging muscles in his arms, his toned stomach. But it's the soft smile on his face that you can't help but reciprocate that sends butterflies floating in your tummy and a shiver down your spine.
He clambers back onto the bed, leaning on his elbows above you. Max's lips slot against your own, the faint taste of your cum making its way into your mouth with every swirl of his tongue. Your soft hand wraps around the base of his cock, slowly sliding up before swiping your thumb over the weeping tip. You bring your thumb up to your mouth, sucking it into your mouth and relishing in the salty taste of his precum.
Max's eyes widen at the sight, practically whimpering at the realisation his biggest wet dream is coming true. "You're amazing," he utters, voice thick with desire. "Please tell me I can fuck you schatje, I need to feel you." You barely grace him with a verbal answer, grasping his cock and guiding him towards your entrance.
He thrusts himself forward, his thick tip stretching your walls. Your back arches at the mixture of pleasure and pain, eyes fluttering shut. Max's head drops down to your shoulder, body shuddering with a groan as he feels the warmth of your pussy.
"I've wanted this for so long, dreamt of it so many times," He whispers against your skin, sucking a purple mark as he bottoms out. Your walls encase him like a vice, his eyes practically rolling with every slow grind of his cock into your pussy. Your legs wrap around his hips, encouraging his deep strokes, nails scratching against his muscular shoulders.
You're surrounded by Max, his scent clings to you as he fills you up, feeling him in the depths of your stomach with each thrust. You slip your hand between the two of you, rubbing against your swollen clit as the wet noises of your pussy echo through the room. Max frowns at the feeling of your hand bumping his stomach.
He leans back from his position crouched over the top of you, knocking your hand from your pussy and making you whine. "Max please." You beg, desperate to cum one more time.
"I know, I know, but you have me know you don't need to do that." He explains, splaying his large hand across your stomach, his thumb dipping down to swipe against your clit. His rhythm increases, thrusting harder and faster into you, your arousal spilling out around his cock. "Cum for me schatje come on, not gonna stop until you do." Max mutters, hitting that spot inside you with every drag of his hips.
Your jaw drops and your eyes roll as your orgasm washes over your body, goosebumps covering your skin in its wake. Max barely lasts long enough to prolong your orgasm before he pulls out, stroking his cock until white ropes of cum splash over your stomach. He groans with each pulse, his arm dropping as he struggles to hold himself up.
He slips off the bed, returning with a towel from the bathroom to clean you up. He sidles up next to you, bundling you up in his arms, encasing you in his warmth.
"I love you, always have." He whispers, assuming your deep breaths as a sign of sleep, a smile gracing his face as you cuddle deeper into him.
Thanks for the help, is the text Lando receives before Max goes to sleep
No problem, heard it went well for you, is the reply Max sees when he wakes up.
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louis-ii-reyes-strand · 6 months
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semicompleted saturday sunday
Rules: Share one scene or art that never made it into a/the finished piece and probably never will. (And if you want, share what it was supposed to be and why you left it out or never finished it.)
Thank you @heartstringsduet for the tag! Most of the stuff i've written ends up in the graveyard for one reason or another, which is why i've not posted anything yet. But I like the idea of some of it seeing the light of day.
So, this scene is the only thing i've ever written for this fic. The idea came to me very vividly and this scene in particular, but, as you will see, it's disjointed as hell and I couldn't find a way to make it work.
The premise is that TK and Carlos get into a fight years into their marriage and Carlos walks out to calm down. It's the middle of the night so he ends up sat on a bench in a small park. Then through the power of ✨magic✨ he is sent back in time to important moments in his and TK's relationship and realises how stupid he'd been.
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Carlos blinked and he was at the honky-tonk, the first day that he and TK met. 
It had been years and there were countless other moments they had shared together, but he still remembered it like it was yesterday.
Michelle had been waiting for him outside when he arrived, feeling a little silly in his tight shirt, and a little apprehensive about being invited. But she hadn’t let him linger in those thoughts at all, had started talking to him before he was even next to her, and all but dragged him to the table she was sharing with Nancy and Tim. They greeted him politely, not quite friends but not distant acquaintances either, it wasn’t the first time Michelle had forced him to be sociable. 
Then Michelle had launched into her plan to haze Captain Strand. She liked him, Carlos could tell that much, but she was also Michelle and she was going to assert her dominance as Paramedic Captain to make sure the new captain was a good fit for their station. 
Carlos quickly made an excuse to get himself a beer while the other three were giggling about her plan. He didn’t want to get mixed up in their politics.
As he walked across the room to get to the bar, he noticed where the new look 126 had set up across a couple of tables.
He remembered feeling just as floored by TK’s everything as he had at the accident earlier in the night, if not more so without the rain to blur his vision. Everything had narrowed to where TK was laughing along with his new co-workers. 
Then he had spent so long by the bar, just watching him and how he interacted with the people around him that he finished his beer and Michelle came to find him. She followed his eyeline and then laughed. “You need to get laid.” 
Carlos had blushed and spluttered, but this time he didn’t.
It had been half he needed to get laid, and half so much more than that. He hadn’t known how meeting TK had shifted his entire world on its axis then, but some part of him knew that meeting TK was momentous. 
“Distract his Dad?” 
Michelle considered him for a moment but shrugged and went to drag Owen off to the dancefloor just as she had the first time this happened. 
Carlos remembered so clearly the nerves he had felt as he approached TK, not knowing if he was gay, not knowing if he would be into him even if he was. Now, his mind full of memories this body hadn’t yet had a chance to make, all he felt was love. 
“Hey,” He said as he came to stand by TK. He looked so much younger, so much more guarded too. 
TK glanced over to him, a smile forcing its way off his lips before it could even appear. He gave Carlos an obvious once over that set a fire in his gut just the way it had the first time, maybe even more so now that he knew what was waiting for him. “Hey” 
“We’re soulmates.”
TK looked so taken aback by how strong his words were, it made Carlos laugh. 
“We’re soulmates and it doesn’t matter that I’m saying it to you now because I'm pretty sure you’re a figment of my imagination sent to kick my ass. I’m going to tell you this now and when I wake up I’m going to drive home and tell you again.” He took a deep breath. “This moment right here changed my life, if you didn’t dance we me then drag me off to that bathroom so we could get each other off, I wouldn’t have reconnected with my family, I wouldn’t have friends that I care for like a second family, I wouldn’t be a detective, I wouldn’t have anything. I would’ve stayed trapped while I waited for my life to start, and I don’t tell you enough how much I love you. I think a part of me has always known that I love you since this moment. And I have loved you at every single moment since, even when you broke my heart and I thought it was going to end up alone forever. I’m sorry if I ever made you doubt that and I’m going to do better. I’m going to do so much better, baby.” 
The TK from the past was looking around for someone, probably his dad or anyone else he recognised, looking for a way out of this interaction. Carlos didn’t blame him, he’d just had a love confession from a guy that he’d met once. 
“I’m going, don’t worry.” He held his hands up with a smile and started backing away, unable to take his eyes off TK as he did so until he bumped into someone behind him and was forced to look where he was going. 
He ran outside the honky-tonky, looked up to the sky and shouted, “Okay! You win! I understand now, let me go home and tell my husband I love him.” 
He closed his eyes and waited.
i'm not gonna tag anyone because i have again missed the boat (i'm pulling seven sentence sunday together asap!) so if you see this: hi.
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widevibratobitch · 3 years
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Sometimes I read the confrontation scene between the Queen and Posa in Schiller's Don Carlos.
And afterwards I am always very much not ok and I regret it immensely. Just. Wow. Get fucked, Schiller, why are you doing this to me? Why am I doing this to myself?
#don carlos#don karlos#whichever you prefer#this is NOT about the opera for once#god#GOOOOD#friedrich schiller#how could you man#i mean uhh#i love Rodrigo what is new#but i also adore Elisabeth in this play. she's gorgeous. iconic really.#the way she calls him out on his bullshit at the end of this scene????? PREACH GIRL#but also. do you know what doesn't help? the fact that i genuinely believe she had a huge crush on him#it's like. obvious. look at the way she interacts with Carlos. and then how she talks to and about Rodrigo#she's all like '😍😍 the Marquis of Posa?!?! oh yeah i like him a normal amount what a nice guy right he's so cool hahaha yeah Carlos whom?'#poor girl#but yeah this scene makes me. scream.#and i will neeeeveeeer forgive Verdi that he didn't put it in his opera#now that i think about it - Rodrigo and Elisabetta have like what. ONE scene together in the opera?#and she still doesn't really speak to him. im not counting the quartetto because they do not interact there#but in the play??? they have like three or four scenes together? i love their relationship in the play so much.#i just love that basically everyone is in love with someone who's not in love with them#and that all this could have been avoided if only carlos and rodrigo werent such idiots and lerma didnt try too hard to be nice and helpful#and if philip wasnt such a mess. and if eboli wasnt such a bitch. and if alba and domingo werent such douchebags.#ok... so maybe it couldn't be that easily avoided. but anyway. love this scene. it always makes me cry and just. ughh#honestly if you're still here and you haven't read Schiller's Don Carlos yet - what are you doing here?! go! go break your own heart in two!
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Dinner Dates and Confessions || Big Time Rush ||
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Requested: hi there ! i saw that you're back and was wondering if you still take requests for Big Time Rush? I hope you do because I wanted to request one where Logan is flustered mess around the reader and somehow the boys helped him to confess; flusters and all.
Pairing: Logan Mitchell x Reader
Warnings: female reader, she/her pronouns
Words: 8.6k  
A/N: Hello! This was a requested fic from a little while ago that’s been in my WIPs for some time now. I was finally able to sit down and get inspiration to strike enough to finish it. So, I hope it came out well and to the liking of not only the person who requested it but to everyone else who reads it. Feel free to let me know if you liked it or not.
| GIFs not mine |
Logan was staring again, looking straight across the pool where you sat with your feet dipped into the water. You had a book in your hand, head tilted down and mindlessly kicking at the water in small splashes, fully immersed on your story in hand. He had come out to do the same, finding a table in the back corner and ready to dive into a new book he’d bought. Well, that was the plan at first, only getting a few words in before his eyes caught your figure. After that, his book had been long forgotten about and his attention was solely on you.  
So much so that he hadn’t even noticed his friends joining him at his table, immediately noticing that he wasn’t paying any attention to them. They all looked between him and where he was looking at, taking a few looks between before realizing where his line of sight fell. Right on you, completely oblivious to Logan’s staring and simply reading a book.
“Dude! Can you be any creepier?” a voice spoke beside him, snapping him out of his daze.
Logan turned to his right, where the voice came from, and turned his attention to James. He stayed quiet for a second, realizing that his friends had joined him at the table and had caught him staring. “What?”
“Don’t ‘what’ us, you were staring. Painfully obvious might I say,” he spoke again.
“S-Staring? No, I wasn’t staring. I was just... noticing a bird over there!” Logan replied, hoping to play it off.
“Mhm, a bird named {Name}?” he heard Carlos ask from his left, a slight teasing tone in his voice.
“Sorry bud, but you can’t fool us. You were so clearly staring at her,” it was Kendall who spoke up this time, making Logan groan in response.
He ducked his head down, not wanting to see the way his friends were staring at him, ready to tease him at any moment; as if they weren’t already. It's not like he meant to stare of course, but you were just so pretty and he was head over heels for you. It didn’t help that staring was the closest thing he had to interacting with you. Not that the two of you didn’t talk, it was more the fact that you would talk and he would babble out embarrassingly. Some days he could barely say a simple hello to you which was embarrassing on its own.
“Why don’t you just go over there and talk to her?” Kendall asked, gesturing in your direction.
“What? No, I can’t just go over there and talk to her. She's reading and it would be rude to interrupt,” he replied, trying to play it off.
“What he means is that he’d barely be able to manage a word in before scaring her off,” James teased.
Logan turned his head in James’s direction, giving him a look and a hard swat of his hand against his upper arm. Said boy let out a quiet ‘ow’ and grabbed a hold of his arm, hand sliding up and down as he eased the pain of the hit. It wasn’t like he lied about it, but that didn’t mean he liked it when others said it out loud.
“Oh right,” Kendall spoke up again. “How did last time go again?”
Cue the instant flashback that came to Logan’s mind of a couple days ago, when he and the boys were heading out to go to Rocque Records. Where they just so luckily ran into you on their way out, and you stopped by to give them a quick hello. When your attention had turned to Logan, all words flew out of his head. You had flashed him one of your smiles, gentle and welcoming that just left him completely mesmerized. When you waved your hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his daze, did he realize you’d said something to him.
“What?” he simply asked.
“I just said hi,” was your response, giving him another smile that seemed to quickly leave him flabbergasted.
His next words had consisted of the vocal equivalent to a keyboard smash before squeaking out a small ‘hey’ in return.
He’d been lucky that day that you didn’t seem to think anything of it and just moved on to the next subject. Telling the boys that you had to get going because you had lines to rehearse. The others gave you a quick goodbye as you slipped past them before turning to their friend. Immediately teasing him about the way he got so tongue-tied with you and poking at his now more than obvious crush on you.
“Please don’t remind me of that, it was so embarrassing,” he mumbled out, lowering his head once again to avoid his friends’ gazes.
“It wasn’t all that bad, bud” Carlos piped up. His reassurance was nice to hear but even he knew that it had been bad. “Okay, maybe it was but, you just need some help!”
“Carlos is actually right this time,” James spoke, earning a look from said boy before he continued. “It’s time you did something and asked her out. We'll even help you out bud.”
Logan stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about what his friends had suggested and offered. At his sides he heard Kendall and Carlos agreeing with James, wanting to help their friend out. He very much wanted to be able to ask you out on a date, be your boyfriend if he was lucky enough, but every part of himself was doubting that would ever happen. After all, if he wanted a shot of being your boyfriend, he first needed to learn to say hello.
He thought about how that would change with the help of his friends. Would it change? Something would happen for sure, with his friends involved it could either go really well or completely chaotic. Though he had to admit, with the help of his friend’s he’d definitely have more of chance. They were his best friends too, what could go wrong? No, scratch that, a lot could go wrong. Then again, it wouldn’t hurt to try... Right?
“I don’t know, guys. There’re too many things to factor in here. Like, what if she doesn’t like me that way? What if I can’t do it and she ends up laughing in my face?” he finally spoke up, voicing his concerns (well more like insecurities).
“Okay, you need to get out of your head for a second. Not everything needs to be calculated out,” Kendall told him. “Just leave everything to us, we’ll make a plan and all you have to do is follow it. By the end of the week, you’ll have gotten the girl.”
It didn’t take long for his friends to convince him, fully agreeing to their planning and scheming. He just hoped nothing bad happened along the way.
It was a couple days after the conversation with his friends at the pool before the guys set any plans in motion. He was coming down the hall of their apartment, intending to head to the park. When he saw James and Carlos rushing to him, he stopped in his tracks. They both looked a little too excited for it not to be suspicious and he really hoped he wasn’t about to be involved in something he wouldn’t end up liking. Better yet, something that would cause them to make some sort of elaborate scheme in order to save themselves from trouble.
“What are you two up to?” Logan asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
“Well, we finally came up with a plan to help you with {Name},” Carlos told him.
“Yup, and right is phase one. So, Mr. Mitchell if you’ll follow us, your lady is waiting,” James said, speaking right after Carlos did.
He didn’t really get to say much before they each grabbed one arm and started dragging him along. They threw him in the elevator and pressed a button before waving him goodbye and watching the elevator doors close. He took the time in the elevator to compose himself, taking a moment to collect his thoughts and wrap his head around what just happened. Although there wasn’t much time to do that before the doors opened and right on the other side stood Kendall.
He grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the elevator, letting the doors close behind him. “So, here’s the plan. {Name} is about to come back from rehearsals and walk through the lobby. You are going to give her these and then make light but effective conversation.” Kendall explained, shoving a small bouquet of flowers into his hands.
“That’s it? Okay, that seems simple enough, I can do it,” Logan spoke.
He took the bouquet in his hands and straightened up, putting on his best look of confidence. It really was a simple gesture: give you the bouquet, say hello, and say a nice compliment that would really stick with you. He took a deep breath and turned away from Kendall, turning his attention towards the entrance doors of the Palm Woods. Like clockwork, you walked through the entrance doors heading straight towards where he and Kendall stood. Kendall gave Logan a light push, sending him forwards into your direction before he had any thoughts of backing out.
Swallowing back a lump in his throat, he walked forward and made his way towards you. You were quick to spot him, right in your line of sight and stopping to greet him. Your attention immediately shifted down to the flowers in his hand, perking up in curiosity of what they could be.
“Hey Logan,” you greeted, giving him a smile as you spoke. “Pretty flowers, who’s the lucky person?”
He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as you flashed him a smile, completely becoming captivated by it. Your words flew in one ear and quickly flew out the other, once again unable to say anything to you. Although he tried, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water as he tried to remember how to vocalize himself.
“You okay?” you asked, slightly becoming concerned about his silence.
“Y-Yes!” he answered, that being the only thing he managed to utter out.
Your smile widened, letting out a quiet laugh under your breath and speaking once again. “You scared me there for a second, thought I said the wrong thing.”
He was quick to shake his head no, his inaudible way of reassuring you that that wasn’t the case. “Alright. Well, those flowers are very pretty and whoever they’re for is very lucky.” You spoke. “I have to go run some lines so I’ll see you later, okay?”
He didn’t say anything, only nodded his head and moved to the side to let you through. Attention still focused on the way you were smiling at him as you walked past. His body turned with your movements, watching you walk away and letting out a sigh. You only took a couple steps away from him before he snapped out of his daze, remembering what’s he’s supposed to be doing.
“The flowers! They’re for...,” he spoke up, catching your attention and making you turn back around. Catching your gaze once again, all words flew away and he was back in his flustered, tongue-tied state. “F-For-For my grandma. She loves these!”
He hated himself immediately after those words came out of his mouth, mentally facepalming at his stupidity. There was a pause between the two of you, his words hanging heavily in the air as you processed what he said. Then there was a laugh, lighthearted and soft, coming directly from you. Your head was ducked down, hand covering over part of your face and stifling your laughter a bit. It was a simple action on your part, something you did all the time but it was enough to make his heart skip a beat and butterflies fill his stomach.
“I’m sure your grandma’s gonna love those. Peonies are beautiful, my favorite flower actually,” you told him, lifting your head up to look at him again and flashing him another smile.
He was still tongue-tied by what he had said, giving you no response and simply letting you say goodbye again before taking your leave for real this time. He merely stood in his spot and watched you head over to the elevator, doors quickly opened and you stepping inside. Once you were out of sight, Kendall quickly appeared in front of him with a look of disbelief.
“For your grandmother?” he questioned, referring to what Logan had said.
He let out a groan, eyes squeezing shut and head dropping down in embarrassment. “Please don’t say anything.”
Kendall huffed out a small laugh and gave him a sympathetic smile, putting his hand on his shoulder. “The good news is you made her laugh, so that’s gotta count for something. The other good news is that this was only the first part of the plan so don’t lose hope yet, bud.”
“I couldn’t even do this, what if the rest goes wrong?” he asked.
“It won’t, we’ll just make sure to coach you through it better,” Kendall reassured.
It was appreciated how his friends were helping and basically guiding him through this but it didn’t stop the embarrassment and worry that things would fall apart. Seconds later, the elevator doors opened again with James and Carlos stepping out. They both their way over to Logan and Kendall, asking how everything went. Although, they could already tell by the way Logan was still holding the flowers they had all agreed on getting him to give you.
“So, planned failed huh?” James asked.
“Oh, you have no idea,” Kendall answered, causing Logan to groan once again and hang his head in shame. “He told her the flowers were for his grandma.”
“No way dude, you really said that?” Carlos exclaimed, letting out a loud laugh with his words.
“Please don’t talk about it, I’m already embarrassed as is,” he let out.
“Okay let’s not make fun of him, we just have to move forward with our plan,” Kendall said.
“Which is what exactly?” Logan asked.
“Trust me bud, the less you know the better it’ll go for you,” he told him.
Logan took a deep breath and gave his friend a nod, fully agreeing with what Kendall had said. The less he knew meant the better his chances of things going right for him. “Hey, did you guys know peonies were her favorite flower?”
“Yeah, she told Jo and Camille once,” Kendall told him once again.
He let out a quiet oh and a nod of his head, finding that to make perfect sense since the two were your friends. He was sent away after that, his friends telling him they had to go work out the rest of the plan.
A couple hours later, Logan was hanging out in the apartment; laid back against the couch with a book in his hand. It was quiet in the apartment with everyone else out doing who knows and leaving him home alone. Which was nice, he liked spending time alone and being left to his own devices. It was much needed alone time too, especially with what happened earlier with you. He didn’t want to risk accidentally facing you anywhere in the Palm Woods and have another awkward conversation.
However, his alone time was quickly interrupted with the door of the apartment opening up and noise following with it. He turned his head in that direction, watching his friends walk in and instantly spotting him. They made their wave over to him, each one wearing a smile that immediately told him they were up to something. Most likely another part of the plan they had in motion that he was about to play out. He wasn’t sure if he should be excited about it or scared about how it might turn out.  
“What’s up with you guys?” he asked them as they reached him on the couch.
“I’m glad you asked, dear Logan,” James spoke.
He had an arm behind his back that was quickly brought around in view of Logan’s sight. He held up something to his face, more specifically what looked like to be tickets.
“Tickets?” he questioned.
“Movie tickets,” Kendall explained. “To a movie that {Name} has been dying to see but hasn’t had the chance. We asked Camille and Jo when her next day off would be and bought the tickets. The plan is you’re gonna ask her out for this Friday at 6.”
“M-Me? Woah, okay, aren’t we moving a little too fast here?” Logan asked, feeling his nerves spiking up.
“Calm down, dude. We have this covered,” Carlos was next to speak up. “We made a plan to go as a group, all you have to do is ask her to join.”
“Yup! It’ll be me, Jo, Carlos, James, and Camille coming along with the two of you. That way you don’t have to worry about it being a date-date but it still gives the two of you time together,” Kendall further explained.
He thought about it for a moment, taking in the full extent of this plan and going it over in his head. It could work, he could be near you and if he got nervous, he could turn to his friends for help. It was a perfect plan. Now all he had to do was make the first move and ask you to come with.
“What if I can’t do it?” he asked, voicing his concerns out loud.
“You can, don’t overthink it dude,” James answered. “She’s downstairs right now with Jo and Camille, go ask her.”
The others nodded their heads, agreeing with James and almost ushering their friend out the door. He didn’t get a chance to protest before he was outside the door and in the hallway. He turned around to speak to his friends once again before the door closed in his face and the faint sound of the door locking reached his ears. There was no way he was getting back inside unless he went downstairs, found you and made an attempt to invite you out.
Logan sighed out quietly and let his shoulders slouch forward, closing his eyes for a second and working up to courage to find you. He made his way downstairs, getting onto the elevator and pressing the button for the main floor. He could feel his nerves building up, the ride down feeling longer than it usually was. His hands were holding onto the railing inside the elevator, gripping it tight enough to turn his knuckles white. His palms slide against the metal a bit, sweat building up on them from how nervous he was getting.
Then the doors opened and the Palm Woods lobby came into sight, making him all the more anxious. He stepped out of the elevator and onto the lobby floors, taking a look around to see if he could spot you. You weren’t anywhere in the lobby and he could only guess that meant you were out by the pool. He walked over that way, feet slightly dragging with his steps as he got closer. He took another look around once he reached the pool, immediately spotting you on the other side sitting with Camille and Jo just as the boys said.
He stopped in his tracks once he saw you, entire body freezing up and heart beginning to race in his chest. Every thought that was flying across his head was telling to abort, turn back and leave before he made a fool of himself. He almost did, had his rational side not come into play and told him to man up and march right over to you. Before he could he question himself, he did just that, heading over to the table you were sat at.
The first one who noticed him was Camille, she was sitting right in his line of sight. Judging by the smile she threw at him upon their eyes meeting, he could only assume that she and Jo had set this up as well. “Hey Logan.” she greeted him.
“Hey Camille, Jo,” he replied, greeting the two girls before his eyes set on your figure. “Hey {Name}.”
You looked over his way, smiling widely once your gaze caught his and speaking back. “Hey Logan. What brings you by?”
There it was again, that damn smile of yours that left him completely nervous. Well, you in general left him nervous but seeing you smile always hit him differently. He wanted to be the one who always made you wear a smile on your face. He wanted to be the one who just made you completely happy. He shook his head slightly, regaining focus before he got carried away with his thoughts.
He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, getting stuck in his throat and simply staring at you in silence. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Jo and Camille grimacing at his awkwardness. You blinked a couple times, staying silent as you waited for Logan to speak. You couldn’t help but wonder if he was okay, or if you’d done something again. After all, this wasn’t the first time he was left speechless when the two of you spoke. You could only wonder if it was intentional or not, which you hoped it wasn’t.
“Did you want to say something, Logan?” this time it was Jo who spoke up, hoping to give her friend a push.
He looked over at her, noticing how she was gesturing for him to continue with his words. “Y-Yes! Yes, I do.”
“Oh, what did you want to say?” you asked him.
He opened his mouth again, immediately closing it after he did as he tried to figure out how to ask you. It didn’t make it any easier with an audience, especially at the thought of you rejecting him. He gave a quick glance over at Camille and Jo, hoping they’d get the idea and give the two of you some privacy. Lucky for him they did, Jo reacting first and turning to look at Camille.
“Hey, I could go for something to drink. You wanna come with?” she asked her.
“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea,” Camille agreed and turned to look at you and Logan. “You guys want anything?”
You shook your head and politely declined while Logan squeaked out a quick ‘no’. The two girls were quick to get up and leave the table, letting the two of you have your moment alone. As they did, they both whispered words of encouragement to their friend with him muttering a quiet thank you. Once they walked away, he took the seat next to you and once again turned his attention on you. Meeting your gaze as you waited for him to continue what he wanted to say.
“Um, well, I was wondering if you wanted to go watch a movie this Friday? A-As a group, like me and the guys, and you, Camille and Jo. For that new movie that just came out,” He finally told you.
You perked up some at what he said, another smile reaching your face as you spoke. “It's funny that you mention that, I was just talking about that with Jo and Camile. Jo did say she was thinking about seeing it with Kendall, guess now we’re all going.”
“S-So, that’s a yes?” He asked, excitement clear in his tone.
“Yeah of course. I’d be fun and I’ve been dying to see this movie since it came out. I was actually invited to the premier but I had a last-minute rehearsal to go to,” you told him, sighing out lightly at your last part.
“Well, now we can go and experience it together. I heard its insanely good, so I'm looking forward to it too,” he said, letting a smile appear his face at your words.
Not much was said after that, Jo and Camille came back with drinks in their hands. The three of you were still hanging out and he didn’t want to intrude any more than he already. Truth be told he had hoped they would’ve taken longer and allowed the two of you more time to talk. This was, after all, the most conversation he’s made with you without blushing and babbling like an idiot. Maybe it was a good thing that he had to go now, any minute he’d be back to his flustered self around you.
He gave the three of you a quick goodbye before taking his leave, looking behind one last time as he did to catch a last glimpse at you. He almost ran into someone and knocked them into the pool from doing, glad that he caught himself at the last second. There was no need to embarrass himself now after practically getting you to agree to a date with him. He was quick to run back into the building, heading back up to the apartment and tell the others of his success.
Friday had rolled around sooner than he expected, with it the evening and only a few hours till the movie. Logan was in his room, trying on shirt after shirt the find the right one. Something that looked casual but also said that an effort was made. He definitely wanted to look good enough to be noticed by you, even if this was just a group movie thing. He tried on a dark blue button up shirt that was nice but way too wrinkled for this. Then a red t-shirt that was way too casual for the occasion, the opposite of what he wanted. He tried pairing the t-shirt with a cardigan but it only made him look nerdy. Maybe you liked nerdy?
Logan sighed in frustration as he looked himself in the mirror, not understanding why this was hard. It wasn’t even a real date between the two of you, he didn’t have to put so much effort into an outfit. More so, an outfit that would be in the dark most of the time so for all it mattered he could go in his pajamas. He settled for the red shirt and cardigan, figuring it was the safest option for this.
“Dude, you ready? Jo said they’d meet us downstairs in five,” Kendall called out, door to his room opening enough to pop his head in.
He turned his head towards the door, jumping off the bed and standing up straight. He gave nod of his head and told his friend yes, just needed another minute. Satisfied with his answer, Kendall was quick to leave right after and let Logan finish up. A minute later, he came out of his room and joined his friends out in the living room all ready to go.
A few minutes after that, they were down in the lobby where you, Jo, and Camille were waiting for them. Logan’s eyes looked over the girls, landing on your figure and taking in a breath when he took in the sight of you. You were chatting with Camille, back slightly turned and facing him so you hadn’t seen him yet. He was glad you hadn’t, nervous about how he compared with you at the moment. It wasn’t even anything remotely outstanding, at least not compared to other outfits he’s seen you in. Yet you were breathtaking all the same.
He caught Camille’s gaze and no sooner that he did, did you turn around to look at him. There was that smile again, directed at him and immediately raising his nerves. Camille moved away from you when she noticed the two of you staring at one another, walking over to Carlos and James to find conversation in them instead. He walked over to you once Camille was far away enough, sending you a smile of his own.
“Well don’t you look sharp,” you spoke once he was near enough.
“O-Oh really? You don’t think it looks too nerdy?” he asked.
“Nerdy? No. You look great Logan,” you answered, letting your smile widen to show you were being genuine.
He glanced down at himself, using that to hide the way his own smile got bigger and take a look at himself. He felt relieved to know that his outfit hadn’t been a complete dump for you.
“Well, it’s nothing compared to you. You look beautiful—I mean, y-you look really great yourself,” he said, looking back up at you.
Your own head ducked down, feeling a bit shy from his words and letting out a quiet laugh. “Thank you. It's nothing special, just threw on the first thing I could find.”
You were lying but he didn’t need to know that, instead playing it off like it was nothing. Although, he was probably smart enough to tell that wasn’t the truth. “It looks amazing either way,” he said once again.
Before you had the chance to say anything, you heard Kendall’s voice asking if all of you were ready to head out. When your group agreed, you made your way out of the lobby and the Palm Woods building. You and Logan stuck by each other's side, staying in the back of the group. The movie theater wasn’t that far from the Palm Woods, only a few blocks that they could all walk there. It was quiet between the two of you, listening to your friends talking to one another. You didn’t mind it though; the chatter of your friends filled the air around you enough. Logan didn’t mind either, it was enjoyable just being able to be around you like this.
Those few blocks to the movie theater went by faster than you expected, standing outside the entrance doors before you even realized it. Logan made the move of opening the door, gesturing for you to go inside. A chivalrous act that ended with him holding the door for everyone else as well. But when he saw you waiting on the other side for him while his friends made their way to vendors, he knew it had been worth it. He was quick to join you at your side again after going through the doors himself, the two of you joining the others as they debated over snacks.
“Would you like anything? It’d be my treat,” he asked you.
“Oh, it’s okay, you don’t have to do that” you replied.
“It’s alright, I don’t mind,” he spoke again, offering you a smile of reassurance.
You opened your mouth to protest before closing it and giving a slight nod in okay. “A drink and popcorn are fine, and we can share if that’s alright with you.”
He smiled again and nodded his head, excusing himself before he walked over the concessions. You waited in your spot, getting approached by Camille and Jo as you did. You smiled at them once you caught them in your line of sight, both giving you a smile back.
“Excited?” Jo asked.
“Very,” was your reply.
“Excited to be here with him?” Camille asked, looking over and gesturing at Logan.
Your eyes widened a bit on their own, suddenly very aware of everything around you. You looked away from both girls, searching for anything remotely interesting to avoid their gaze. “When does this movie start again?”
“Don’t avoid the subject now. It was practically all you were talking about since he asked,” Jo teased.
You felt a burn start building up in your cheeks, making you hope it wouldn’t show through. You shifted your eyes back to the two girls and shook your head before speaking again. “I don’t know what the two of you are talking about.”
“Should we go tell Logan about how you were-”
You cut Camille off before she could say anything more, looking behind you towards the said boy who was coming back with your movie snacks. “Oh look, Logan looks like he needs help with those.”
You moved away from the two before either girl could say anything, leaving them to giggle amongst themselves as they watched. You were quick to approach Logan, asking him if he needed any help and taking the drink from his hands when he handed it to you. He gave you a quiet thank you when you took it and you returned it with a smile. The two of you stood off to the side as you waited for your friends who were getting their own things. All while feeling the stares of your friends who would without a doubt continue their teasing after the movie.
Once they had, you gave your tickets away and were pointed to your designated theater. Again, you and Logan stayed in the back and followed after your friends. Had you been paying attention; you would have noticed how they were planning amongst each other. It started with your theater seats, you and Logan taking the only two seats that weren’t with your group. Instead, they sat one row in front where you were in clear sight of the group. It's not like you minded of course, unaware that it had been intentional.
For the most part, the movie was nice and all your attention was focused on that. There were a few times when your hand touched Logan’s from accidentally reaching for popcorn at the same time. You'd pull your hand away no sooner had they touch and give each other a sheepish look. And while this was happening, neither of you noticed the way your friends slipped away one by one. Leaving the two of you alone to enjoy the movie while they set up their plans elsewhere.
When the movie ended and the two of you got up from your seats, you noticed it was the two of you. “I think we got ditched,” you said, turning to face Logan.
He was quick to take a look around after you said that, noticing that his friends were indeed gone. With the way today was supposed to be an indirect date with you, he figured they were up to something else.
“Maybe they just stepped out before we could notice,” he reasoned, more with himself than with you.
“There’s only one way to find out.”
You took a step forward, walking towards the exit of the theater room with Logan following behind. When you got to the lobby, you took a look around for your friends who were nowhere in sight.
“Yeah, I think we got ditched,” you said again with a small laugh.
“I’ll text the guys, I’m sure there’s an explanation,” Logan replied.
You gave him a small hum in response and watched as he took out his phone, quick to send a text to his friends. You decided to do the same, if he didn’t have a quick response from the boys then you could try for one from Camille and Jo. As you opened your phone, you saw two messages already waiting from you. They were each from both said girls, telling you something came up for them that they had to head out.
“Well, Camille and Jo both had to go so I’m guessing that Kendall went with Jo. And with that followed James and Carlos who probably wanted to do something more fun,” you told him, turning to look at him as you did.
He'd gotten a text from Kendall the second after you spoke, telling him about what you just said. Except in his message, it was a ruse to leave the two of you alone with said boy telling him to bring you back to the Palm Woods. Just as he guessed, they were up to something else now.
“Uh, yeah Kendall said the same thing. James and Carlos did indeed go to an arcade,” he spoke.
“Well, just the two of us then. Should we head home or did you want to go somewhere else?” you asked.
The idea of going somewhere else with you sounded really nice, it meant he got to spend more time with you now. Then he thought about Kendall’s message, telling him to bring you back home. He'd be lying if he said he wasn’t curious as to what might happen but it didn’t stop his internal dilemma. Take the risk and go elsewhere with you just to spend time together or head home and see what shenanigans his friends were planning. The latter felt safer, if it was something they planned then he’d have less of a chance of doing something embarrassing in front of you.
“We should probably head home. The guys and I have an early session with Gustavo tomorrow and you know how he is,” he answered.
“Oh, okay. That's probably a smart idea then,” was your response.
If he didn’t know any better, he could swear you sounded disappointed by his response. But he did know better, there was no way you’d actually be disappointed about something like that. Had he noticed the disappointed look that followed with your words, his response would have changed immediately. He didn’t, instead beginning to walk towards the entrance doors of the movie theater. You followed closely behind him, sticking to his side as the two of you left.
Neither of you spoke as you made your walk home, this time the silence becoming too deafening to Logan. He wanted to say something and start a conversation but his nerves were getting to him. They left him with an empty head as he walked awkward beside you. Why was it so hard to talk to you? It’s not like he didn’t have anything in common with you, but finding the words to speak was just difficult. You must’ve felt uncomfortable, or at least that’s what he thought.
On the other hand, that’s the exact opposite of what you were feeling right now. Just like the walk to the movie theater, the walk back felt the same. You didn’t think it was awkward walking in silence next to each other, rather something about it felt comfortable. It was probably the fact that you were with Logan, nothing around him felt awkward.
“You must be feeling awkward with it being just the two of us,” he finally spoke, doing so without thinking first.
Your head was quick to turn, tilting to the side in confusion and eyes setting on his face. “What makes you think that?”
He stumbled over his words as he spoke again, or tried to, unsure of how to answer your question without giving himself away. His gaze was set straight ahead, knowing that if he looked at you, he’d only fumble more.
“W-Well, I just assumed since it’s the two of us a-and we’ve never really hung out together.”
You kept your gaze on him for a second more before looking ahead again, a smile reaching your lips before you let out a quiet ‘pfft’. It didn’t go unnoticed by him and every part of him wanted to converge into himself. Maybe that would save him the embarrassment he was going through right now.
“It's not awkward, Logan, don’t worry. It's nice, being around you feels nice. Unless, is it awkward for you?”
“N-No, not at all! Like you said, it feels nice.”
“Good, I’m glad. We should hang out again, see another movie or something.”
His heart fluttered at your statement, beating wildly against his chest as he registered your words. Had you really just said you wanted to hang out with him again? This time he did turn his head to look at you, eyes wide and batting his eyelashes in disbelief.
“You wanna hang out again?” he asked.
“Yeah... I mean, we don’t have to, it was just a thought,” you said.
“I’d love to! Anytime, anyplace,” he was quick to respond.
“Okay, cool then,” your smile widened, head turning to direct it at him.
You arrived at the Palm Woods right after, heading inside and stopping in your tracks. There was a giant sign right in front of where you stood, big bold letters spelling out ‘this way’ with an arrow. It was pointing to the pool, making you share a look before slowly walking towards the pool area. You stopped in your tracks again once you stepped outside, letting out a quiet gasp as you did. The pool was empty with lantern lights hanging all around to give it a warm light. The chairs were pushed back creating a pathway with more signals pointing you forward.
You gave Logan another look as the two of you continued walking forward, reaching one of the huts with a table set up. It was covered in a red table cloth with a candle in the middle and two sets of plate sitting across from each other. The outside of the table was covered in rose petals, circling around and giving it a romantic vibe. If you had to say, it looked like something out of a movie scene that you almost wondered if you were interrupting a shoot. It wouldn’t be the first time the Palm Woods was used for a shoot of some sort.
“I feel like we’re interrupting something,” you said, taking a look around for any camera or crew.
There weren’t any though, the place being completely except for the two of you. “Nope, you’re right on time. Right Logan?”
It was Kendall who spoke, surprising the two of you and making you turn around. Behind you stood not only him but James and Carlos as well, all three boys giving you wide smiles.
“W-What’s going, guys?” you asked, confused by everything happening now.
“Well, you’re just in time for the dinner date Logan planned for the two of you. Us being your servers of course,” Carlos explained.
Logan’s eyes immediately widened at his statement, finally understanding why they all left the movie so early. He looked over at you who had turned your head to do the same, giving him a surprised look.
“Is this true?” you asked again.
He opened his mouth only to close it right after, keeping that motion that made him look like a fish out of water. He was babbling as he did, trying to find the right set of words but only finding them stuck in his throat. His friends saw this, James immediately stepping in to help with his hands finding your shoulders and turning you around. He pushed you towards the table and looked at Logan to follow along with.
“Let’s sit you two down,” he said once you reached the table.
He gestured for Logan to slide out your chair when you were looking, quickly moving around to do just that. When you noticed what he was doing, you couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh as he fumbled with the chair. He pulled it out and waited for you to sit down on it, sliding it forward once you had. You gave him a quiet thanks and smiled as he moved over to his own seat.
“Can I interest you both in some appetizers?” you heard Kendall say, appearing in front of you with a tray. It was a tray of what looked like mozzarella sticks and pigs in a blanket set out in front of you. “Enjoy these while we get your meal ready.”
He left the two of you alone right after that, making you turn your head towards Logan. He looked back at you, giving you a sheepish smile as he waited for your reaction.
“So, dinner date huh? You planned this?” you asked.
“W-W-Well, I had help,” was his response, stuttering over his words as he spoke.
“This is really sweet, I’ve never been surprised with a date,” you told him, giving him a smile.
“Y-You like it?” he asked, sounding surprised.
“I do. Did you think I wouldn’t?”
“No! Well, sort of. I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about surprises. And i-it does have the word date in it.”
“I’m not the biggest fan of surprises but some of them are good, like this one,” you told him, hand reaching for one of the appetizers in front of you. “And I love mozzarella sticks.”
That earned a laugh from Logan and your smile widened, seeing how he relaxed some in his seat. You set the stick on your hand down on your plate, eyes focused on Logan’s face. You were sure you looked cool and composed on the outside but your heart was beating fast inside your chest. Hammering against it that you were sure if anyone listened closely, they’d be able to hear it. You weren’t nervous per say, you just hadn’t expected to be here with Logan like this. Especially with the word date involved, which made you wonder what that really meant.
“You called this a date. Did you mean a date-date or just a hanging out date?” you asked.
His gaze shifted back to yours, mouth closing shut as he stared at you and swallowing thickly. How was he supposed to answer this? What would your reaction be? If he said it was, as you asked, a date-date then there was the chance of you rejecting him and running away. You'd most likely never speak to him again or until it wasn’t so awkward between the two of you. If he said it was just the two of you hanging out, it could open the doors for something more. That, or you’d think absolutely nothing of it and continue to see him as a friend. What was the correct choice to this?
After a moment of thinking, he settled for asking you instead of him answering. “W-What would you like this to be?”
You were taken aback by his questioned, not expecting him to bounce it back to you. This time it was you who was fumbling as you thought of what to say. He watched how your mouth opened and closed, thinking you were uncomfortable and probably looking for a way to let him down gently. He should’ve known it was dumb to ask you that and should’ve just answered himself.
“Forget I asked, that was pretty dumb,” he mumbled out, head dropping as he looked down at the table.
“No, Logan, that’s not it. I was just surprised you asked that,” you explained. “If I have to be honest, I'd like this to be a date-date... because I like you.”
His head shot up as soon as your words reached his ears, eyes widening and a smile stretching on his lips. “You do?”
You only nodded your head and offered him a smile small, nervous of what you might say if you spoke again. His smile widened with the nod of your head and excitement filled his entire being. He was wrapping his head around it all, making sure that you had actually just said that and that this wasn’t some sort of dream. You shifted in your seat, fidgeting from the silence that was surrounding the two of you again, this time finding it uncomfortable. You weren’t sure of what Logan might be thinking right now and part of you was scared to find out. Sensing your discomfort, Logan spoke up again, surprising you with his words.
“I like you too, a lot actually,” he said.  
Butterflies fluttered around in your stomach when he said that and this time it was you who asked, “You do?”
“Yeah. I have for a while now but if you haven’t noticed, I get so easily flustered around you that I can hardly say a word. In fact, I was never really going to say anything if it weren’t for the guys helping me,” he explained. Your brows furrowed in slight confusion and he figured he should explain further. “The movie, this dinner, was all their idea. I didn’t even know they were going to do this otherwise I never really would have... You must be pretty disappointed now, huh...”
“No, I’m not,” you were quick to say, gaze set on him and sending a warm smile his way.
He didn’t think it was even possible to be more nervous than he already was but your smile proved him wrong. This time it was he who had butterflies start swarming around in the pit of his stomach, along with a rapid beating heart. He didn’t say anything, merely looked at you for clarification on your response. To say the least, he was shocked that you weren’t upset or disappointed by the fact that none of his gestures had been his own.
“I think it’s sweet that they helped you, they’re good friends who want you to have a chance at being with the person you like. And everyone needs a push now and then,” you told him. “I know I did.”
“You needed a push?” he asked, perking up at your last statement.
You were quick to become sheepish, giving him a nervous smile and ducking your head. Logan couldn’t help the wide smile that appeared on his face that the thought of you being nervous. It certainly made him feel better about not being the only one who was having trouble with this.
“This is probably going to sound so embarrassing but I was actually really anxious about going to the movies. I had to have Jo and Camille talk me into an outfit before I had a breakdown and ruined my closet,” you explained.
“Wait really? You seem so cool and collected, I would’ve never imagined that you’d be nervous about anything. Especially about something like this.”
“I’m an actress, it’s my job to put on an act remember?”
“Oh right. Well can I say you’re an amazing actress. I really would’ve never thought that you’d feel the same way.”
You let out a small laugh to his words and smiled widely, resting your elbows on the table and your face on your hands as you leaned forward. “I’m really glad that you feel the same way. And that you were brave enough to make the first move, even if you did it with the help of your friends.”
“Can I formally ask you out on a date then? An actual one that I can plan out myself instead of the guys,” he asked, sending you a small smile.
“That would be nice, I’d love to go on an official date with you. Although, I do want to finish this one too, I'm curious to see what the boys have prepared for us,” you answered.
Your words made a wider smile appear on his face and he nodded his head, agreeing with you. Once again happy to be able to spend more time with you and even happier for the time with you to come.
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bellakitse · 3 years
Text
Making friends in Life or Death situations
“No,” Nancy shakes her head quickly, tightening her hold on his face so he can focus on her. “You have to stay awake,” she continues, her voice cracking as fear grips her again. This is her friend, sure they don’t know each other that well, but Carlos is nice and sweet and the love of her partner’s life. He’s her friend, damn it, and she’s not going to lose him, not after losing Tim. “Please, stay awake.”
+
Carlos and Nancy are trapped together after a tornado hits the pharmacy they are in.
Written for @911lonestarweek - Day 2: Emergencies/“Please, stay awake.”/Angst
Nancy Gillian walks into the Walgreens just as her phone rings out another tornado warning. 
“Dear, we’re closing early, in 15 mins,” an older woman behind the counter says to her with a quick smile. “Because of the tornados.”
Nancy gives the woman a nod of acknowledgment and quickly makes her way down to the pet aisle. She wouldn’t even be out if it wasn’t for the fact that she realized she was down to her last can of cat food and with no time to make a Costco run for her new tabby. Looking through the limited selection, she picks a few of the chicken options, dropping them into her basket, and heads for the junk food aisle. Just some salt and vinegar Pringles to go with the leftover Easter chocolates she has back at her apartment, and she can head home and ride out the bad weather.
Turning the corner without looking in her rush to finish her shopping, she bumps face-first into a solid chest, bouncing right off it. She feels herself fall back and closes her eyes, bracing for the pain falling will cause, but it never comes. Instead, strong hands grab hold of her waist, keeping her upright.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry – Nancy?”
Nancy opens her eyes at the sound of her name, finding familiar brown eyes looking at her with concern.
“Officer Reyes!” she squeaks out, blushing when he raises an eyebrow at her. “I mean, Carlos – hi!”
Carlos gives her a friendly smile in return. “Hello, Nancy.”
“I’m sorry,” she apologizes quickly, gesturing around them. “I was in a rush to get what I need before the tornados touch down and wasn’t looking.”
“Same,” Carlos says with a laugh. “TK sent me to get what we need to ride it out before we are eventually called into work when it’s over.”
Nancy peeks into his basket, her eyebrows going up when she finds condoms, lubricant, and ice cream in it. “The essentials for sure,” she says dryly, biting back a smirk when she sees him blush and start to stammer in response. “Relax, officer,” she continues, feeling bad for how red he’s turned. “We all know how nauseatingly in love you and my partner are. This is not shocking.”
“Maybe not shocking, but embarrassing for sure,” Carlos grumbles back, scowling at her when she lets out a snort.
She grins at him, pleased when he gives her a reluctant smile back. She doesn’t know Carlos all that well. She’s been to his place a handful of times now that TK has made it a point to invite her when the rest of the 126 meets up at their apartment. But Carlos is usually in the kitchen making sure everyone is well-fed, and afterwards, he seems to enjoy sitting back and watch their brassier friends interact. She understands the instinct, feeling they’re a lot alike, which is why she can’t help but feel comfortable around him even though they’re not super familiar with each other.
She opens her mouth to tease him some more when a piercing siren rings out and the lights in the establishment flicker seconds before the whole place starts to shake.
“Shit,” Carlos curses, already on the move as he drops his basket and takes her arm, moving her further back.
“The cashier – “ she starts to say, only for her voice to get lost under the howling winds. It’s so loud; it sounds like a freight train barreling straight for them. She blinks, once, maybe twice, less than a second of time, but it’s all that’s needed for the front of the place to disappear under collapsing walls and ceiling.
She feels strong arms go around her waist, and the next thing she knows, she’s rolling across a hard surface and landing on the floor. Carlos covers her as best he can with his body, trying to make them as small as possible as they cower under the counter desk of the pharmacy section of the Walgreens. She can’t hear much past the whirling winds and her racing heart, but somewhere in there, she hears a hard grunt. She looks up at Carlos, still hovering over her, doing his best to protect her, but she sees pain clouding his expression.
“Are you okay?” she shouts, worry spiking her pulse as she sees a trail of blood rolling down the side of his face.
“Something hit me in the head and my back,” he grits out as the winds begin to calm down. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine; you’re bleeding,” she points out, not sure if he’s noticed yet. Given the way his eyes widen when he touches his hairline, she doesn’t think he has. She goes to say more when the walls around them let out a loud groan followed by a series of bangs as more of the place falls down around them.
She closes her eyes, tucking her face into Carlos’ shoulder.
Carlos pulls her closer to him in return, and she’s thankful for the kindness as she hides in his frame. If this is the end, she realizes she doesn’t actually want to see it.
A few minutes pass like this as she waits for it to end, be it the disaster or her life, she’s not really sure, but slowly the howling lessens until it’s only a dull echo in her ears.
“Nance – it’s stopping,” Carlos says softly, giving her a slight shake, bringing her back to the present.
Slowly she pulls back, surprised she can still see, realizing that somehow the lights have managed to stay on, flickering, but on. She looks at Carlos to find him giving her a concerned look.
“Well,” she starts to say, licking her lips nervously. “That was terrifying.”
Carlos lets out a chuckle that quickly turns into a hiss.
“What, what is it?” she asks quickly as she watches his face go slightly grey.
“I – I think,” he stops, closing his eyes but not fast enough to hide the pain from her. “I think something is in my back?”
“What?” she squeaks out. She moves to her knees, her hands hovering over Carlos’ shoulders as he sits down on the floor with a heavy sigh. Going around him, she starts to probe him, stopping short when she feels something hard and jagged by the right side of his flank. She swallows a gasp as she realizes what it is.
“How bad?” he questions, his voice tight as the obvious pain starts to set in.
“It’s – it’s glass,” Nancy whispers with dread as she notices the patch of blood on his shirt is growing.
Carlos lets out a weary sigh. “Of course it is,” he mutters dryly. “TK is going to be so pissed.”
Nancy ignores his comment, starting to get up from under the desk counter. “Okay, we need to get you out of here,” she says, just for Carlos to let out a chuckle.
“Hate to burst your bubble, but I’m pretty sure the front of this place collapsed, trapping us back here,” Carlos says far more calmly than she feels the moment merits. “We are lucky the walls dividing the back of the pharmacy and the front held up – protecting us.”
Nancy looks through the counter’s window, where she would usually wait for her prescriptions to be filled, and realizes he’s right. Carlos pushing them behind the counter saved them, but now the whole front is a maze of rubble with no apparent way out.
“Fuck me,” she swears, feeling the frustration and panic build inside her. She lets it for a second before pushing it aside. She’s a trained paramedic, and right now, her main priority is making sure she stops Carlos’ from bleeding out. She looks behind her, letting out a relieved breath to see that the space they are in is relatively sound. If she’s going to be trapped with an injured person needing her care, there are worse places to be than a fully stocked pharmacy.
“Check your phone, Carlos,” she says to him, already on the move. “I’m going to get supplies to care for your injuries.”
She gets a grunt back from Carlos and takes it as an okay as she steps over the mess of pills and supplies on the floor and thanks whatever higher power might be watching over them when she finds bandages, alcohol, and even a pair of scissors in her search. She makes her way back to Carlos to find him hunched over, his expression dazed as he stares at his phone.
“Carlos?” she questions, repeating his name louder when he doesn’t answer right away. He blinks in her direction, and she can see he’s not all there with her. She ignores the trickle of fear that runs up her spine as a result. “Did you get through to anyone?”
Carlos shakes his head slowly. “The lines – they’re not – “
“Okay, that’s okay,” she rushes to reassure him as she comes to sit in front of him. She takes ahold of his face, feeling the tackiness of the drying blood on his head. Two injuries then, she makes a note. “We’ll try again after I bandage you up, okay?”
“I’m tired, Nance,” Carlos answers, his speech becoming slurred, and Nancy adds likely concussion to the list. “My side hurts, and my head.”
“I know, hon,” she answers with what she hopes is a comforting tone. “But I’m going to fix it, okay?”
Carlos blinks at her slowly. “Sleep.”
“No,” Nancy shakes her head quickly, tightening her hold on his face so he can focus on her. “You have to stay awake,” she continues, her voice cracking as fear grips her again. This is her friend, sure they don’t know each other that well, but Carlos is nice and sweet and the love of her partner’s life. He’s her friend, damn it, and she’s not going to lose him, not after losing Tim. “Please, stay awake.”
Carlos looks at her with wide eyes before slowly reaching up to touch her face, startling her as she realizes that it’s wet from tears she hadn’t realized she’d shed. “Don’t cry, Nance.”
“Then stay awake,” she answers back, letting out a shaky smile when he gives her a solemn nod in return with an ‘I promise.’
“Okay,” she says softly, letting go of his face to turn to his back. “I’m going to clean and pack the wound. We can’t take the glass out because you’ll probably bleed more, but we can secure it.”
“Okay,” Carlos answers, giving her permission.
“Sorry about your shirt,” she says quickly as she starts to cut it up the middle.
Carlos lets out a hiss as she pours the rubbing alcohol over the wound. It’s thankfully not as big as she initially thought, but she winces when Carlos lets out a shout as she starts to press the gauzes around it. She tries to think of a way to distract him from the pain, letting out a quick breath when it comes to her. “Talk to me about TK,” she instructs him, hoping it will achieve the goal.
“TK?” Carlos questions sluggishly.
“Yeah, tell me about him, about the two of you,” she says as she rolls out more bandages.
Carlos lets out a sigh. It has the same sappy sound that she hears when TK talks about Carlos or is on the phone with him. “I just love him so much,” he answers, and even though she can’t see his face, she knows he’s smiling through the pain. “He’s beautiful and kind, silly and sweet, and when he looks at me the way he does, I feel like I’ve won the lottery. I’m so lucky he loves me back.”
Nancy smiles at the comment; she’s heard TK say the same exact thing. She tells Carlos as she makes a quick finish of securing his wound before moving to face him and deal with his head injury.
“He has?” Carlos questions her with a boyish grin, looking loopier, his eyes heavy. “That’s good. I bought him a ring; now I just have to work up the nerve to ask him to marry me.”
Nancy stares at Carlos for a moment, sure that he wouldn’t have revealed that if he was in all his five senses.
“Are you sure I can’t sleep?” he questions quietly, swaying towards her.
Nancy shakes her head at him, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Not when she can see that his eyes are rolling back, and she has just enough time to keep his face from meeting the floor as he slumps forward.
“Carlos!”
 ֎֎֎
 Nancy has grown to hate the sounds and smells of hospitals. She thinks she’s lucky to not be a doctor or a nurse and not have to be in one every day, but she’s still in them enough because the people she cares about are danger magnets, and she hates it.
They get rescued not long after Carlos has passed out, but it still feels like eons to her. She rides in the ambulance with him, ignoring the paramedics that want to look her over in favor of holding Carlos’ hand. She doesn’t let go until she absolutely has to in order to allow the doctors to work, and she doesn’t break down until she sees TK walk through the hospital doors with a panic-stricken look on his face.
She cries on his shoulder, feeling horrible that he’s comforting her when it’s his boyfriend who is hurt. Fresh tears spring up when he hugs her tight, thanking her for saving the man he loves, and even though he tells her to go home, she waits until Carlos opens his eyes again.
She doesn’t have a home anyway; her neighbor left a message telling her the tornados destroyed her place, luckily he managed to get her cat out, watching over her until she can get back.
She sits in one of the uncomfortable but familiar chairs as the 126 and Carlos’ parents come and go in the later hours, all the while she remains next to TK as they wait for Carlos to wake up. It’s late at night, and TK has fallen asleep next to her when Carlos finally opens his eyes, and Nancy springs forward, rushing to his side, holding her breath as he slowly blinks to consciousness.
“Nancy,” he gets out roughly, and Nancy feels her eyes sting in return. “Are you okay?”
“You said you’d stay awake,” she accuses him as the tears roll down her face. “You promised.”
Carlos looks like he’s in pain, but it doesn’t stop him from giving her a kind look. He reaches out to take her hand, giving it a squeeze. “I did. I’m sorry, Nancy.”
“You can keep calling me Nance,” she whispers, squeezing his hand back. “We’re friends now.”
Carlos smiles at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Very cool,” he says softly before looking past her at his sleeping boyfriend. “Is he okay?”
Nancy nods, giving TK a soft look of her own over her shoulder. “He’s strong, and he knew you were going to be just fine,” she says with a smile. “Let me wake him up.”
She starts to turn, only to be stopped when Carlos holds on to her hand. “What I told you – “ he begins, looking at her with those big brown eyes of his that endears him to everyone who meets him, herself included.
“I’m not going to ruin your surprise,” she assures him, chuckling when he lets out a breath.
“Thanks, Nance,” Carlos says, smiling once more.
Nancy returns it kindly. “Hey, what are friends for.”
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just-a-glittery-fan · 3 years
Note
I know you were expecting my ask 😌
otp AU questions. jaylos
(look at me not sending gallavich or destiel for a change)
Of course I was🥰💖 yaaay, jaylos! Let's go
Djsbebdbdhs I underestimated how hard some of these would be.
Coffee shop AU: Who is the barista, and who frequents the coffee shop?
Hmmm probably Carlos is the barista. I can see him working part time to pay for college-related expenses and being all awkward when the cute and extremely flirty client that Jay is walks in. And suddenly the cute and extremely flirty client keeps showing up there almost everyday. Carlos gets throughly flustered, of course.
Carlos doesn't have much time between working and studying so it's been a while since his last relationship, and even though all his coworkers keep telling him to just go for it, he keeps waiting for Jay to make the first real move.
Sometimes Mal goes to the coffee shop with Jay and she can't help but roll her eyes at every interaction they have and as soon as Carlos is out of earshot she's like "why dont you just ask him out already?" but Jay just smirks because he's having waaaay too much fun making Carlos blush and get adorably flustered.
Eventually Jay asks him out, of course. And again, of course, Carlos says yes.
Highschool/College AU: Who is the straight-A student, and who’s the backrow slacker?
GUESS. dhabebdbs Carlos absolutely is the straight-A student, and Jay absolutely is the backrow slacker. Like, that's not even a question djsbebrhs
This one is more of a HC than an AU, but I BET Carlos is that boyfriend that tries to help Jay with his grades (and honestly Jay wouldn't give a fuck about grades if it wasn't for two things 1- Carlos being all proud and 2- being able to keep playing tourney), including but not limited to giving Jay little "rewards"😏 for every question he gets right whenever Carlos manages to convince him to study.
Rivals to loves AU: Who takes their rivalry seriously, and who is half in it just to push the other’s buttons? 
Oh, this is hard actually. Hmm, thinking about an Isle rivalry kind of thing, I think Jay would be in it just to press some buttons. Like, he's most likely to not think things through. Carlos on the other hand, is more methodical and well, he kinda has to be more careful, so he takes it more seriously. He's thinking like "okay so that guy hates me and is my mortal enemy" meanwhile Jay's like "hm, time to pick on the cute kid" fjsnebfbdf
Maybe this is a situation where Carlos is not part of Mal's gang, but then maybe Mal gets him to fix things for them or something like this and Jay is thinking like "oh no. He is handsome and adorable AND smart." Also, maybe as Carlos works with them, he ends up letting some things slip about how terrible his mother is, and for some reason, this makes Jay's heart hurt.
And without even realizing he starts being nicer to him, and Carlos grows more and more suspicious... like "this guy is supposed to hate me what the fuck is this? He must be onto something" and eventually he gets so mad that he can't figure out what's Jay's deal that he just lashes out like yelling what the fuck was Jay's problem, why he was suddenly acting like that, if he thought Carlos was fucking dumb enough to let his guard down just because Jay was being a little nice and- he gets interrupted by a kiss😉
STOP i'm getting too invested in this one😭
Soulmate AU: Who is eager to meet their soulmate? Who absolutely does not want to meet their soulmate? 
Aaaaah this one is harder. I can see it both ways, you know? But if I have to choose... I think Carlos would be more hopeful about meeting his soulmate, maybe thinking deep down that it would be someone to sweep him off his feet and away from his shitty life, even if he wouldn't say that out loud. And Jay always thought he would never be the type to settle down, so he doesn't even see the point on getting a soulmate with so many people out there. Until he meets Carlos and that changes immediately, of course.
Tbh I could see sooo much angsty miscomunication going on here. Maybe they have friends in common (Mal and Evie) and if we're talking a type of soulmates that is not necessarely instant recognition on both parts (like how people have marks, and maybe Carlos' is wearing like a jacket when they meet so Jay can't see Carlos, but Carlos can see his. Or maybe it's "first words they say to each other" tattoo and Jay's tattoo is super generic like "hey, how are you?" and Carlos has a super specific one, so Carlos recognizes it and Jay doesn't). BUT Evie has off-handedly mentioned before them meeting something like "really i dont get why Jay's so against finding his mate, I have been so much happier since I met Mal" so as soon as they meet Carlos is like "FUCK, my soulmate hates me I can't tell him the truth" aaaand cue 100K slow burn angsty fic.
Single parent AU: Which one is the single parent? (Alt. if they’re both single parents: Which one is open to starting a new relationship from the start? Which one is never planning on finding love again… Until they meet the other and are instantly smitten?)
This is seriously an AU i never considered for Descendants. Like I legit have no idea.
I guess it could go both ways, either with Carlos' being Jay's kid favorite teacher or Jay being Carlos' kid coach. I'm learning more towards Coach!Jay tho. With Carlos showing up to every practice and rooting as if it was a real game, and Jay getting more and more fond every time.
Doctor AU: Which one is the longsuffering doctor? Which one is the patient? 
Carlos is the doctor, of course. I doubt Jay would want to be a doctor. Jay is the patient who keeps getting hurt because he has no regard for his personal safety and Carlos keeps getting more and more exasperated with every absurd injury. And of course, even more absurd backstories. Jay says stuff like "oh it was a just dare" "yeah i ended up locked outside my own house and tried to climb the wall and break my bedroom window" "tbh i was very drunk and im not sure how i managed this one" and Carlos almost has an aneurysm every time.
Unfortunately, Carlos is also a huge moronsexual😆 so he can't help being fond over his clumsy patient, who also happens to be very hot and very flirty.
He even wonders if Jay has been doing this on purpose, but Mal, one of the friends who ocasionally brings him when he's in too bad of a shape to come alone, overhears him talking about his suspicions with a nurse and assures that "oh no, this isn't about you, Jay has always been incredibly dumb like this...... but yeah, since you started working here it's way easier to convince him he needs to actually go to a hospital after getting hurt. Also he refuses to go to any other hospital. Do with this what you may😉" wink and everything. Again, Carlos almost has an aneurysm.
Bodyguard AU: Who is the bodyguard? Who are they protecting? Which one is secretly pining for the other? 
Djwhwebsb Jay clearly is protecting Carlos. Not sure what the scenario would be, maybe a witness protection thing or even a celebrity AU.
Jay is pining. Like, he's pining hard. Carlos is absolutely oblivious because all he does is be annoyed that people insist he needs a bodyguard in the first place. Carlos can take care of himself, okay? He hates when people act like he's defenseless. But the insistence is so big that he carves and hires Jay. So mostly he's just too annoyed to pay attention to the signs.
Eventually, Jay grows on Carlos and he decides it's not so bad to have a bodyguard. Jay is great at his job and a super chill dude. Soon they become friends, and by that point Jay's pining is so obvious that all of Carlos friend know this and even tease Carlos about it. Who is, of course, oblivious.
Pirate AU: Who is the pirate? Who is the member of the royal family who did not sign up for this? 
This is funny bc the descendants universe deals with this a lot but also I cannot fathom the idea of either of them, as VKs, to be from the royal family.
But hear me out: Jay is the pirate and Carlos is Just Some Guy who gets mistaken as a prince or a lord or whoever it was that they planned to kidnap. It would be a medieval AU or something, no Isle or Auradon but the rest of the pirate crew is the same. Maybe Gil was the one supposed to kidnap "the prince" (in his defense, this hypothetic royal does look a lot like Carlos) and ended up taking Carlos. Thing is, now everyone on that kingdom knew that they tried to kidnap a royal so they had to sail away as fast as possible not to get caught.
But they have no idea what to do with Carlos now, his family doesn't even have money to exchange for his freedom. And well, Uma is not really one for unnecesary slaughter, so he just... stays at the ship. In some ambiguous prisioner deal.
Of cooourse, Jay starts taking a like to him. Carlos is pretty chill with everything going on, all things considered, he seems almost comfortable with the crew. When Jay asks, he says it's because he didn't have anyone else and his family was terrible, so just... staying at a ship, doing nothing but chilling with some people and getting fed and clothed without paying??? Yeah, he's doing just fine.
Eventually Uma says he found a friend that would be willing to take him back to his kingdom if he wanted... or, if he wanted to, she was offering a place on her crew, not as a prisoner any longer but as a pirate equal to all the others. He took it, of course. And well, Jay might be a pirate but he has some of a moral compass, so he hadn't made a move on Carlos until that point, but the moment Carlos says yes to Uma, Jay's like "ok, he's no longer my prisoner so I can fuck him now, right??" 😂
Childhood best friends AU: Which one was super obviously in love with the other the whole time? Who was oblivious until they were older?
Hmmm. I think Jay was obvious in love and Carlos was oblivious.
Like Carlos was a very small child, other kids always picked on him, and Jay had always been protective, so, growing up, Carlos assumed that all of Jay's affection, worries, protection etc came from a place of "He's my best friend, so of course, I gotta keep him safe". When actually it was more like "I would do anything for him because I love him".
Honestly, I think Jay has had a crush from day one. Like, looking at him from the other side of kindergarten and going 🥰🥰🥰. Carlos develops a crush as an older kid/young teen but he keeps trying to convince himself that it's not a real thing, he's just mixing things up because Jay is the only person who actually protects him and cares for him, so he manages to sucessefully bury that for a long while. And all of that time, Jay's still like 🥰🥰🥰
They figure their shit out by the end of high school tho
Bestie. BESTIE. I Literally worked on this the whole day, so it's an absolute monster. Apparentely, if you give an writer an ask like this, they go wild🤣
But seriously, I had sooo much fun with this🥰 And now I desperately need to write Jaylos😌 So thank yoooou! 💖💖💖
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multimetaverse · 3 years
Text
HSMTMTS 2x08 Review
Most Likely To was the best ep of S2 so far and ended one ship while launching another. Let’s dig in!
Gaston was super fun, a very nice showcase for both Larry and Matt. This is the kind of energy that early S2 was lacking. Also feels like the first ep where East High might actually have a shot at beating North High. Covid restrictions played a role but we really needed to see more rehearsal scenes and scenes of the wildcats just being theatre kids. This also may be one of the last times we see EJ perform as a student in the musical so I’m glad we got this.  
EJ has been criminally underused for most of S2, he’s marketed as part of the big 4 along with Nini, Ricky, and Gina and Matt Cornett’s name is listed 3rd in the credits but in the early eps of S2 you’d think he was guest star. Lately he’s started to become more important and tonight was an excellent showcase of why he’s such an interesting character. I’m not gonna check but this feels like it’s the most EJ screen time in a single ep that we’ve gotten all season long. 
Of course, the main reason for EJ’s increased screen time is because of Portwell. I’ve been neutral on them but tonight they really won me over’ their scenes were so sweet that they warmed even my cold black heart. Matt and Sofia are good friends irl and that shines through in their easy rapport and great chemistry. Gina snorting at EJ’s joke was cute and I loved the shot of Gina accidentally walking into the shot for EJ’s confessional. As an aside, they’ve been doing some fun stuff with the confessionals lately which helps add a bit of the metaness that helped make S1 so great.
The real big Portwell scene tonight was EJ and Gina talking on the couch at Ashlyn’s. Lot’s to love there. Gina’s speech to EJ about what she sees when she thinks of him was sweet and her saying that EJ tried to do the right thing and often failed but kept trying echoes what she said of herself during her confession to Ricky. Also when EJ asked Gina if she understood the feeling of having her life mapped out she replied, ‘’not really’’ which is almost certainly the inspiration for Gina asking a question to EJ and him responding ‘’not really’’ in their pre S2 face time call on the hsmtmts instagram. 
EJ is still wracked with guilt for the guy he used to be but Gina reminds him that he’s grown and is a good guy which leads to her slip up about her seeing him that way vs the rest of the gang hinting that she’s beginning to catch feelings for EJ. Which leads to EJ complimenting her and them having a moment that could well have led to a kiss if Ashlyn hadn’t come home. And they cap it off with Gina falling asleep and EJ covering her with his Duke sweater. 
It’s been nice not seeing Gina upset over Ricky these past two eps and it’s a damning indictment of the poor writing and pacing of S2 that her story in the first 6 eps can be summed up as Gina being upset over something Ricky said or did. Not only has Portwell allowed EJ to rise in prominence but also it’s allowed Gina to escape the rut her character was stuck in pining for Ricky. 
I hope after S2 is over that we get an interview where Tim explains how the Portwell plot came to be. The S1 finale set up some possible interest between them as did the pre S2 face time call but nothing came of it during the first 4 eps, they stood next to each other a lot but barely interacted otherwise. Notably in 2x01, which Tim himself wrote, EJ tries to grow a beard and tells Ashlyn that he says her as so young which is extremely jarring now that we know that EJ is crushing on Gina who is Ashlyn’s age. 
Was Tim not set on doing Portwell until he realized he needed to give Gina something else to do other than hopelessly pine for Ricky? Narratively, it made sense after Rini got together in S1 to put the other two Big 4 characters together in S2 but did Tim not want it to seem so obvious to the audience so he deliberately kept Portwell apart until 2x05 where EJ’s feelings make for a nice plot twist? Was he just reluctant to plug EJ back into the love square due to how much more complicated it would make things but later felt he had no other options? Or was it just plain old bad pacing and writing?
Of course, I wish that there wasn’t such a large age gap between Sofia and Matt but there are no Gina ships that avoid that problem, there’s also an age gap between Sofia and Joshua, just as there was between Olivia and Joshua and Matt in S1. Depending on when they film S3 there’s a good chance that most of it will be finished before Sofia even turns 18 which is deeply unfortunate. There’s a broader issue of teen girls being cast in mostly age appropriate roles while their male love interests are older adults and in particular it often affects female characters of colour. Netflix has a really bad track record with those kind of age gaps but Disney has problems too as we’ve seen on HSMTMTS and on GMW where by the end of S3 they had 18 year old Peyton Meyer as the boyfriend of 14 year old Rowan Blanchard’s character (not to mention canon Joshaya which didn’t have such a bad age gap between the actors but was problematic regarding the ages of the characters themselves).
A knock I’ve seen on Portwell is that EJ is just gonna leave for university next year but that was never gonna happen, Matt’s under the same 4 season contract as all the other mains and he’ll be sticking around in some capacity much like Sharpay ended up doing in the movies. It is true that EJ will probably have to move on at the end of S4 while Gina still has her senior year left but that will also happen with her and Ricky since he’ll be graduating at the end of S4. It was a big mistake to make EJ a senior but it also may end up being a big mistake to make Gina a sophomore. It would have been too messy to retcon EJ to be a junior but Tim probably should have taken the chance to retcon Gina into being a junior in S2.
That Rini breakup was so sad (missed opportunity for gotta go my own way). They managed to get in a Troyella reference with the treehouse. This was inevitable they just have not been communicating well though now that we know that Ricky thought Nini left YAC for him some of his desperation to spend as much time together as possible makes more sense. I think Rini is endgame if the series has 4 seasons but it wouldn't shock me if we never seem them dating again and they only get back together in the series finale. It also wouldn’t surprise me if Nini never dates anyone else for the remainder of the series or at least not seriously. 
We’re not even halfway through the series so it’s way too early to permanently slam the door on Rini though this time apart will probably help Joshua and Olivia move on from their own bitter break up before it bleeds too much into their performances. I do wonder if Tim really has a clue what he's gonna do with them for the remaining 24-28 eps of the series, assuming S3 and S4 have 10-12 eps each. 
Roman Banks killed If I Can’t Love Her and the montage of all the couples or ex couples was great.
It was nice to finally meets some parents other than the Bowen’s and Salazar-Roberts’. Kourtney’s mom was played by Dara’s actual mother and their dynamic was great as expected. It seems from their conversation that Kourtney's father is dead which I don’t believe has been mentioned before. Cash Caswell.... well it gets what the character is about across. He really looks and sounds like a rich Utah republican, I bet he knows Mitt Romney personally. I liked EJ going to tell his father that he’s not going to Duke and recognizing that he wants to build his own life on his own merits. 
We saw a bit of that S1 Miss Jenn energy tonight which was fun though I didn't like how curt she was with Seb nor did I like how rude Carlos was to Seb although we know that blows up in 2x10. 
Jazzara rising! I really liked how Jazzara and Portwell are sort of mirroring each other and since Mazzara knows about EJ’s feelings for Gina it wouldn’t shock me if helping EJ out is part of him showing a softer side in 2x12.
Of course Ashlyn is VP of the Nostradamus society. It's clear her family has some kooky new age beliefs (her parents are probably members of some naturopathic medicine group on Facebook that doubles as a gateway into Qanon)
It was nice to see Big Red being such a good friend to Ricky and the return of Ricky’s infamous pillow hugs. Lmao at Ashlyn just chilling while Big Red is comforting Ricky
Also Miss Jenn saying sexy and Big Red referring to pillow talk, the writers are adding a bit of spice when cooking up these scripts.
Looking Ahead: 
Looks like Gina may be wearing EJ's duke sweater next ep according to some posts I saw. Jack presumably is there to somehow help Gina decide what she wants with Ricky and EJ though him having wanderlust might also feed into Gina’s thoughts on settling down in SLC or moving with her mom around the country.
Let's see what mom of the year, Lynne Bowen, has up her sleeves. Ricky’s bedroom at her place in Chicago looks much nicer than the apartment Mike Bowen has so perhaps she makes a lot more money than he does. 
Not looking forward to the Zoom portions of the ep but I guess it was inevitable. 
There’s only two paths for Gina’s story to go in the remainder of this season; either she decides to move on from Ricky and give EJ a chance or she decides that Ricky is worth trying again and squelches her budding feelings for EJ. The former looks much more likely after tonight’s ep but either way it needs to be handled with care. Inevitably Gina and Ricky need to talk about what happened between them but if Tim really wants Ricky to continue being a viable love interest or even a good friend to Gina then he needs to really have Ricky apologize and show a thoughtful, kinder side of him that’s largely been missing this season. 
What I think Tim is doing is setting up Portwell getting together in 2x12 but Ricky pining over Gina until Portwell break up late S3 and Rina get together in the S3 finale before they break up later in S4 and Ricky gets back with Nini near the end of the series. If I had Tim’s ear I would tell him that he should pick which ship he wants to do, Rina or Portwell, but don’t do both. He wants canon Rina? Great then end Portwell before it starts and have Rina happen in S3 and introduce other obstacles to them getting together rather than having to damage EJ’s character and make him lose another girl he likes to Ricky. He wants canon Portwell? Great then have Gina and Ricky’s conversation be closure for the both of them and have Gina and EJ get together and break them up without Ricky being a cause of it or waiting in the wings to get with Gina soon afterwards. Doing both will be a disaster and I truly hope that Tim Federle carefully thinks over his mistakes in S2 and really plans out the remaining 2 seasons of the series while there’s still time to prevent things from going really off the rails like GMW and AM did thanks to the bad decisions of Michael Jacobs and Terri Minsky. 
Until next week wildcats. 
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phantom-curve · 3 years
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For @panickosdisordr2, set in a high school AU where everyone is alive, I give you absolutely flustered Luke and poor, sweet, long-suffering Julie.
#38: stroking their leg & #41: sitting close and knees touching
Luke was still getting used to the fact that being Julie’s boyfriend meant he didn’t have to be so nervous about touching her anymore. For so long he had been forced to overthink every single interaction with her, needing to constantly toe the line of friendship even when he wanted so much more. Every touch, every lingering glance, had to be just this side of friendly. And no, he wasn’t always successful. Quite often his glances lingered a beat too long and his touches came close to being more proprietary than he had any right acting as a friend. Luke had made a list of rules to keep himself in check and he repeated them over and over before, during, and after he spent time with Julie.
Rule #1: No looking at Julie for longer than 30 60 seconds.
(30 seconds had been the goal, but who was he kidding? Julie was a freaking wrecking ball of musical talent and wickedly beautiful. 45 seconds was the absolute minimum he could handle, and even that was kind of pushing it.)
Rule #2: No writing blatantly obvious songs about Julie.
(Because really, every song was about Julie. But Julie didn’t need to know every song was about her. And Alex and Reggie really, really didn’t need to know, and no, just because they guessed didn’t mean they knew.)
Rule #3: No looking at Julie’s lips unless there was a microphone between them.
(He barely managed this one, which was why he kept sharing the mic with her more and more the longer they practiced and the more comfortable they became preforming together. It was the best kind of torture, and it wasn’t creepy, Alex, pay attention to drumming and not front people stuff!)
Rule #4: No touching Julie except for her shoulders and her arms and her waist (but only if they were hugging!)
(So what if Luke made sure to hug Julie a lot. He was a touchy-feely kind of guy, everyone knew that, and he only hugged someone after making sure they were okay with it. Julie never pushed him away, in fact she seemed to like the fact that he was so open with affection and comfort. It was fine.)
But dating Julie meant that all of those rules went right out the window. And Luke was still figuring out how to navigate that.
Julie didn’t seem to have any problems on her end. She slipped seamlessly from best friend to girlfriend without missing a beat. She would lean into him when they sat next to each other during lunch and move his hair out of his face without hesitation as she gazed into his eyes with a million stars dancing in her own. Her touch was casual but affectionate, her fingertips almost always finding some patch of skin to skim across whenever he was within arm’s reach. She kissed her way along his skin with an enviable ease, never holding back because she wasn’t sure he would like it, but instead blazing a path along his cheek or his collarbone or molding her lips against his as if she had always known that was what he so desperately desired most in the world.
Luke would never tell her, but part of his hesitation was because he felt wholly undeserving of her unwavering devotion. What had he ever done to earn someone as bright and beautiful as Julie Molina? He knew if he told her, she would have a million and one reasons why he was wrong, so he mostly kept it to himself and reveled in her easy affection every chance that he got. He should have known that eventually she would call him out on it.
“Luke...do you...not want me to touch you?”
He just hadn’t expected her to ask like that.
They were working on a new song out in the studio, a place Julie had chosen that he had assumed was because she didn’t want Carlos bothering them and because they had easier access to their instruments out there. They were sharing the couch, sitting across from each other with a shared notebook open between them, offering different lyric ideas back and forth as they tried to nail down the right lines. Luke hadn’t even realized that Julie had slowly been moving closer. He had only registered the feeling of their knees brushing occasionally, skin touching skin because his jeans were ripped, and she was wearing a pair of shorts to combat the stifling LA heat. Every time she had leaned in, he had leaned back, his years long set of rules so engrained he had forgotten that he didn’t have to follow them anymore. It was only when Julie quietly posed her question, teeth peeking out to bite down on her lower lip, cute little top gap flashing at him and reminding him that she was his girlfriend now, that he realized what he had been doing.
“Julie, no, of course I want you to touch me!”
Luke felt himself flush from head to toe as he realized how his words had sounded. He scrambled forwards, knocking their knees together painfully, although Julie, to her credit, didn’t even flinch. He took a deep, stuttering breath and tried again.
“I didn’t...I wasn’t trying to move away from you. I just...sometimes I forget I get to do that now.”
Julie quirked a brow and tilted her head slightly. Luke wanted to scratch his eyeballs out so he never had to see her looking so hurt and confused again. He groaned, reaching behind his head to give his hair a soft tug, recentering himself in the moment. He forced himself to meet Julie’s gaze and explain in a way that would actually make sense. He also made sure to scoot forward a bit so that their kneecaps were firmly pressed together, skin to skin.
“I just...for so long I wanted to be able to touch you in any way and have it be totally normal and okay.”
The words weren’t flowing perfectly, and Luke cursed the fact that Julie was able to scramble his brains and mess with the one thing he had always felt confident in. He pushed on though, because this was Julie, and if anyone was going to understand him, it was her.
“But I didn’t...I couldn’t...we weren’t like that, you know? We were friends and yeah, I love my friends, and I hug my friends, and I’m affectionate with them or whatever, but with you it was...different. I didn’t want to just be friends. But I also didn’t know what you wanted, and more than not wanting to just be friends, I didn’t want to not be a friend, so I made these rules. Rules about how I couldn’t say too much or do too much or touch you too much because it would mean more to me than it would to you and that wasn’t fair. And then everything changed, and you liked me too, and now we’re like a freaking dream, like I don’t always believe it kinda dream, and so I fall back on the rules. Because what if I say too much or do too much or touch you too much and I ruin everything?”
That...was a lot more than he had meant to say. But Julie wasn’t looking at him with judgement in her gaze. Her eyes were gentle and warm, her lips parting almost as if she was in awe, her features softening completely. She reached forward, slowly and deliberately, to place her hands along his thighs, just above where their knees were still touching. She leaned in, the pressure of her hands strong and steady, her scent invading his senses until everything in his world shrunk down to nothing more than JulieJulieJulie.
“You could never say or do too much. And you 100% could never touch me too much. Do you know how long I waited for you? Do you know how many rules I tried to come up with, how many nights I told myself over and over again that I needed to just get over you because it was never gonna happen? How many times I was so sure I was going to ruin the band and our friendship because I was so stupidly in love with you and nothing I did could stop it?”
Luke was having a hard time remembering how to breathe. He hadn’t ever thought about any of that. Because Julie had always seemed so confident and self-assured. She had been the one to make the first move that turned them from friends to more. She had been the one to confess how she felt first. She had always been his safety net, taking the plunge before he could, reassuring him so that when he stepped off the ledge, he knew she would be there to catch him.
“God, I love you so much,” his words were fierce and intense as he touched his forehead to hers and whispered them into the small space between their lips. “What the hell would I do without you?”
“Well, you’d probably still be trying to figure out the bridge and ending to Edge of Great without me.”
Luke growled and lunged forward, tackling Julie to the couch, and smothering her shriek beneath his lips. He felt her mouth curve into a smile, the kiss turning sloppy as she giggled uncontrollably. Her hands wound around his shoulders, twisting into the hair along the nape of his neck and threatening to turn him boneless against her. He broke away, propping himself up on his forearms so that his body remained stretched out along hers as he stared down at her.
“I can’t believe I get to be with you. You promise it’s not a dream?”
“If you’re dreaming, I’m dreaming. And I don’t think we can actually share dreams no matter how much we love each other. So, you’d better believe it, babe. I’m yours, forever.”
That did turn Luke boneless, every inch of his being melting down on top of hers, so they were connected from head to toe. Julie didn’t protest. She just pulled him closer, whispered you’ll always be mine against the skin of his neck, her breath hot and spellbinding against his skin. Luke didn’t argue. Who could argue with a goddess like Julie and expect to win? The best prize of all was knowing she loved him just as deeply as he loved her; he wasn’t about to try and convince her otherwise.
If Luke was able to love Julie for the rest of her life, it wouldn’t be nearly long enough for him to show her how much he cared. But that’s what ever afters were made for, right? A lifetime and then some. Luke knew with every fiber of his being that he would love Julie far past the time their respective stars burned out. That’s what destinies were all about. Loving forever and ever and ever. Even after you thought you were gone, the legacy lived on, timeless and unbreakable. That was them. Forever and a day, no end in sight for the rest of eternity.
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HSMTMTS 2x11: Let us pull up a chair as the dining room proudly presents... the reason for my next mental breakdown
I can't believe myself, honestly. Oversleeping on the one day of the week that I've got something exciting to wake up for? Oh well, I'm up now and I'd better go ahead and do this before my dashboard has showered me with spoilers. I mean, I have never really minded spoilers, but when it comes to this, somehow I do. Though I do wish something had forewarned me about last week's snap ending (get it, 'snap'... I'll see myself out). I'd better dive in already.
Yes, Mr Mazzara, that's what I've been saying for a while! Ok, maybe I haven't been very vocal about it, but it was in the foreground of my mind that they should have asked for Mr Mazzara's help re: transformation! I'm just glad he pointed it out. Not that he could have done much while he was busy playing therapist for his beloved Miss Jenn. Oh well.
Were those Ash and Ricky doing actual paired-up warmups? That is what they should have been doing for weeks now. That and having actual off-stage interactions, too. But I still subscribe to the theory that the gang had some good rehearsals off-screen — otherwise there's no way they could have been this good on stage as we saw in the previews. I said it last time and I'll say it again — not everything is for us to see.
Wow. The one time our leads are in unison, and it is about both being injured. The East High drama club must be cursed — they can't have one production run smoothly and without what can only be described as pure unbridled chaos.
They don't have any understudies? That explains some things... but also how? But also, I'm so happy Ashlyn is going on. No way she would have missed her first (first of many, right?) chance of being the lead because of some 'minor' injury.
Ricky and Nini still can't talk to each other properly. Oh well. Take your time. It's not like I care about this pairing anymore.
Did EJ just use the word 'dig'? Boy, the boy's got it baaaaaad. Also, what is it going to take for these two to realise they're in love? For all we know, they might have that big kiss we're all dreaming of and still be like 'nah, it's nothing, we're buddies'... give me a break! But I mean, at this point they might just be turning into Redlyn 2.0, where even a kiss doesn't define things. But hey, if they do follow in Redlyn's footsteps, that only means good things in their future, right?
What did that fake French git do to my boy Carlos? He's not supposed to look this inanimate until right before the climax of the play! Well, I mean, at least Seb serving as his interpreter means that Seb gets more lines for a bit. Too bad he can't go on for someone with more lines in the play.
Miss Jenn's 'words of inspiration' were less than inspired... yeah, this show's going down. Or it would, if it depended solely on her. Let's hope the kids do better. I mean, I know for a fact they will... at least for about 5 minutes of the thing. There is still room for things to go wrong and I'm scared.
Oh, my sweet boy... I wish I could jump in there and do something to help him feel less nervous. Thing is, if I were there, I'd probably be the most nervous of them all, even if I were playing Townsfolk #3 or something, and everyone's nervousness would rub off on me, and I would be making things worse instead of helping. So yeah, I'm kind of glad I'm not there.
Ahhhh who called it? @redlyncentral was it you? Ash got flowers for her Biggie! And there's a card whose contents we've yet to see. But that doesn't seem to be helping either. My sweet, sweet Reddy... I hope and pray he'll be alright.
Well this is awkward! Who told Mike to show up and shake everything up right now? Miss Jenn is literally on the brink of exploding, and now she's stuck in this completely unnecessary love triangle. She needs some space. And a quiet place to breathe, thanks Mr M for suggesting it.
'Did we forget to build a mote around the school or...' Yeah, you tell her, Rick! That girl whose name I never want to pronounce (because it makes me think of much nicer people and she's making me hate it) has no business being there. She's not... being given a redemption arc, is she now? Some people just don't deserve it. And if hating her is an unpopular opinion now, well, I never did care much about having popular opinions. I can live with that.
'Lily, scram!' Yes, thank you, Natalie! I've always wanted someone who would voice my thoughts in a way that the characters can hear them. Make this girl a main next season, won't you? (Just so we're crystal clear, I mean Natalie, not the other one.)
OMG Mr M is in the play! In a way... I love that!
I love, love, love the way they did the prologue. 'Repulsed [the prince makes an over-the-top gesture of repulsion] by her haggard appearance [the witch shows off her face to the audience]...' I love this. I would pay a lot for a chance to see their entire play, you know?
Oh dear, somebody give my boy Reddy some sort of... medical aid against all the throwing up! I've got a nice pill that helps me with my bad cases of motion sickness. Hey, so maybe I could have helped if I were there after all. Great, now I feel bad. But also, is all the throwing up an excuse on the writers' part to keep my boy off-screen for the majority of this episode? Because it's a really lame excuse.
Gina's 'Many questions' continues to be a mood. What exactly is Miss Jenn expecting from the kids? Last-minute adjustments? No way. This spells disaster.
Was Carlos on vocal rest or something? Because he shines like the star he is... despite all the very obvious nervousness backstage. I mean, I wouldn't have it any other way, but... oh well, I wouldn't say it's unrealistic. In my personal performing experience, the most nervous ones perform the best. (So... what is that saying for my boy Reddy? Good things only.)
I've already had the opportunity to geek out about Be Our Guest yesterday, but... I mean, just look at them! Carlos doesn't need actual candles to be on fire, Ashlyn is stealing the scene without any lines in it, Gina is absolutely gorgeous, and don't even get me started on EJ and Big Red looking at their girls in absolute awe! This is everything!
Aww, look at them! Gina and Ashlyn dancing together, I mean. They're sisters and it really shows. And I love them both so much.
Kourtney is an absolute show-stealer! I'm still upset about some casting choices (one of them is in this scene, doing his absolute best with the crumbs he has been given), but she is absolutely perfect. I think I'll rewind and watch this entire scene again before moving on with the rest of the episode.
I'd just like to point out that Frankie's voice in his lower register is everything!
'You absolutely dusted that stage'... Not EJ making a pun so punny even I could not have thought of it... boy is absolutely smitten!
Not me tearing up when Jordan Fisher appeared as Gina's brother... like, I knew it was happening — I knew it even before it was announced. And I still teared up because, well, it's emotional in-universe and out.
Awww, my boy Reddy is so in love with Ashlyn... I mean, who wouldn't be... but — not Ricky saying Lily might not be as mean as they thought. Especially not to Big Red of all people. To him, she was just as mean as they thought.
'Side hustle project in the south hallway'? Ooh, what is it, I want to know now!
Why do I feel like things are a bit too awkward between Kourtney and Howie? Not that I'm too invested in their relationship, but if it bothered me, imagine how it must feel for the stans.
No, Ash, you absolutely do not need to add any fancy riffs to the song! Especially not just because L... well, that girl did it. You're unique and lovely and a literal Disney princess inside and out. That girl? She's just a wolf in a sparkling golden dress.
Awww... Big Red literally lowers Ash's blood pressure! Those two are such an amazing couple! (Full disclosure, though, he kind of does the same for me too; the other night I had this horrible nightmare, and I woke up in cold sweat in the middle of the night, and then... ok, getting too personal there.) The point is, if even the fantasy of a Big Red hug makes me feel better, imagine what his actual presence would do for Ash at that moment. Where is my boy? Everyone seems to be looking for him.
Oh... guess they took my advice to give the poor boy something for his vomiting issue. Good for whoever thought of it.
And we're back to the Porter siblings... forgive me if I still can't wrap my head around calling Gina's brother Jamie. I don't know about you guys, but thanks to my lovely new friend Paz he will always be Theodore to me. I guess we can headcanon that as his middle name. Anyway, I love it that they made a joke about the hilarious height difference between him and Gina because, well, it's the only thing I can think about when I look at the two of them. It reminds me of me and my little cousin who has been taller than me since she was 10, and is still growing taller now at 13. But, I mean, it's not very hard to be taller than me, since I'm so, so short... ok, this is not about me. Moving on.
Was I the only one who actually laughed out loud at Ricky drinking from the bowl as the Beast? I mean, that part has always made me laugh in the original movie, but something about Ricky's take on it makes it even funnier.
Meanwhile, my girl Ash is absolutely killing it as Belle. Not me having the very same expression as Big Red while watching her... gosh, I love both of them so much! Also, no offence to the rest of the cast, but Julia really is the best vocalist out there. Out of all of them. I said what I said.
My apologies to Ricky, but his voice is just not it when it comes to playing the Beast. Still, with the other option being him putting on that fake deep voice from the audition, I'm glad he didn't.
Ahhhh Portwell nation you ok guys? Since we didn't get them singing Something There, this is very much the next best thing... and boy, is it good!
Those glances between Kourtney and Howie, on the other hand... what on Earth is happening there?
Ok, so you all know just how strongly I feel about Seb's casting as Chip, and yet... boy had one line and absolutely ate it up! Give him an actual singing role next time, Miss Jenn!
EJ being starstruck by Jamie not because he's a big music producer, but because he's Gina's brother... excuse me while I sob!
Excuse me, what!!!! 'A big brother figure'? Boy, this didn't turn out the way I thought it would... now I'm scared.
Way to ruin things, Jamie! And I don't even mean the fact that his name is not Theodore. It doesn't matter what his name is anymore. He might just have put a spanner in the works of Portwell, and they were just doing so well! Ugh, I'm so frustrated. I wish I'd never boarded — what did I call it — 'the majestic S.S. Portwell'. What if it doesn't set sail now?
And there goes another disappointment... Carlos' 'the orchestra hasn't vamped this much since Bop to the Top' line had nothing to do with Seblos, and everything to do with what might still be the downfall of this show. I am not ready.
No. Miss Jenn did not just say that. She did not just tell Ricky — who, may I remind you, not that anyone's forgotten, just fell off of a high place last episode — to 'jump off of something high'. I realise she's under all the pressure, but that is not an excuse. Well, at least she heard herself.
Oh my gods... Nini — well, Nina, actually — did not just call him 'Richard', did she? That's it, that's the point of no return. And well, I kind of wanted them to reach it.
Told you, didn't I? I told you that-girl-who-must-not-be-named was evil! I always follow my intuition and it has not once deceived me. Redeem that, if you can! Guess what? You can't. We've just reached another point of no return.
Wait, a bloody cliffhanger? I cannot handle this. I physically cannot handle this. If you need me, I'll be sitting on my bed in shock, trying to process everything that happened. I'll need a while to get a grip on myself.
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between-two-fandoms · 3 years
Text
Cause This Is Our Someday
Ao3 Link
Fandom: Big Time Rush
Rated: T
Word Count: 1,622
Pairing: Kendall KnightxLogan Mitchell
Tag list (ask to be added or removed):
@toomanyfandomstoolittletime @innocentbi-stander @mirrcrballbaby
Kendall enlists Katie and James's help getting him ready for a date with Logan. Self discoveries, pining and meddling little sisters prove to complicate things for Kendall, though this is what should have been a simple first date with his boyfriend.
~~~~~~~~~
Kendall loved his family, they were easily the most important thing in his life outside of hockey…. Hockey and maybe now the band. Especially Katie, his adorable albeit sometimes scary little sister. She gave up so much just so he and his boys could become a band. Sometimes… sometimes he’d forget, though she was only twelve she still had friends back in Minnesota. She had her people, however little they were.
Katie was one of the strongest twelve year olds he knew, she was his rock. She was his sounding board on a lot of things like, for example, getting ready for a date with Logan. “Too much?” Kendall asked, a hint of flush on his face as he walked out of the bathroom in a loud Hawaian polo shirt. Katie stared at him blankly from her spot perched on the top of the kitchen table.
“Way too much big brother,” Katie said between stifled laughs. A flash went off and before Kendall could make a grab for it she already had her phone tucked back into her bag. “You need to be… not so ugly,” she admitted. Kendall let out a noise of protest.
“I am not ugly,” he squeaked. Katie rolled her eyes and hopped off the table. She walked over to him and made him spin around so she could see all angles. “I’m the front man for a boy band that hit the top charts on our first tour.” Kendall said, only to get a snort in response. Katie grab his arm to get him to stop spinning.
She stared up at him and he couldn’t exactly place the expression. Katie learned how to master expressions as a young child - she was still young - but the control she had and how grown up she already was sometimes made Kendall’s heart hurt. “Your fans didn’t know you when you decided wearing a purple sequined dress shirt to homecoming was a good idea. If it wasn’t for Kelly and your stylist I’d bet Big Time Rush’s signature outfit would’ve been those stinky old jersey’s,” Katie scrunched up her nose and Kendall put his hands on his hips.
“Are you going to help me or just sit there and insult me Miss. Fashion Police?” Kendall asked, staring at her. Kate giggled and then put two fingers into her mouth and whistled. Confusion crossed his face then realization sparked in Kendall’s eyes when James rounded the corner holding jeans and a muscle t-shirt with some band logo. “Oh no, nuh uh definitely not,” Kendall vetoed, backing up from the offensive outfit.
James just stared at Kendall pointedly. “Dude, you’re easily the guy with the most muscle. Logan likes staring at them,” he added, a smirk on his face. Kendall glared at James and Katie in betrayal.
“How do you know he likes staring at my arms?” Kendall asked, crossing them against his chest defensively. Katie cackled, the laughter loud and whole. He was glad the two of them were having fun laughing at his expense. All he wanted was fashion advice, next time maybe he’d go to the Jennifers instead.
Katie shook her head, rolling her eyes. “You’re in the front so you can’t tell, but why do you think Logan’s been tripping over his feet during practice recently?” She asked, a mischievous glint in her eyes Kendall couldn’t quite bring himself to trust. Katie liked getting her sticky fingers involved into his love life, she had a history of sabotaging his dates if she didn’t like the girl. Granted, in the long run she’d always be right but that's besides the point.
“Kendoll, come on!” James insisted, his eyes sparkling as he took a step closer. Kendall dropped one of his arms, keeping the other securely wrapped around his chest. “You’d look so smoking in this fit, these are from that awesome jean store in the mall - Denim On Denim?” He asked. James smirked a little bit, the corner of his lips curling up into a smile. “Plus like… if Logan doesn’t like the shirt on you I’m sure he’d like the shirt even more when it’s off you.” Kendall’s face flushed bright red and he snapped his hand out and snatched the shirt from James.
“Okay okay enough. You guys are the absolute worse,” Kendall complained, though there was no earnesty to it. James and Katie snickered behind him as he ducked back into the bathroom to change the date outfit. “Logan and I are going to keep things PG13 tonight,” he said through the bathroom door emphasizing the term. He was acesexual, not that the other two knew that yet but… god Logan was so understanding when he came out. Kendall tried to explain how he felt about the whole Sex thing, that he could take it or leave it, that it wasn’t the most important thing in the world to him and Logan just held him through it, hugging him.
Once he won the short lived battle with the muscle shirt and pulled it over his head Kendall took a few seconds to appreciate the look in the mirror himself - he hated to admit it but they were right. He did look ridiculously good in a muscle shirt. Kendall brushed his fingers through his air in a halfhearted attempt to get it to stay down. He wasn’t worried too much about his hair, it would give Logan an excuse to play with it.
James cat called him when Kendall finally left the bathroom in the chosen outfit for date night. “You’re looking fly as hell Knight,” James said, a hint of jealousy in his voice. “Logan’s gonna love it,” for some reason Kendall detected some sort of… wistfulness… in James’ voice when he spoke. Almost something with a bittersweet taste to it. Before Kendall could ask what was wrong James whisked him into the family room for pre-date pictures. Carlos was waiting for them with a camera on a tripod all set up and Kendall’s ears flushed pink.
“Awe, he’s embarrassed,” Katie teased lightheartedly. Kendall stuck his tongue out at her, she stuck her tongue out back. “Kendork, you’re going to kill it,” she promised. Anxiety bubbled up underneath Kendall’s skin as his brain worked through all the way things could go wrong during his date with Logan. “James he’s doing the Thing again,” Katie complained, walking over to dig into the pantry for a bag of popcorn.
“Yeah I can see that,” James said unhelpfully. Kendall had begun pacing, nervously walking back and forth as he ran a hole into the carpet in the living room. “Hey Kendall, buddy you need to look at me,” James reached out hesitantly, but Kendall didn’t flinch away from his hand. James put his hand on Kendall’s shoulder and squeezed it. Kendall stopped pacing, his eyes were still a little unfocused but his breathing got slower. “Logan is so gone for you there’s literally zero competition,” James continued, keeping his hand on Kendall’s shoulder, a grounding force. “It’s painfully obvious you guys feel for each other,” he said… there was that hint of bittersweet again. Kendall let out a quiet whine and reached out for James, pulling him in for a hug.
“Simp,” Katie coughed into her popcorn. James glared at her to get her to shut up then turned his attention back to Kendall. Kendall was already feeling a lot better than he did before. He always felt safe around James. They always knew what they felt to each other, they always… they could always go to each other for help… for anything.
“Kendall?” Some asked quietly from behind them. It took Kendall a few seconds to place the voice then the name slid into place and he took a deep breath. Logan, his mind supplied. He hugged James for a few more seconds, holding him close to his heart, then Kendall pulled away. For a brief millisecond an expression of hurt flickered across James’s face but then his smile was back. It was so quick Kendall swore he imagined it happening. “Wow, you look… you look really good,” Logan said, his voice soft and warm. Kendall smiled bashfully at Logan, stepping into his outstretched arms. Kendall accepted the hug, letting Logan pull him in as he pressed his face into Logan’s shoulder.
“See?” Katie asked teasingly, chucking a handful of popcorn at Kendall. “I told you he’d like it! But oh no you didn’t believe me,” she singsonged, skipping around the room. Logan chuckled at the interaction and pressed a soft kiss to the top of Kendall’s head. Kendall pulled out of Logan’s chest looking a bit more flushed than normal, a boyish smile on his face. He reached down to interlock their fingers together. They let Carlos snap a few pictures of them before Logan insisted they’d miss it, whatever it was Logan was taking Kendall too. James had disappeared somewhere in the madness - Kendall made a mental note to check on him later. Surely it was nothing one of his infamous pep talks couldn’t fix.
“Ready?” Kendall asked, a nervous tremor to his voice. Logan smiled at Kendall and squeezed his hand.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Logan promised. He tugged Kendall a bit closer to steal a chaste kiss on the lips. “You really do look amazing Kendall,” he whispered, nuzzling into the nape of Kendall’s neck. Katie let out a noise of disgust then left the room, complaining about PDA in common areas or something. “Come on, I promise you’re going to love this,” Logan said, his eyes lighting up as he spoke. Kendall nodded and kissed Logan’s shoulder as he let Logan tug him out of the apartment and to wherever life was taking them next.
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0bianidalas · 3 years
Text
The unsolicited AlexReggie ship manifesto
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DISCLAIMER: This is obviously meant as a rant post about a ship I can enjoy in fandom spaces and not an actual request from me to make AlexReggie canon in the show or any of the sorts. I am quite happy and excited about the actual canon LGBT+ ship of this show, which is Willie x Alex. Do not get that twisted.
That being said, let me talk to you about the amazing, entertaining dynamic Alex and Reggie have that makes them super easy and fun to ship them:
I wanna start off by saying that I’m mostly writing this because I feel like they are either unfairly underlooked or just grossly misread; and I’m more upset about the latter. (Someone on this hellsite actually had the nerve to say Alex doesn’t take Reggie seriously so. I just had to get this off my chest)
So what’s this amazing, entertaining dynamic you speak of?
Alex and Reggie are best friends. That much is clear from the very first minutes of the show. It’s not Alex is Luke’s friend who’s friends with Reggie or the other way around. They’re all best friends. 
In fact, Alex and Reggie’s very first interaction is just about the sweatest we get to see them. Their first interaction:
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Reggie goes over to Alex to compliment him specifically on how he played at the rehearsal which leads us to a lot of grey areas of headcanoning (was Alex the last to join and so he was shy or nervous around the others? Maybe Reggie just likes to compliment him for some reason, or my personal favorite: Reggie knew Alex was anxious about playing the Orpheum so he thought Alex needed reassurance of his awesomeness? ), but the matter is: Reggie thinks Alex is awesome. 
However, them being sweet best friends is not their entire dynamic (and thank God), no. Alex and Reggie are the quippy best friends, they’re the Vitriolic Best Buds (type one– with Reggie being more on the ‘unaware of the vitriol’ side): 
“A very good measure of how good your friends are is how much you can insult them without them taking offense.”— Heliomance
When two people who are the very best of friends behave like the very worst of enemies.
Alex pokes fun at Reggie saying “he can see you” when Carlos asks if the ghost is “hiddeous”. Reggie makes fun of Alex for crying and being “a very emotional person” (even when Alex isn’t even there). 
But at the end of the day, and this is where I wanna emphasize: they’re the ones to show care first and immidiately for each other. 
It’s stated that their friendship runs deep between all three of them (Luke, Alex and Reggie), but I’m not gonna write the manifesto for the OT3 yet so bear with me: 
In episode 1x02: when Alex complains about them not giving him a hug when he was crying in the “void”, Reggie goes to hug him without hesitation – for Alex to turn him down because, again, that’s their primary dynamic. 
Same episode, a few minutes later: Reggie gets overwhelmed about Ray crying and asks to see his parents and Alex turns to him and sotfly goes “Yeah”
In episode 1x07: when Alex is upset about Willie and Reggie gives him a reassuring comment about how there’ll be others which Alex takes greatfully and openly. 
Episode 1x09: after Alex has said goodbye to Willie and Reggie goes over his shoulder to ask him if he’s alright
Same episode, a few minutes later: when Reggie voices his concerns about what will happen to them if they cross over and Alex turns to him, again, his voice softer than it usually is when he speaks to Reggie, and tells him that “It’s not like we have a choice”, to ease him up a bit. 
What I mean to say with this is: Luke is, as I can read in the context of what we’ve seen in the first season, the least emotionally intelligent out of the three of them and so since Luke lacks in that department–> it means Alex and Reggie have each other. 
Again, they’re like – really best friends when you truly look. Mostly because Luke suffers from his trope of the front-man and main male protagonist, so he’s capable of going on his own or with Julie to explore other bonds while Alex and Reggie have less and lesser and a lot of that is spent with each other. 
Alex tells Reggie about Willie, Reggie pays attention and actually cares about the stuff he’s learning both from Alex as an extension of Willie and then about what he can get from the rest of the world. Alex and Reggie – most of the time during the season – are on the same page about stuff and together, while Luke is off doing his own things, mostly with Julie as she is the protagonist. 
Granted, Alex main focused relationship is with Willie (and I’m super greatful for that), but after Willie, and this is where I take no criticsm, it’s Reggie who comes on the list. Not Luke, not Julie or Carrie– Alex immidiate secondary focused-dynamic as of Season 1 is Reggie (if only slightly tied with the boys as a trio itself, obviously). 
Then there’s the aspect of them individually and how they contrast each other. Alex is obviously the smarter of the three and Reggie falls further on the scale, all the way to the side. That makes them a little the Smart Jerk, Nice Moron trope except Alex isn’t that much of a jerk all the time. However, it works, because not only it makes up for great comedic bits (literally all of their scenes together omg) but also because you can’t have one without the other or it’d be awfully unbalanced.
The “rhythm section” duo
Yes, I even wanna talk about the symbolism of their instruments too and how they’re linked through that. Drums and bass are not only essential to any band but they’re also very important and rely on each other. I’m no music expert at all, but even I know one usually follows after the other to keep the pace of the rhythm. 
This article has some many interesting takes on the relationship between the drummer and the bassist: 
“A drummer’s comprehension of the role of bass guitar is often far greater than most guitarists.”
“Everyone in the band is of course on the team, but the bond between the bassist and drummer is something so deep that it usually takes a long time to develop.”
“Bassists and drummers are the rhythm section together, meaning one instrument consisting of two parts.”
“Simply put, the bassist and drummer really are the rhythm section. It’s not the guitarist and certainly not the damn keyboard player. That can be an unclear distinction at times, but I feel strongly about it. Bass and drums should be an inseparable pair, sonically speaking,” he continues. “That’s not to say that all kick patterns should be followed to the tee, but there should be an obvious and palpable awareness of what each other is doing. There are too many nuances to list that can go with or against that grain. In short, bass and drums should always be intertwined like hot, sweaty lovers having the rawest, musical sex.”  —  Miles McPherson
I find the whole ✨semiotic✨ of this very poetic on its own, but it’s also an OT3 thing I’ll get on later, I think. 
Ultimately, Owen and Jeremy make it work, too. Duh. Their chemestry on screen really gives you the vibe that despite all the times Alex looks at Reggie like he’s fed up and wants to die all over again ("I wish I couldn’t see you”), Alex still finds him endearing and just…he loves the guy. And obviously Reggie – the heart of the boys trio– just loves him right back: 
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I just think they’re cute and funny and even when I’m not shipping them, I’m still appreciating them from a mlm solidarity pov (bc Reggie is definitely bi) and whoever said that Alex doesn’t take Reggie seriously or ever tries to even imply Alex wouldn’t set the whole world on fire to keep Reggie warm is just not watching the same goddamn show.
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keanureevesisbae · 3 years
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eunoia - chapter 1
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Summary: Quinn is back in Delacroix, Louisiana
Sam Wilson x Quinn (Asian ofc)
Warnings: Some spoilers for Civil War, Inifinity War, Endgame and TFATWS
Wordcount: 3.2k
Masterlist // eunoia masterlist // Previous chapter
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I watched AJ and Cass grow up into the boys they are now. It might be obvious to some, but I came to the realization that every step of their development is crucial. Teaching them boundaries, new skills and their abilities when it comes to social interaction.
Noticing that importance, made me wonder even more about the things that had happened in my past. What significant events happened for me to become who I am today. I don’t feel like anyone, like I have no personality, no history.
Fragments of memories are the only things I have left of my past. I remember laughing with people, though they remain faceless till this day. I remember warm weather, cold weather, but the hugs are the same. They are loving, caring. But there is also a lot of pain and exhaustion. There is confusion when I saw Bucky for the first time being contained in a small cell.
But those fragments are not equal to an entire memory.
Everything I started to experience is from the moment Zemo let me out of that cell back in Munich. Fighting alongside the Avengers, though never actually being one of them, meeting people during my solo trips through the country and sleeping in abandoned buildings by myself, since I had no money.
Delacroix, Louisiana, however, is the only place I dare to call home. I know there is a place somewhere that used to be home, but since I haven’t found that yet, I’ll rely on the place that feels most secure.
Of course I was aware that going here could mean bumping into Sam. It’s a risk I’m willing to take, because I missed spending time with the Wilson’s, especially AJ and Cass. I wonder though, what Sam might think. Me spending time with his family in the years he couldn’t.
I grew so close to the three of them, whilst we only had one thing in common.
Knowing Sam.
Since Tony’s funeral and Steve handing the shield to Sam, I have been wandering around the different states, even making slight detours to Canada, hoping to find something. I have been so desperately wanting to know something for so long. Anything that could be something that should be a treasured memory of mine.
Much to my dismay, I am still left in the dark. I have no idea who I am, where my roots started and who is out there missing me.
Are there even people missing me?
After I scolded the boys for growing, I hold up my hand to the older guy who has been appreciating my arrival from the moment I got here a little over five years ago. ‘Hi Carlos,’ I say to him.
‘Miss Quinn!’ he exclaims, rushing over to me in the fastest pace he can and hugs me tightly when I’m within arms reach. ‘Oh, do I love it when you join us.’
‘I love to be back.’
‘You’re gonna help me out, right?’ Carlos asks. ‘Things go much slower without you here. No one has come even close to your strength.’
‘I figured,’ I say with a smile. ‘I’ll help you out, okay?’
He blows me a kiss, before AJ, Cass and I walk towards Sarah and Sam. I shouldn’t be nervous, but I am. While Sam was contemplating whether or not to take the shield from Steve, I sneaked out. Ran off hating Steve. Hating the fact that he got older. Being able to go back in time, to not only place back the Stones and what not, but also to grow older with Peggy.
The love of his life.
He got to live his happily ever after with someone from his past, something that I would probably never experience. It took me months to realize that I wasn’t mad at him.
I was simply jealous.
Sarah opens her arms for me and I don’t waste a single second before letting myself being engulfed in her warm embrace. How I longed to feel a hug from her. ‘I missed you,’ she says to me.
‘I missed you too,’ I admit softly.
‘Don’t you dare leave me alone for too long.’ She holds onto my upper arms and glares at me. ‘The kids missed you too much.’
‘We did,’ they confirm in unison
I can’t help but laugh. ‘I missed them and you too much as well, hence the reason I came back.’
‘Oh, so you didn’t came back for my brother?’ She cocks an eyebrow. ‘He too just arrived.’
Sam scoffs and I pretend to roll my eyes, but I cannot miss the tone in her voice. She always pestered me about her brother, saying that if he were still here, we’d probably be all over each other.
Yeah right…
I remember first arriving here and staying in the guest room, one where Sam used to sleep if he crashed here in Delacroix. She caught me looking at pictures of Sam and slightly bullied me because of it. Maybe it seemed like I liked him, but the truth is: I realized how much I missed him.
Back when I helped out the Avengers, he was the only one I truly trusted. Because I cared so much about him, I went out of my way to go to his DC apartment in the midst of all chaos, to grab some personal belongings of his and make my way to his family.
Sam promised me he would always have my back and I don’t blame him for not keeping his promise. It’s just that now that he is back and I’m about the face him, it hits me how much his five year absence killed me deep down.
I’m too afraid to meet his eyes, but I know I have to eventually. ‘Solely for the kids,’ I say to Sarah, because that is the main reason I came back. The kids and Sarah.
Sarah squeezes my upper arms, almost as some encouragement and I look up to Sam. ‘Hi Quinn,’ he says to me, his voice warm, welcoming and trusting.
I missed him. I missed him looking at me. All of his attention directed to the person he’s talking to. It’s good to be on the receiving end of it.
‘Hi Sam.’
‘How are you?’
I have no idea actually. ‘I’m okay,’ I answer. ‘You look good.’
He seems a bit surprised, but a slightly cocky smirk appears on his lips. ‘As do you.’
Sarah frowns, as she looks from me to Sam back to me again. ‘How about you two catch up?’ She opens a cool box and grabs two beers. ‘I’ve got your favorite, Quinn. You must be tired from your trip. You deserve it.’
‘You’re the best, Sarah, thank you.’
Both AJ and Cass stand next to me and give me a tight hug. ‘You’re already taking her away, uncle Sam?’ AJ asks. ‘That’s so unfair. We want to know how the battle against Thanos went.’
‘I’ll be back before you know it,’ I say to them, slightly touched because they don’t want me to go.
‘Is this Superhero talk?’ AJ asks, looking at his uncle.
‘Boys, I told you,’ I say, ‘I’m no superhero.’
‘But you’re really strong,’ Cass says. ‘I think you are a superhero.’
‘She totally is,’ Sam says. ‘You should’ve seen her in the battlefield.’
I don’t do blushing, but I do this other thing: my ears turn in this fiery red color. It’s horrible, I hate it and of course today of all days I’m wearing my hair up in a ponytail, for everyone to see how the tips of my ears turn red.
‘Uncle Sam, to be fair, we like her more than we like you.’
Sam cocks an eyebrow. ‘Is that so?’ he asks. ‘That means I need to work extra hard to be number one again.’
‘If you get me one of those flying suits, you two are even.’
‘AJ,’ Sarah says, ‘we spoke about this. I’m not gonna let you fly around. Sorry Sam, you’re in third place.’
‘Third place?’ Sam asks, pretending to be offended. ‘Why third?’
‘Because mom is number one, auntie Quinn is number two and you are number three,’ Cass says. ‘Duh.’
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Sam and I sit on the dock, both staring at the old boat. Paul & Darlene. A nearly nostalgic smile appears on my lips. ‘Sarah and I tried to fix it up,’ I say, flicking the cap off the beer bottle, doing the same for Sam. ‘Emphasis on tried. We didn’t have a lot of money, we had tons of other stuff to do and I have no idea on how to fix up a boat.’
Sam nods, grabbing the beer from me as I hand it to him. ‘Figured, think the two of you broke something in the process,’ he chuckles.
‘That would’ve been me, I’m sorry.’ I take a sip of the beer and think about the next thing I’m gonna say. ‘So,’ I start, ‘you gave up the shield.’
‘Not in the way you might think,’ he says, almost in a bit of a defensive tone. ‘I didn’t give it up. I gave it to the museum where it belongs. It’s a piece of history, not mine to use.’
I frown, as I fear that he might not know what I know. ‘You think it’s gonna stay in a museum?’ I ask.
Now he looks up. ‘Of course, what do you think?’
‘Well,’ I say, ‘it’s not gonna be part of the exhibition. There is… Someone who will receive the shield soon.’
It pains me to see his expression. The hurt, the betrayal. Poor Sam, he obviously wasn’t told about that. ‘I had no idea.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ I whisper.
‘How do you know?’
I shrug. ‘I went to one of my hackers,’ I say, ‘to see if he could help me with carefully running my picture through any database. We stumbled upon some governmental documents and it read that once they had the shield, they would give it to some guy who is training for it. I believe his name was John Walker.’
‘That could be anyone,’ Sam notes with a scoff.
‘Exactly,’ I agree, ‘but it shouldn’t be anyone. Steve gave that shield to you, not this John Walker guy. I’m not saying that giving the shield for an exhibition was wrong, but… I do know this is not what both you or Steve had in mind when you gave the shield to the Smithsonian.’
Sam shakes his head and from the looks of it, he is beating himself up over this. ‘They should’ve told me.’
‘Had they told you, would you kept the shield?’
He nods. ‘It’s Steve shield, not mine, not this John guy.’
I have no idea what I should say to him. I want to say about myself that I know how to comfort someone, but that someone is not a grown man. The only ones I can remotely comfort, are AJ and Cass and when necessary, I can sort of calm Sarah down (though I have gone wrong there maybe once or twice).
‘Is this John Walker gonna go public any time soon?’ Sam asks.
‘I don’t know.’
‘Why do you think Steve gave me that shield?’
I was not expecting that question at all, but it’s an easy one to answer. ‘You’re the only one worthy of the shield, of that legacy. You are more than Captain America’s friend, Sam. You are the only one that can live up to the expectation.’
‘I don’t know, Quinn.’
‘Listen, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have hesitations. It only shows that you are humble and I think that is exactly the type of man Steve wanted for the shield.’
From the looks of it, Sam grows more and more uncomfortable. To redirect the conversation, he clears his throat and says: ‘Bucky isn’t gonna like this.’
Oh boy, I hadn’t even thought of that. ‘Have you spoken to him?’
He shakes his head. ‘Nah, he ignores my texts.’
I can’t stop my smile. ‘Mine too.’
‘Oh, you’ve been texting him?’ Sam asks. eyebrow cocked.
‘Sometimes,’ I say, ‘it’s just that I figured we had something in common. He just went totally AWOL after his pardoning and I have no idea what he is doing. I bet he doesn’t even wanna be found. If there is something going on, he’ll show up.’
‘Well, good thing Bucky doesn’t even know where I live,’ he says, ‘think you and I are safe for a while.’
I chuckle, looking at my beer bottle. ‘Yeah, bet you’re right.
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That night, I walk into the room I always sleep in when I stay over at the Wilson’s, only to discover a shirtless Sam, in nothing else but boxers near the bed. That looks abnormally good, I think to myself, before I realize that it’s considered rude to just walk into a room like that. ‘Oh,’ I say, ‘I’m so sorry.’ I pull down the sleeping shirt, hoping it covers up my legs more.
‘No, I am,’ he says. ‘I could’ve known you would sleep here. Let me grab some blankets and I’ll take the couch.’
‘You’re taking the couch?’ I ask.
‘Yeah.’
I’ve slept on that thing and if it was uncomfortable for me, who is the size of a kid, it must be even worse for him.‘The bed is large enough,’ I say. ‘Pick a side.’
‘I don’t want to cross any line, Quinn.’
‘You won’t,’ I say. ‘Believe me, I shared sleeping spaces with people, most of which were… different than you, in the negative sense.’
‘Right,’ he says. ‘I want the right side, closer to the door.’ I watch Sam stepping in that part of the bed and slide underneath the covers and I walk around the bed, stepping in as well. We stare at the ceiling and the only thing we can hear is the breathing of one another.
I missed being in the Wilson’s residence. I missed the talks we would have, the food we would eat and the way the boys would talk. They’ve gone a long way and I sound like an old grandma, but I am so proud of them. Growing up during the blip, watching their mom work hard, that must’ve been tough, but they pulled through.
They grew up to be fine young men, who are strong, who are kind and mostly, who still know how to be kids.
But what’s different now is the presence of Sam and it’s not an unpleasant one. He obviously loves his sister and nephews and even after coming back from a rough mission, he gives them his time and attention.
Everything he has to offer.
Even if that means annoying his sister about the family boat. Sarah told me all about that dragon of a money sucker. It costs a lot and she doesn’t have time nor the money to renovate.
‘Where have you been?’ he asks.
‘When?’
‘Those five years and those months after the shield.’
I let out a sigh. ‘I have been wandering around the country after the blip, hoping to find out more about me. To no luck, I came in empty handed. After the shield, I continued wandering. Just realized I needed family. I needed Sarah.’
‘Thanks for helping her out.’
‘Oh, she didn’t need helping out,’ I say. ‘Besides, I wasn’t much of a help.’
‘I bet you were,’ Sam says with a smile. ‘You’re tired, go have some sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.’
That night, I yet again have a dreamless dream. I never dream. Maybe I did, but I don’t remember. I barely remember everything. There are three major things in life that are the foundation of my life.
I hate cold weather, the person who has been playing a major role in my life is Bucky, who I haven’t spoken to for months and I have enhanced powers, but I have no idea where they are coming from.
Things in my life never made sense.
I remember when Zemo freed me, only for me to roam through the city of Münich and be caught by the team of Everett Ross. How Bucky has been a part of my life, has always been a mystery, because Bucky can only tell me he would see me back in his cell, before Hydra wiped him.
But what have I got to do with Hydra?
The next morning my eyes flutter open. I take a deep breath and lift up my head, only to realize I was resting it on Sam’s strong chest. ‘Morning,’ he says, his voice deep and it almost sounds like liquid gold.
Shit, I’m too close. ‘Good morning,’ I say, pushing myself up. ‘I am sorry.’
‘Don’t be.’
‘Sure? You feared you were overstepping, but now I am the one. How long have I been… resting like this.’
‘The second you drifted off to sleep. You’re a wild one. Think I’ve got at least a few bruises and broken ribs with that super strength of yours.’
‘Sorry,’ I chuckle. ‘I hope you’re okay.’
‘I’ll live.’ He sits up straighter and rubs his eyes.
‘How did you sleep?’ I ask.
‘Alright,’ he says. ‘It always takes a bit of getting used to when I get back here.’
‘I see.’
The door barges open, only to see Sarah. ‘There you two are,’ she says, tying up her robe she wears over her pajamas. ‘You should see the news. They are announcing the new Captain America.’
My heart stops beating for a moment and I look over my shoulder to see Sam. He gets up, puts on some clothes, while I grab some sweats. We all walk into the living room, only to see the boys already sitting in front of the screen.
‘Every day Americans feel it,’ the man on the television says. ‘While we love heroes who put their lives on the line to defend Earth, we also need a hero to defend this country. We need a real person who embodies America’s greatest values.’
I watch Sam staring at the screen, as he talks place on the couch. I carefully sit next to him, hoping he is not spooked by my presence.
He isn’t.
‘We need someone to inspire us again, someone who can be a symbol for all of us. So, on behalf of the Department of Defense and our Commander-in-Chief, it is with great honor that we announce here today that the United States of America has a new hero.’
I don’t know whether Sam is disappointed in himself for believing the shield was gonna be exhibited in the Smithsonian or in the government who betrayed him.
Either way, watching this must be awful.
‘Join me in welcoming your new Captain America.’
The new Captain America. It’s like a punch in the gut. The cheering, the waving of the generic John Walker holding a shield that isn’t his.
I place my hand on his knee and for a split second I fear he is going to swat it away.
But then I feel the warmth of his palm on my hand and he looks to the side. He doesn’t say anything, but his eyes say enough.
‘I’m sorry,’ I say.
He nods. ‘Yeah, me too, Quinn. Me too.’
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amythecinnabunny · 3 years
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38 66 Jukebox. Muhahahah!!!
38. Grief Fic  
66. It’s Not You, It’s My Enemies  
🚨 ANGST WARNING 🚨
I wanted to do it canon-verse but then I remembered an old arc I had planned for the hold on au and since I've completely scrapped it and it fits these two, I figured I could beat you to tears with it :>
Okay so for those of you who aren't aware of the hold on au, it's a Julie Dies au and the general consensus is that it's way more hurtful and angsty than it needs to be. I concur. The true angst, however, can be found in the several things I've scrapped, such as this next bit.
It'll be set in Come Back, I Still Want You, after they rescue the boys from Caleb.
So unlike the ridiculously long slow burn in the fic, Julie and Luke actually act on their very obvious feelings and I mean since they're both dead and none of them know what any of their unfinished business is, there's nothing stopping them, right? WRONG
Julie trades places with the boys but that's not all Caleb wants. Caleb wants to actually fully properly get rid of Julie and if he can't get her to cross over, he'll find other ways to get rid of her . . .
Given that I scrapped this idea early, I never quiet figured out how Caleb would accomplish this. I just knew he would and I'd deal with that issue later.
They're trying, and I mean they're really trying hard to make it work but Caleb is relentless. If he can't have the boys, Julie can't either.
Everyone's scrambling to find a way to save Julie but there's nothing. They even out the existence of ghosts to the world, but no one can offer a solution. (Carrie has several nervous breakdowns, not unlike the one she had the day Julie died)
Julie tries to end things with Luke. Maybe he'll take it easier if they're not together when it happens, right? I mean, WE know that's not true, but SHE doesn't. She tries to say that Caleb will go after Luke just to hurt her even more but Luke isn't buying it. Still, it hurts like a bitch when that's almost the last interaction they ever had. Lots of angst about this, trust me.
Julie gets one last interaction with everyone, in the studio, and they all leave her alone with Luke in the end. The whole thing is reminiscent of the day Julie died and even though she's a ghost and she was with him since then, the day has always haunted him. If he slept, he was sure he'd have nightmares about it.
The fact that it's so similar is tearing at his heart. Julie's not sickly and confined to a bed with heart monitors and respirators, but he can tell she doesn't have the energy she used to. She's fading away. Again.
And just like last time, Luke reminds her that she's loved, by him most of all.
They lean in for a kiss, just one last kiss, but their lips never meet. And just like that, Luke is alone in th dark room. Julie's left him for the second time and there's not a single chance she's coming back now.
Both of her deaths because of Caleb, and both of them unable to be stopped.
Luke breaks down completely when Alex and Reggie return, sitting on either side of him, Reggie where Julie was just a moment ago.
They sit together like that for hours maybe. The rest of them want to rush in and soothe the boys, but Willie's the only one who can see them. Without her, they're just ghosts. Ordinary phantoms without Julie.
Luke doesn't pick up his pen for months, at least. It's a further few months before he even touches his guitar. Maybe Echo of You, wink wink
They don't perform again, but they do strike against Caleb. The whole thing set in motion almost a year ago by Julie herself, from the first time she visited the Hollywood Ghost Club. It doesn't take much to convince the club to rise against Caleb.
Julie was beloved by all who had ever met her, lifer and ghost alike. To stand by and accept what Caleb has done doesn't sit right with them.
So they strike against Caleb. They strike hard and fast, without any warning. In all his arrogance, Caleb never saw it coming. They free the club, rendering Caleb powerless. And without his magic from stolen and trapped souls, Caleb doesn't survive Reggie.
For a while, after the drive of destroying Caleb leaves, the boys become empty shells of themselves. Willie brings Alex back to himself first. Flynn, Carlos and Ray eventually return Reggie. But Luke? Luke's lifeline was pretty much Julie.
Luke spends his days wandering Hollywood, meeting ghosts who are now enjoying their afterlife, ghots who are free to search for their unfinished business, ghosts who are eager to finally cross over. He smiles at them and chats with them. But Luke spends his nights in Julie's room or the studio. Reggie and Alex never stop trying to engage him, but nothing really seems to pique Luke's interest.
He plays the songs he wrote for her. He teaches himself to play the piano, just to hear her sound again. He listens to their recorded songs, just to heatlr her voice again.
And then one day, Luke accepts the fact that Julie's never coming back. Never. And that night, Luke lays his head on Julie's pillow and for the first time since he died, Luke falls asleep. And quietly, alone in her bedroom, he crosses over.
They spend weeks searching for Luke, refusing to accept what they all know to be true. Even on days when Luke wasn't seen at all, they could always soon hear the guitar, or the piano, or the band's songs. But for weeks, the studio has been silent. Luke didn't just uo and leave. Even if he could somehow turn his back on them, he would never turn his back on the notebooks filled with his and Julie's overlapping handwriting. He would never turn his back on Julie. So, with hearts heavier than on the days of Julie's deaths, they visit Luke's grave. He's really gone now. Alex and Reggie cry the most.
A month or so after, Ray gets to cleaning out the studio. It's collected far too much dust. He's thinking of renting the space out. There's a couple of young kids putting up posters, looking for a space to keep their instruments and host band practice.
Ray struggles and it takes him weeks to even clean out one area of the studio. This was where Rose and Julie spent most of their time and now, within nearly two and half years of each other, he'd lost them both.
When he finally gets to the loft, it's somehow worse. Sunset Curve things are coated in even more dust. Ray trips and sends several items falling to the ground below. He heads back down and starts picking the various items up. He drops them all when he catches sight of one of Luke's notebooks.
Their handwriting is all over it, like passing notes in class, song lyrics in between.
We're okay, right?
We're together, aren't we?
Ray hugs the open notebook to his chest and he cries, but it's not the exhausted tears of the family left behind. It's relieved tears of finally having a sign that everything is okay. Or it will be. It'll never hurt less. Never. But that's okay. They're okay. They're together.
And that's all either of them ever wanted. Right?
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backtothestart02 · 3 years
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Yoga Pants and Gray Sweatpants - 1/1 | grandice fanfiction
A/N: Soooo, I’ve decided to make a grandice fics series about them dating secretly while filming Flash. Idk what my next one will be, but this takes place after the previous one. Enjoy!
Inspired by convos I’ve shared with @jennlee44 & @smileyscorner04. Thanks, ladies!
...
Synopsis: Grant and Candice are not so good at breaking up.
...
There had been a leak.
Paparazzi had gotten some particularly intimate-looking photos of Grant and Candice onset. While they weren’t doing anything more than laughing and standing close to each other in most, there were a few where they were holding hands and their faces were particularly close.
The internet went wild while speculation.
No one had reached out to either of their agents yet, but Candice figured it was only a matter of time. This thing she had going with Grant had become too obvious. She broke it off, and no matter how hard Grant protested, she refused to go back on her decision.
She and Grant were done.
A week later Grant sat in his trailer, trying to memorize his lines, knowing that even if he did there was no way his acting would portray it properly. The break-up with Candice had started to affect his performance when the cameras were rolling, which had been Candice’s biggest fear from the beginning. He knew it only solidified her decision to break things off. If they got back together and broke up for real, because of an actual blow-up, their chemistry onset would never recover. At least with this it was something he just needed to force himself to get over and then everything would be fine.
But that was just it. He couldn’t ‘get over it’.
What had started as something mostly physical had grown quickly into something much deeper.
Grant wouldn’t say he was in love. He wasn’t that far gone. But he was definitely falling, and he wasn’t a fan of this new arrangement at all.
Unable to focus on his lines, he decided to go for a walk. After slipping on his shoes and a light jacket, he pushed open the door of his trailer only to find the object of his affection and anguish walking past wearing work-out clothes, particularly yoga pants.
He nearly fell out of his trailer.
“Candice!” he called, taking the steps carefully before closing the door behind him. “Wait up.”
She looked over her shoulder, and he had to force himself to look up from that delectable ass of hers, accentuated in those pants, to those deep, brown eyes that he nearly found himself drowning in.
“Grant,” she said, almost coldly.
He stopped dead in his tracks, wondering if he’d done something wrong. Had she caught him checking her out? Was this just how she was going to interact with him now that they were broken up? That didn’t seem fair. They could still be friends.
“Wh-Where are you going?” he asked, skipping over to her in two easy bounds.
“The gym,” she said, as if it was obvious. He supposed it was. “You?”
“I was going to go for a walk,” he said.
“Mm.” She nodded once.
“I could join you,” he suggested softly, leaning in a little closer.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” she said, tone clipped.
He frowned. “Why not? We’re still friends, aren’t we?”
“We’re exes, Grant,” she said, determined not to look at him. “Exes are not friends.”
He stopped suddenly, but she kept walking. His heart fell into the pit of his stomach.
Exes are not friends.
Well, hell.
Two days later, Grant and Candice, along with the crew and the director were all on set, and Candice thought she was going to die. She’d been avoiding Grant like the plague, ever since she’d broken things off with him. She hadn’t been cold to him since she’d met him. He was just so fun to be around, and she fed off that energy without even meaning to. It was what had drawn them together. He fed off her contagious energy too.
But she had to put a stop to that before any more rumors spread. For all she knew, their magnetic energy had been reported to the media by one of the crew eager for their 15 minutes of fame.
She knew it was affecting Grant’s performance though, and she felt bad about that. In the time she’d known him, she’d come to the realization very quickly that he had a difficult time separating what Barry was going through and what he was going through personally. Barry having such strong feelings for Iris, for example, had amplified his own feelings for her – Candice.
Now that they were broken up, she could see the struggle in him to light up as Barry around her as Iris when in reality she kept pushing him further and further away.
She couldn’t help it!
She was as upset over the break-up as he was. There was nothing more in life she wanted than to take it back and pick up where they’d left off. There were so many places they hadn’t hooked up yet. It had only been a week and a half, but she was already feeling sex-deprived. Specifically with Grant. She was feeling Grant sex-deprived, like she was in withdrawal.
But more than that, his magnetic energy, his smile, those gorgeous green eyes, and how he could just pick her up as if she was light as a feather, how he just understood her as no one else did, how they almost had their own language because they were just that in tune with each other.
She was falling for him.
That wasn’t going to stop whether they were broken up or not, and she hated it.
She hadn’t put on yoga pants the other day hoping to lure him out of his trailer. She’d legitimately intended on going to the gym to work out. Though more to work out her frustrations on not being able to work Grant out instead than actually maintaining her figure and staying healthy.
In fact, the reason her tone had been so clipped with him was in fact because she worried if they were in the same space for too long when they weren’t filming that she’d throw everything to the wind and seduce him right there in the gym.
She bit for bottom lip just thinking about it, and tried not to moan. The on-site gym was one of the many places they hadn’t hooked up yet. Ironically, there were no cameras in there. It would be the perfect spot on top one of those treadmills or bicycles…or in the locker room shower.
She shook her head, ridding herself of that thought.
This was crazy!
She’d been celibate for months. Surely she could handle being celibate again. She could even go out and have a one-night stand if she wished. She was sure there were plenty of guys that-
Stop it.
You are not a one-night stand kind of woman.
And you want Grant, plain and simple.
She sighed and looked back at her script. Grant was across the room rehearsing his own lines quietly to himself. She’d memorized hers already, but there was no harm going over them again. Especially when the alternative was to not check Grant out when wardrobe had given him gray sweatpants to wear.
Damn it.
He was walking after her in the scene. She was supposed to be mad, pissed off. And her current mood definitely helped her performance when the cameras were rolling, she decided. But sexual frustration ebbed off of her in waves, and she wondered if maybe that wasn’t what the director was going for with Iris in this particular scene.
Still, what was she supposed to do?
Grant’s cock moved so effortlessly beneath those pants when he walked. It was just a reminder of what they’d had and could still have if only she’d take back breaking things off.
But she couldn’t do that.
No one could know about them, and the most effective way to do that was to not be together at all. Soon any speculation of them being an item would be gone, and then maybe – maybe – she could think about being friends again.
“I need a break,” she announced to the crew and director.
Grant looked up from his script curiously.
The director frowned.
“We haven’t even started filming, Candice.”
“Well…I need a few extra minutes to get ready.”
His brows furrowed suspiciously, but he nodded.
“Ten minutes. Then we start.”
She dropped her script on her chair and made a quick exit for the lounge via the long hallway. She spotted Carlos inside and felt relief. She could relax with him, get Grant off her mind and then be ready to film in the 10 minutes that had been allotted to her.
“Candi-” Carlos started, and was immediately cut off.
“Candice.”
Carlos pursed his lips as Candice turned around and found Grant staring at her from just inside the doorway.
“Grant.” Her eyebrows narrowed. “What are you doing here?”
“We need to talk.”
Carlos downed the rest of his coffee and threw his cup in the trash.
“I’ll give you two some privacy,” he muttered, shutting the door to the lounge behind him as he left.
The implication was obvious. He thought the two of them were going to have sex.
That irritated Candice more than she cared to admit, because how could he even think that? The whole cast and crew was well aware of how they weren’t sleeping together. Their unresolved sexual tension could be felt a mile away.
“What?” she asked, crossing her arms beneath her breasts, enhancing her cleavage the slightest bit.
She could see Grant fighting with himself to not look.
“I think we should get back together.”
She scoffed. “Of course you do.”
“It’s affecting my work! Yours too.”
“It’s not affecting my work. I’m a professional. You’re-”
“I’m what?” he dared her to say.
“You’re too attached to your character.”
“I’m not attached enough right now or I’d be able to channel Barry without memories of us fucking flooding my brain at every minute.”
She swallowed and her eyes lowered briefly to his crotch, nearly gasping when she thought she saw…
Did his cock just twitch?
She lifted her eyes to his again.
“That is not my fault.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No.” Her eyes narrowed.
He took a step towards her, and she tensed.
“I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“Grant-”
“All the time. When I’m awake, when I’m asleep…” He sighed, running his hand through his hair in frustration, as he often portrayed Barry doing. “I think I’m falling in love with you.”
She swallowed her gasp just before it emerged past her lips. It took her a few seconds to compose herself.
“You think that-”
“I know it.” He took her hands in his own, holding them tightly when she tried pulling them away.
She refused to look at him, though her heart was beating rapidly inside her chest.
“You haven’t had sex in a week and a half. You’re acting like a hormonal teenager, thinking this is more than it is when it’s not. For God’s sake, our careers are on the line here. Why can’t you just-”
“Candice.”
She tipped her head to look up into his eyes.
“Are you falling in love with me too?”
Her heart leapt into her throat.
“I…” Tears formed in her eyes, so she quickly shut them and shook her head. “No, there’s no way. I’m just…sexually frustrated.”
She gasped, realizing she’d said the words out loud and completely mortified.
“Shit,” she mumbled under her breath.
Grant smiled slowly, and she knew there was no going back.
“I can help with that too.”
“Grant, no- No, you can’t-can’t do that.”
She was backing up, but he pulled her back to him before she could get far.
“Relax, Candeez, I promise to make it good for you.”
And in that moment chills ran up her spine, and she melted. His lips came down on hers, and she moaned into the kiss. She jumped up into his arms when she felt his hands on her ass, and he squeezed her cheeks as he backed up slowly against the counter.
Kissing madly, he spun them around so she was sitting on the smooth granite and lifted her shirt up over her head, quickly unlatching her bra from behind her back. Candice shoved his pants and underwear down in one, swift move and immediately wrapped her hand around his shaft.
He groaned and dropped his head onto her shoulder.
“Candice.”
“Those damn sweatpants have been driving me out of my mind,” she muttered as she continued to pump him. “Do you know how clearly you can see your cock moving in them when you walk or get up?”
He chuckled darkly.
“I know. I requested them.”
“Bastard.”
“You don’t mean that.” He smirked, tipping her head up.
“No, I really do.”
He kissed her.
“I also mean this.”
She released his cock and yanked him closer.
“Fuck me.”
His green eyes turned dark, as he roughly yanked her pants and underwear down to a puddle on the floor.
“With pleasure.”
Fifteen minutes later, Grant and Candice came strolling back onto set. The director took one look at them and called for hair and make-up to come over.
“You good now, Candice?” he asked.
Grant quietly smirked to himself.
“Better than ever,” she said brightly.
After hair and make-up had finished and scattered, Grant and Candice took their places and waited for the director to call ‘action’.
As luck would have it, they only needed one take.
...
*will post on AO3 and FFnet when beta’d.
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meloingly · 3 years
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Clumsy Your Way Into My Heart
@carlosreyesweek​ Day 6: AU!!!
Summary: When Carlos first volunteered to go grocery shopping for the station, he didn’t think he would be overthinking it as much as he is right now.
Cereal box shenanigans and loads of blushing later:
Carlos finds that he’s much calmer than he’s ever been since he got here. Maybe overthinking about food isn’t as bad as he thought it would be.
Tags: Carlos Reyes, TK Strand, Mentioned Owen Strand, Mentioned Paul Strickland, Mentioned Marjan Marwani, Mentioned Mateo Chavez, Mentioned Judd Ryder, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Grocery Store, Clumsy Boys, Firefighter Carlos Reyes,, Police Officer TK Strand, Pre-Relationship, Flirting.
Warnings: Blushing and clumsiness.
At the moment in which I'm writing this, this fic has been started less than 24 hours ago and was completed 10 minutes ago. My beta is going through it right now and I'm getting AO3 and Tumblr ready. As we've found out, AU is my kryptonite.
The hugest, and largest thanks and love to the one and only @lire-casander. The amount of love and support that I get from this woman is unbelievable. The help she's been on this fic alone is insane, let alone with everything else that I do. She's been a guide and a friend and this would not have happened without you <3
Read on AO3.
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When Carlos first volunteered to go grocery shopping for the station, he didn’t think he would be overthinking it as much as he is right now. And yet he keeps remembering how Marjan can only eat halal food and Mateo is lactose sensitive, Paul likes spicy food but Judd can’t handle any. Captain Tommy -he still needs some time to get used to her not wanting to be called by her last name- likes white bread while his own soon-to-return Captain Strand won’t eat anything that isn’t full-grain. So he keeps getting more food, and more food, and more food.
He started out shopping like he usually would, keeping in mind the slight dietary restrictions; a few vegetables and fruits, several dairy and soy products, some poultry. And then he came to the realisation that it would be better if he bought food for more than one day’s meals. And then his brain supplied the wonderful what if I want to make a dish and I can’t find canned peeled cherry tomatoes, which he knows is not only highly specific but also highly unlikely. And yet he now finds himself dragging a cart on the verge of overflowing. And he’s still got seven more aisles to go.
He's so focused on studying the displayed boxes of cereal that spread across half an aisle, holding two different brands in his hands and moving right and left to compare them with others, that he doesn't notice a whole other human being on the way until he’s being run over by flesh and bones.
They immediately get into a fumbling battle, legs somehow holding up. The boxes in Carlos’ slip, so do the other person’s. Carlos manages to catch two cartoons, the faint recognition that one of them is sugar flakes -which he didn’t pick- runs through his mind before he focuses on yet another cartoon making its descent through the sky. He steps forward, and so does the other person. They crash in the middle, chest to chest. And this time, they all come crashing to the ground.
Carlos lands on a knee, hands already going out to hold onto the boxes, when a body slams into his. He drops the box, holding onto the waist person that’s half splayed on him now. He follows the flat chest, taking note of the APD logo on the side of his shirt and the rainbow pinned next to it, to the bare beginnings of a stubble, up across thin, pink lips and a sharp nose, to end at mesmerising green eyes.
It takes all of his will power not to gasp, but he can't stop the dropped jaw. The man is beautiful. There's no other way to describe him. His light brown hair lays a mess on top of his head, his green eyes sparkle with a mix of shock and surprise, and his teeth seem to find relief in sinking into his lower lip.
He feels movement around him, and then a hand makes its way between them and lays on his shoulder. He feels the pressure on his chest give way, manifesting as an exhale from the man. Carlos realises that he’s been holding his breath too, and sighs, his exhale mingling with the man’s inhale. And then a cart crashes behind them, and they realise they’re sitting on the floor of a grocery store in the middle of the day. Their bubble crashes.
“I’m so sorry, I’m so clumsy I can’t believe this happened!” The man says as he fully pushes off Carlos, eye contact breaking to pick up the dropped boxes. The apology finally breaks through Carlos’ hazy mind, and he let’s go of the man’s shirt, coming to a stand as well as he picks up the remaining boxes.
“Oh no, no! It’s my fault, I wasn’t looking,” he states, finally straightening up. "Good save, officer,” he adds as he steps back before he can even think about.
The man's eyes snap back to him, widening in shock before his face breaks into a small smile and then his head falls forward, chuckling and shaking his head. Carlos finds himself snickering as well.
"I can say the same to you, firefighter," the man says, nodding his chin towards Carlos' own AFD shirt.
Carlos looks at his own shirt before he looks back at the man. He feels like he knows him, he's seen him before, but he can't remember where or when. But the green eyes bore into his very soul, so he looks down at his hands instead, finally noticing the box of organic multi-bran flakes.
"Uhh, these are yours? I'm guessing?"
The man looks at Carlos' hands, eyes and mouth opening is recognition. "Yeah, those are my dad's. A disgrace to the very idea of flakes," he adds as he glares at the box.
“They’re not that bad,” Carlos laughs, and the glare redirects itself from the box to Carlos. Which makes him cut himself mid-laugh, only to dissolve into chuckles again when the man cracks the smallest of smiles.
“Are you just saying that or have you actually tried them?”
“I’ve tried them, my captain back at the station likes them,” he replies, moving a step back to drag his cart closer. “I even got a box here,” he gestures to the cartoon laying on top of the mountain.
“Pfft, and I thought my dad was the only one crazy enough to like these. Good to know there’s someone else like him in here,” he shakes his head in amusement, a sentiment Carlos shares. Of everything he was imagining when he moved states to join the 126, he wasn’t expecting to be talking to a cute officer in the middle of the grocery store, discussing cereal of all things.
The man takes a few steps back, reaching behind the corner of the aisle and dragging a cart up next to him. Carlos extends an arm to him, handing over the box, which he takes and drops into his cart.
Carlos can’t help but sneak a peek into it. There’s a very obvious mix of junk food and snacks, and healthy organic and full-grain foods. It reminds him of his new Captain. He hasn’t interacted with him much, the man getting injured a mere day after Carlos got transferred. But the rest of the crew has given him a list of all the dietary preferences, Captain’s included.
He looks up at the man, finding him alternating between looking at the ground and the shelves. Carlos has noticed that he already has three boxes of cereal, he couldn’t possibly need more. He looks like he wants to say something, or maybe he’s reading it wrong and he wants to move away. Either way, he decides to take a plunge. He’s already moved half-way through the country in a leap of faith, why not take another one?
“I’m Carlos, by the way,” he extends an arm to the man, “Reyes, of AFD.”
The smile that he receives tells him that it’s the right choice. The other man extends his arm, hand wrapping around Carlos’ in a warm embrace. If this is how his hand feels, Carlos can’t even imagine what a hug would feel like.
“Hello, Carlos, I’m TK,” he gives their hands a shake. “Strand, of APD.”
Carlos is so enamoured with the man’s -TK’s- eyes and smile that it takes him a moment to register the name. But once he does, he can’t help the quick and rapid blinking he does to clear his mind.
“Wait, did you just say Strand?”
“Uhh,” TK blinks back at him, turning his head to a side as his eyelids flutter in confusion. “Yeah?”
Carlos doesn’t pay him much mind though, what are the chances of this happening?
“Is your father Owen Strand? Captain of the 126?”
“Yeah, that’s my dad, how did you know that?” All of the confusion that was mildly visible on TK’s face is now showcased a full one hundred per cent, both in his facial expressions and tone of voice.
“He’s my captain!” Carlos exclaims. “I work with the 126 too!”
It seems to take TK a moment to come to terms with what Carlos is saying. But the moment drags on so long that he begins to think he just got this awfully wrong. He’s about to disentangle their still bound hands when clarity finally shines on TK’s face and he breaks into a wide grin.
“You’re the new guy from New Jersey,” he says around a smile. Carlos is confused for just a second, wondering how he knows about his previous state of residence when TK continues talking. “My dad told me all about you! He can’t wait to get back tomorrow and work with you again. Said he only had to see you on one call and he knew he made the right choice asking you to join the 126.”
Carlos feels the blush rising up the back of his neck and into the highs of his cheeks, but he can’t really stop it. He knows he’s good at his job, he knows he’s a decent firefighter. But having the son of his Captain relay what said Captain said brings a sense of belonging and validation he didn’t think he’d get a mere three weeks on the job.
“He… he said that?” he asks. He needs to know. He’s been worried, stressing himself out of his mind in fear that he’s not showing the best of his abilities. Not only did he travel 1.5 thousand miles from one border of the country to another, he also took a job with a team that’s already well-formed and perfectly working without him. They didn’t ask for him because they needed him, they asked for him because they just wanted to. And he’s constantly aware of that whenever they’re on a call and everyone is on top of what they need to be doing.
“Yeah, man, he did!” TK says. He then takes another look at Carlos, and he can only guess that he can read minds. “He said you’re sharp, careful and smart. You think twice as hard and act twice as fast. He said you carry the job like it should be, with respect and responsibility,” he smiles at Carlos, closing the step between them and bringing a hand up to run the back of his fingers across the logo on his shirt.
Carlos brings his own hand up, covering TK’s -one of many things he’s done before his consciousness can think it out today. TK’s eyes glance over their hands before they stare up into him, the faint emerald greens ripping his insecurities and uncertainties into shreds with each passing second.
“Thank you,” he whispers. He can’t talk any louder when they’re this close. “I needed to know that.”
The smile he gets in reply is worth the distance he travelled. TK drifts his gaze down Carlos’ face, and he copies the action. He finds TK’s lower lip hidden between the bite of his upper teeth, and he can’t help but imagine what they would feel like holding onto his own.
“Excuse me!”
Carlos snaps his head to the side, a woman with bright red hair standing there glaring at both of them. He sneaks a quick glance at TK, both of them stepping back as she steps forward, reaching between them to grab a box of cereal before she dumps it into her cart and moves along. He follows her until she turns the corner, no longer in his visual field, before he turns back to a blushing TK.
He provides a small, pained smile, and Carlos laughs at the expression he’s presented with. They’ve been caught in two of these situations so far, and they’ve only met for minutes. Carlos supposes it would be embarrassing if it wasn’t for the pull he feels towards the man. The pull that has both of them stepping forward again, until there’s barely a foot of distance between them.
“So, you’ve been here for three weeks, right?” TK asks. Carlos knows TK knows the answer. Captain Strand sprained his shoulder on Carlos’ first day here, and that was three weeks ago. He nods anyway.
“So, I’m guessing you haven’t seen much of the city yet?”
A twinkle of hope starts to bubble in Carlos’ chest. He has a faint inkling of where this is going, but he isn’t sure. He can only wish and pray.
“No, not really. I’ve been to a couple of places with the crew, that’s it,” he answers, pausing for a moment to take a breath. “I haven’t found a tour guide yet.”
TK chuckles at him, the sound sending waves of happiness through Carlos, even as TK shakes his head at him. “Well, then, I have a proposition for you, Firefighter Reyes.”
Carlos is playing into it without a moment to think. “Oh, do you now, Police Officer Strand?”
TK is nodding back at Carlos before the words are even out of his mouth.
“How about this: I’ll be your tour guide.”
Carlos looks up at the ceiling of the store, rubbing a hand through his chin and humming as feigns thinking. “What would your payment be?” he asks.
“You let me take you out for coffee,” TK says around a smirk. All pretence of a game falls through shambles immediately, and they’re back into an intense round of gazing into each other eyes. Almost as if they can read each other through them.
“Can I bargain for a cheesecake?”
The question seems to come out of nowhere and throw TK off his track. His eyes widen for a moment before he’s bursting into laughs. The loud, booming kind with the head thrown back and hands bracing his own chest. Carlos smiles at the sight, the closed eyes, the exposed neck, the sound that carries absolute joy; it’s a view he wants to see for the entire rest of his life.
“Ahh, that can definitely be arranged,” TK says once he manages to stop laughing.
Carlos doesn’t reply. Instead, he takes his phone from his pocket, opening the contact app and handing it over. TK takes it, types a few buttons and gives it back. Carlos looks at the screen to see that he’s calling a number. A number that’s been saved under TK Strand Grocery Officer.
A phone ringing has him lifting his head, just in time to see TK pull out his own phone, decline the call and press a few more times on the screen. He then turns it around showing Carlos his own number saved as Carlos Reyes Grocery Fire.
“I think there should be a fighter in there,” he comments, much to the amusement of TK.
“Naaah. That might be your job,” he replies, looking Carlos up and down. “But you’re straight fire.”
As if on command, said fire burns through his face as he blushes yet again. This time he doesn’t resist the urge to hide his face, lifting his hands to cover the warmth he can feel spreading to the tips of his ears. He hears a chuckle he knows is TK’s behind his shield. He doesn’t know how this happened, but he’s sure he’ll be able to recognise the sound out of a crowd of a hundred people.
He feels hands touch his fingers wrapping around his palm as they pull away from his face. TK then rests a hand on his cheek, and Carlos leans into it, eyes locked onto each other.
“I need to go. Call me?” Tk asks, voice flowing like butter.
“You can arrest me if I don’t, officer,” Carlos replies, voice just as soft.
TK nods as he takes a deep breath, the smile never leaving his face.
“That’s a good idea. After all, I do where you work”
From anyone else, that sentence would sound creepy and send Carlos running. But from TK it sounds like a promise he doesn’t want to lose. “Okay.”
With a final glance, TK steps back, breaking all contact they have together. Carlos misses the touch half a second after it’s gone. He moves back, grabbing his cart. He slowly steps forward, moving towards the registers. As he passes Carlos’ cart, he stops to peek into it before he turns back to him.
“Buy my dad cashew nuts and you’ll be his favourite tomorrow.”
As he moves away with a final smile thrown his way, Carlos finds that he’s much calmer than he’s ever been since he got here. Maybe overthinking about food isn’t as bad as he thought it would be.
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bellakitse · 3 years
Text
Under the surface and tryin' to pretend
He knows he’s probably coming off as rude and anti-social as he ignores his friends. They’re supposed to be having fun at their local honkytonk after a long tiring week at work, but he can’t focus on them when his attention is on a certain officer across the bar playing pool with a stranger who is way too close for TK’s liking.
+
TK mistakes a situation. It forces his feelings to the surface.
Written for @911lonestarangstweek - Day 2: Physical whump + “Does it hurt badly?”
TK Strand nurses his mineral water, stirring it with a straw as he tunes out his crew’s chatter and the band playing. He knows he’s probably coming off as rude and anti-social as he ignores his friends. They’re supposed to be having fun at their local honkytonk after a long tiring week at work, but he can’t focus on them when his attention is on a certain officer across the bar playing pool with a stranger who is way too close for TK’s liking.
He grips his glass a little tighter as the handsome man leans in, intimately speaking into Carlos’ ear. Whatever he says causes Carlos to tip his head back as he lets out a deep laugh that TK swears reach his ears over the noise of the busy watering hole. He feels his stomach drop as he observes the interaction, and he has to remind himself that he has no claims over Carlos Reyes. Sure, they hang out and sleep together occasionally, but they’re casual by TK’s own design, and he has no right to be jealous now when it’s obvious the guy is on a date.
“If you hold that glass any harder, you’re going to mess up your hand, man.”
TK jumps at the words. He jerks his gaze away from Carlos and his date to find Paul watching him with amusement and concern.
“What’s that about?” his friend questions, tipping his chin. His eyes stray to Carlos and his companion before looking back at TK once more. The amusement is gone from his eyes, but the concern has doubled.
TK gives him a shrug, hoping it comes off as effortless but knowing he’s failed by the wrinkle between Paul’s brow. “He’s single; he’s allowed to hang out with whoever he wants. I have no claims on him,” he answers, needing to say the words out loud for his own sake. He startles when Paul lets out a snort while rolling his eyes at him.
“Yeah, that’s ass,” Paul says to him bluntly. “It might work on the rest of the team, but I have actually hung out with you both and seen the frankly embarrassing heart eyes you give each other.”
“Well, obviously, you’re mistaken since he’s on a date right now, aren’t you,” TK snaps back, feeling the hurt building in his chest.
Paul gives him a soft look, not put off by his attitude. Instead, he throws an arm around him, pulling him to his side in comfort. “You don’t know what that’s about. It could just be a friend, and you’re making a bigger deal about it because you’re scared that it’s more than that, and that would hurt because you have feelings for him.”
“I hate it when you do your thing,” TK says with a sharp exhale. “You don’t have to call me out like that, you know,” he continues, shaking his head when his friend chuckles.
“Am I wrong?” Paul challenges, smirking as TK rolls his eyes at him.
“You know you’re not you all-knowing dick,” he grumbles, scowling as it makes Paul laugh again.
“Go talk to him,” Paul tells him, nodding when he gives him a nervous look.
“But – “
“If it’s a date, better you know now,” Paul talks over his protest. “Though I really don’t think Carlos would be such an asshole to continue a date with another guy in front of you. He doesn’t seem the type.”
TK looks at his friend for a moment, letting his words settle over him. He’s right. Carlos isn’t the type; he’s been nothing but kind and patient with TK. Going at his speed, never pushing for more. But it’s precisely that thought that clouds the others. What if Carlos is tired of TK and all his issues that stop him from committing to him the way Carlos deserves.
“Go, TK,” Paul pushes on his shoulder.
TK lets out a breath, nodding as he stands. He starts to cross the length of the bar, intending to get to Carlos when he hears commotion to his left. He turns his head to find a pair of men shoving each other, a petite blonde girl between them trying to pull them apart as the mens’ voices get loud enough to draw the attention of the whole bar. TK’s focus is on the small woman who keeps getting pushed back and forth as she tries to break it up.
He lets out a shout of alarm, moving towards them as one of the men pushes on one of her shoulders hard, causing her to trip backwards and fall onto the floor.
“Ma’am, are you okay?” he asks, getting to her as another woman helps her up. He takes hold of her elbow gently as she shakes. Over her head, he sees Carlos and his date make their way over to them.
“Break it up,” Carlos says sternly, using his officer voice as he steps around TK and the woman to address the men who are fighting.
“Mind your own fucking business, man,” the guy who shoved the girl spits at Carlos. “This asshole is messing with my girlfriend.”
“Ex-girlfriend,” the girl speaks up, still shaken.
“You heard her,” says the other guy, smirking in the first guy’s direction. It’s the wrong thing to do as it gets them started again, shoving at each other.
TK hears Carlos mutter a curse as he takes a step forward to intervene, pushing back the ex-boyfriend.
“Chill out,” he warns him before turning to address the other man. The guy doesn’t take kindly to being told what to do and rears his fist back.
TK sees it coming towards Carlos’ head and reacts on instinct. He shoves Carlos out of the way, saving him from the punch that unfortunately still lands but on TK’s face. He lets out a groan as his jaw explodes with pain. Dimly he hears shouting, but all he can focus on is the ache and the way he sees black spots dancing in front of his eyes.
He feels hands pull him away, he’s not sure who it is, but he’s grateful. He’s pushed into a chair as hands pry at his own as he holds his jaw.
“Let us see, man,” Paul asks, concern coloring his voice.
TK opens his eyes to find him and Mateo hovering around him. Marjan comes over a moment later with a rag in her hand, and he hisses when she places it against his cheek, realizing there’s ice inside it.
They check him over, tilting his head to check his eyes, asking him questions to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion. It’s how Carlos finds them minutes later.
“Is he okay?” he asks anxiously. He steps forward as Paul and Marjan move out of his way, allowing him to reach TK. He cups the good side of his face. “TK?”
TK stares up at his worried face, letting out a sigh as he runs his thumb over his unbruised cheek.
“He’s a little dazed and probably in pain, but he doesn’t seem to have a concussion,” Paul answers for him.
Carlos doesn’t seem to relax at their friend’s reassurance. “Does it hurt badly?” he asks him. “Maybe I should take you to the hospital.”
TK opens his mouth to ease Carlos’ concern but instead finds himself blurting out.
“Where’s your date?”
He feels his face go hot as Carlos gives him a confused look, his brow pinched in the middle.
“What?” he questions back. “What date?”
He hears Paul let out a low whistle and him say that Carlos can handle TK as he ushers a confused Marjan and Mateo away. TK tries to scowl at him for abandoning him but can’t when Carlos is still holding on to his face.
“TK?” Carlos questions again, and TK knows he can’t avoid the question.
“The guy you were playing pool with,” he answers, shrugging his shoulder. “You looked like you were having fun.”
Carlos looks at him for a moment, understanding entering his eyes. He lets go of his face as he finds a chair, moving to sit in front of TK, making sure he holds his gaze. “I was,” he starts to say, knowingly. “Chris and I have been friends since the academy. He’s my very good, very straight, and married friend who changed precincts a while back and who I don’t get to see as much. He’s currently babysitting the asshole who punched you until someone on duty shows up.”
“Oh,” TK whispers, feeling himself blush again, the embarrassment paining him more than his aching jaw.
“Yeah, oh,” Carlos shoots back dryly, letting out a huff. He shakes his head softly. “Do you really think I would cheat on you? And do it right in front of you?”
“It wouldn’t be cheating though,” TK answers quickly, biting down on his bottom lip. “It’s not like we’re together, together,” he continues, and his breath catches as he sees a flash of hurt cross Carlos’ face.
“Right,” he says quietly, his shoulders dropping, his eyes going to his lap. “My mistake,” he continues as he slowly starts to get up from his chair, still not looking at him.
“But I want us to be,” TK blurts out at the sight of Carlos’ hurt feelings. It feels worse than a fist to the jaw. “I really, really want us to be.”
Carlos raises his gaze as he sits back down. He doesn’t say anything, but there is a glint of hope in his eyes that pushes TK forward.
“It killed me to see you tonight with someone else,” he tells him honestly. “Thinking it was a date and watching you laugh with him. I wanted it to be me that made you smile. I want to be that person for you.”
Carlos closes his eyes for a moment, shaking his head softly before opening them again. The affection TK finds in Carlos’ brown eyes blowing him away. “You already are, TK,” Carlos whispers, reaching out to touch the good side of his face. “To me, you have been that person since the first time we danced in this very bar. I have just been waiting for you to want to be that person.”
TK lets out a breath, his heart tripping over itself at Carlos’ words. “I’m sorry I’ve wasted so much time,” he whispers. He reaches up to cover Carlos’ hand with his own. “I’m ready now if you’ll still take me.”
Carlos lets out a soft breath, his eyes shining with love. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” TK breathes out. He lets out a sound as Carlos tugs him out of his chair, and he goes, stepping between his legs as Carlos wraps his arms around him.
“I’ll take you,” Carlos whispers into the side of his neck. “I’ll keep you.”
TK lets out a whimper, his hold on Carlos tightening at the words. “I’ll keep you too,” he promises, knowing that he won’t ever let go of Carlos if he lets him.
Carlos pulls back, a beautiful smile on his face as he looks at him. “Deal,” he whispers.
He leans up to brush a feather-light kiss over TK’s jaw, and even though he knows it’s not medically possible, he swears it instantly hurts less as a result.
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