#mr h is a real supportive adult. he messed up one time and everything is still the same as it was

[jaeminlore]

Landslide | Mark Lee

summary: time makes you bolder. even children get older, and i’m getting older too.

words: 7.1k+

category: teacher!mark, single parent!reader, fem!presenting!reader, graham is the sweetest kid, mark is that teacher that lets kids pick earthworms during recess, friends to lovers, mark’s apartment is flooded so now he has to live in domestic bliss with his secret crush oh nooooo

warnings: talk of absent fathers

author note: it’s my birthday tomorrow so i wanted to give u all a present for supporting me for so long!! here’s to you <3 (cross-posted on /honklore)

Mark helps one of his kids press their palms onto the wall. When they release their palm, pink paint remains, making a sort of leaf to the tree branches painted onto the wall.

“Now write your name,” Mark advises another kid, whose orange paint had already dried.

“G-R-A-H-A-M,” the boy writes out with a large permanent marker. “Can I take a picture? For my mom?”

All the rest of the children begin to shout their agreements, also wanting to bring home a picture for their parents. Mark grabs his yellow Polaroid camera and takes a picture of each handprint.

He keeps all of the pictures in the chest pocket of his denim jacket. “Okay, guys— to the sink! Whoever has the cleanest hands gets to help me pass out snacks!”

“Why are we having snack time so early?” It’s Graham that asks, the little one always eager to be around Mark.

Mark ignores the boy’s paint covered hands poking at his clean jacket, and answers him as politely as he can. “Mr. Lee forgot his lesson plans today, so we’re going to watch a movie instead.”

“A movie?” Graham’s eyes widen.

“Yep,” Mark giggles. He crouches down to Graham’s level and whispers, “You wanna pick it?”

“Nature Nut!” Graham cheers almost immediately, causing Mark to wince.

Ah, yes, the wonderful little DVDs of a lonesome man teaching the watcher about bugs and weird types of slugs. Mark actually has the entire collection, and Graham happens to adore them just as much as Mark did when he was a kid.

“Alright, go wash your hands and I’ll get it started.”

It’s a little girl named Hana who cleans her hands the best, so she passes out organic fruit gummies to everyone while Mark puts in the DVD.

While they watch the video, Mark checks his text messages.

There’s one from Taeyong: “I’ve already got Haechan on the couch. Sorry, man. You can have the floor, but it’s not gonna be comfy :(“

Right. Mark forgot that Haechan lives in the same complex as him. His apartment is probably just as flooded as Mark’s is. Now if the landlord would just answer his calls and help him... maybe this situation wouldn’t be so stressful.

Mark didn’t forget his lesson plans; they’re just submerged in his bedroom with everything else Mark has left lying on his carpet. And maybe it’s his fault for not buying more storage bins, but a studio apartment can only hold so much stuff.

Serves Mark right for doing his lesson plans at home instead of at the school like most of his fellow kindergarten teachers.

He lets out a quiet sigh, careful not to disturb the children. He only has a short list of friends left to ask, and while he doesn’t think they’ll mind him asking, he really hates to put anyone in that position.

Besides, most of his friends have roommates or significant others and Mark doesn’t want to ruin their routine. He’d hate to intrude. And he could always sleep in his car for a few days, but the amount of stuff he had to pack because of the flooding has barred any chance of a good night’s sleep.

The video ends, and Mark gets the kids seated with coloring pages until their parents arrive.

One by one, he I.Ds the parents and tells the kids goodbye, helping them put on their coats and take home whatever library book they picked out earlier.

Finally, there’s only one kid left, and Mark is a bit embarrassed of his hyper-awareness to Graham. It’s not even his fault, really. Graham just has a beautiful mom, who happens to be Mark’s beautiful friend, and sometimes Mark gets eager to see you during pickup time.

Whatever. It’s no big deal.

The kindergartener already has his coat on. His curly brown hair is almost unruly as he continues to work on his coloring sheet.

Mark pulls at the hem of his sage sweater sleeves and wonders if his hair looks okay. Maybe he should invest in a little desk mirror; or maybe that’s vain.

“Hey, Mark! Sorry I’m late!” You rush in, holding on to your leather messenger bag. You fix your glasses before they fall off the bridge of your nose, and Mark is so focused on the movement that he almost forgets about your child.

Until said child is scolding his mother. “Mom! You have to call him Mr. Lee! It’s rude to call him Mark!”

“Your mom is an adult,” Mark reminds Graham (as soon as he finds his voice.) “Since she isn’t a student, it’s okay for her to call me Mark.”

Graham pinches his lips together, and then shrugs. “Fine. Mom, we watched Nature Nut today.” He runs up to you and wraps his arm around your middle. “Can we go to the park and look for slugs?”

“Sure,” you giggle. “But we need to get home soon, okay, Bud? I have to make dinner and then we have to clean up the mess we made last night.”

Graham turns to Mark and smiles naughtily, like the trickster he often is. “Mom said I could tear up her papers last night. She said it’s There-pee.”

“Ther-a-py,” you emphasize for the five-year-old.

Mark studies your face, and he can tell that you seem a little more stressed than usual. “Therapy, huh?”

You smile sheepishly. “Well, when your son catches you tearing up old love notes, you have to let him in on the fun, right?”

“You are a team,” Mark acknowledges. He wants to ask more; wants to dig into your heart and extract whatever is hurting you, but your son is standing between the two of you, waiting for him to say goodbye. Mark clears his throat and picks at his sweater again. “Anyways, uh, text me tonight? Let me know you two got home safe. And, I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” you breathe. You smile at him and then take Graham’s hand. “Thanks, Mark. I’ll text you.”

Mark spends the night at a motel down the road. He texts a few of his friends and hopes for good news in the morning, or at least a confirmation from his landlord.

When you text him, a little selfie of you and Graham, holding up what looks like microwaved s’mores, his heart grows fond, and he forgets about his own problems for a moment.

-

Life has never been very easy for you. From the get-go, you have always been destined to fail, growing up with an absent father and an overworked mother. With a dead-end dream like yours (writing, of all things), it’s no wonder you clung to what little breaths of freedom you had.

He was handsome and bold, with a carefree smile and brown eyes that mirrored the sun. The lead singer of a band, with a voice like chimes. And you fell just as hard as one of your many protagonists. Perhaps the mistake always lay in the fact that you put too much fantasy into reality. You have always romanticized the littlest things, and that comes back to bite you more often than not.

You never expected one: to get pregnant your senior year of high school, and two: have to go through it alone.

Of course, most people you come to love leave eventually. It’s something you have always remembered; something that sticks in the back of your brain like gum to the bottom of your child’s Spider-man skechers.

Graham is the only constant in your life. Though you’ve been blessed with a decent job editing for a webazine company, and you can work from home more often than not, Graham is the real thing that keeps you alive.

He’s the most precious boy, with brown curls and big brown eyes. He favors his father, and though that should deter you, it reminds you of innocent days, and it gives a new meaning to brown eyes. Graham is not his father, and he never was.

Graham certainly got his love of learning from you. Though he likes science more than writing, you adore how eager he is to always get to school. It helps that Mark is his teacher.

Mark’s been your friend since freshman year of highschool, when the two of you both took the same creative writing class the local university offered. Though the two of you had differing end goals, you often studied together and encouraged each other. He was there when you found out you were pregnant, and he was there when you found out you’d be raising your child alone.

Now life comes full circle, and you see him twice a day. You could go out on a limb and say he brightens up most mornings, but you would still give that slot to your son.

Mark is standing at the doorway now, greeting all of his students and helping them take off their book bags and coats. He’s wearing monochrome today: red pants, a red sweater, and red shoes.

Graham lights up almost immediately, and you are thankful today that you decided to dress Graham in his red t-shirt. “Mom! We match!”

“I know,” you grin, squeezing his hand.

Mark glances at Graham, and then you. His cheeks showcase that same pink hue they always do, and while it should clash with his red garments, it doesn’t. “Hey, Mark.”

“Hey,” he grins, cheeks full at the sight of you two.

Graham spreads his arms and waits for Mark to help him take off his jacket. “Do you see that we match, Mr. Lee?”

“Yo, that’s awesome, Little Man!” Mark gives Graham a fist bump that seems to appease him, and you wait for Graham to run to his friends before addressing Mark.

“How have you been?”

Mark sighs. He brushes his hair away from his eyes. “Okay. My- uh- my studio apartment flooded so I’m staying at a motel until my landlord can get me estimates on when I can come back home.”

“That sucks,” you frown. “You know, if you need a place to stay, I have a pullout couch in my office. And obviously, Graham wouldn’t mind.”

Mark pales. “Are you serious? I didn’t mean to suggest anything, Like I know you work from home and you need your office.”

“And you’ll be at school until three,” you say. “I’ll work then. C’mon, Mark. I don’t like knowing one of my friends has no place to stay.”

Mark bites his bottom lip and scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll drive over after I check out of the motel.”

“Great!” You smile. “I’ll order pizza.”

-

"Graham, clean your room," you say, struggling to push your desk against your office wall. "We're going to have a guest for a few weeks."

"Mom," Graham whines, "They aren't going to look in my room."

You begin to take the cushions out of the spare couch to start setting up the pull-out bed. "Mr. Lee is coming over, Graham.  Don't you want to show him your collections?"

Graham's brown eyes grow wide. "Mr. Lee? You didn't tell me he was coming!"

"He's going to be staying with us for a little bit, okay? So I need you to be on your best behavior."

“Can I show him my worms?” Graham asks, alluding to the compost bin in the small backyard of your townhouse.

“Yes,” you say, thankful that he isn’t putting up much of a fight toward cleaning. You’re also thankful he isn’t asking any questions, as Graham always seems to have a few at the top of his tongue.

Graham cleans up his room quickly. You know for a fact that he’s just shoved all of his toys under his bed, but it’s enough until the weekend, when you’ll have more time to help him organize.

The little guy hoards rocks like no one’s business. You curse the day Mark decided to teach the kids about geodes.

“Wanna help me make up Mr. Lee’s room?” You half-yell, while grabbing spare bedding out of your linen closet.

Graham’s little footsteps are heard before he answers, and soon he’s at your hip with a quick, “He can have my Frozen pillowcase!”

You hesitate to tell Graham that his Frozen pillowcase is currently on one of your pillows, and you can’t give your guest a dirty pillowcase. “That one is in the wash, Buddy. Why don’t we give him your Spider-Man one?”

“So he matches my pajamas!” Graham is easily pleased, and he even takes one of his stuffed bears to add to Mark’s made-up bed. (“So he doesn’t get scared at night.”)

By the time the pizza arrives, Mark is just behind, so you keep Graham busy with a slice of cheese and a glass of diet pepsi (only half of a can, and only because it’s a special occasion) while the two of you bring in Mark’s stuff.

He surprisingly didn’t bring much, and when you ask about it, he grimaces. “My studio is pretty small so a lot of my stuff was on the ground and got mildewed. Other stuff was in bins so I just left it there. I only need clothes and my lesson plans, anyway.”

“Well, here’s the desk and bed. It’s not much, but there’s a lock on the door in case Graham ever gets too inquisitive — bless him — and curtains so the stupidly bright sun won’t wake you too early.”

“Those both sound like personal experiences, Y/n,” Mark teases. He takes off his jacket and throws it on the bed. “Yo! Spider-Man?”

“Graham picked it out,” you say. “He also relinquished one of his bears to keep you safe in the middle of the night. His words, not mine.”

“He’s so cute,” Mark mentions offhandedly. The fondness in his tone takes you back a bit. Not because the phrase isn’t true, it’s just that most people find your son annoying before they find him endearing. The change of tone is nice.

“He is,” you say. “And he’s dying to show you his room after we eat dinner.”

Mark gives you that same lopsided smile he often had in high school. Part of your brain shifts to his personal life, and you wonder why Mark himself isn’t in a romantic relationship. Not that he has to be, but the both of you are getting older, and Mark has always been one to express a fondness for having his own family one day. Maybe he just hasn’t found the right person.

It isn’t until Graham is peacefully in bed — after a very chaotic reading of Goodnight Moon by yours truly, and an argument that Mr. Lee cannot, in fact, sleep in the same room as him — that you actually have a chance to show Mark around the house.

“Here’s the guest bathroom. Graham almost always uses the bathroom in my room because he likes looking at the big tub. He will beg you to play with him, but if you’re busy don’t feel guilty telling him no. He knows what no means and he’s good about playing by himself.”

Mark giggles. “Okay. I don’t mind playing with him, though.“

You show him around the kitchen, where you left little spaces for him in the pantry. You show him the garbage bags and the T.V. settings and the list of compostable ingredients. “And also, please come and go as you please. Like, I completely understand that you’re here temporarily and you aren’t a babysitter or anything like that. I don’t expect you to be in charge of Graham any time outside of school.”

Mark blinks. “But if you ever need time away, you can ask me. I don’t mind babysitting.”

“I know,” you smile. “But Graham is my kid. I don’t need time away from him.”

You’re lying. Mark knows it. You’ve been in this single parenting thing for five years and you aren’t about to reach out for help now.

“Anyways, if you have any questions just ring me or ask me,” you say. “I’ve got to get to bed. Goodnight.”

“Thanks, Y/n.”

-

Mark thinks it’s sweet the way Graham insists on making his own breakfast.

You’re already up when Mark gets out of his (temporary) bedroom with his clothes tucked under his arm. You’re busy arguing with Graham. “You can’t fry your own omelette for the last time.”

Mark quirks an eyebrow at your exasperated face. You look stressed beyond belief, even though the day has just begun.

Mark tosses his clothes back in his room and walks into the kitchen. “Hey, Graham! Do you want to show me your rock collection?”

Graham spins on his sock-clad heels, eyes bright at the thought of seeing his teacher. “Mr. Lee! Yes! Let’s go!”

He grabs Mark’s hand with ease, leaving you room to finish making breakfast.

Graham’s room is fairly simple. The small wooden bed is covered in a green quilt, and beneath that, frozen-printed sheets that certainly don’t match. He has a tub of stuffed animals shoved against a small dresser.

Mark gets distracted by the framed picture on top of the dresser. It’s a picture of you and Graham’s father, a few months before you got pregnant. He’s smiling, and you’re holding up a peace sign. It makes Mark feel a bit sad, knowing that Graham’s dad never stayed around to see how wonderful he turned out to be. Then again, a lot of people in your life left as soon as they found out. In high school, no one wants to be friends with a teenage mother.

Mark reckons that if he had a family like this, he’d never take them for granted.

Graham pulls out a gemstone. It’s a murky green one that Mark has let him take home from class. “Do you remember this, Mr. Lee?”

Mark grins. “Yeah, bud. Thanks for keeping it so safe for me.”

Graham beams. He grabs Mark’s hand and pulls him towards his dresser. “Can we match? I want to look like you.”

Mark feels his heart swell. He wants to smother the young boy in affection, but he doesn’t want to cross a line. He’s your friend, sure, but he’s also Graham’s teacher. He can’t coddle Graham more than the other children. He already has a godchild to coddle. “I’m wearing yellow today. Do you have any yellow clothes?”

“Let’s look!” Graham yanks open one of the drawers and begins pulling out the articles of clothing one by one. “No, no, no... Here!” He finds a pair of yellow overalls, folded amongst the mess he made. “I’ll wear these!”

“Let’s clean up first, okay?” Mark grabs the overalls. “So it’s clean when you come home from school.”

Graham, looking like the last thing he’d ever want to do is disappoint Mark, begins to pick up each shirt with obvious intent. He tries to fold them, and does a somewhat decent job, so much so that Mark leaves it, thinking you’ll find it endearing rather than annoying.

He really loves that about you. He likes your patience with Graham. You’re so young, and in reality, he squashed so many early dreams of yours. No matter your lot in life, you never blamed your child. Mark thinks that’s why Graham is so open, so adaptable, so endearing.

He helps Graham get dressed and leaves him in his room so that he, himself, can get ready.

When he emerges from his shower, hair wet and clothed in yellow, he smells something amazing.

He doesn’t want to intrude on your morning with Graham. He already feels too indebted to you already.

“Have an omelet,” you say. Wisps of hair cover your face. You place a plate down in front of him.

Graham is already eating his omelet, slowly, while flipping through a picture book. He sounds out words he recognizes, but stays silent the rest of the time.

Mark takes out his phone and scrolls through his instagram feed just as your own phone begins to ring.

“Shit,” you curse, and then immediately apologize to Graham. You press the red button and tap anxiously on the tabletop.

“Everything okay?” Mark asks.

You run your hands over your hair and let them rest on the back of your neck. “Yeah is just—“

The phone rings again, and this time you pick it up. “What do you want? ... Why would you tell me that? ... Why should I care? ... Please stop contacting me, okay? Goodbye.”

You slam the phone down and leave the room. Mark watches you disappear down the hallway, sniffling.

“Mommy is upset,” Graham says. He looks at Mark, lip quivering. “At me?”

“No, Buddy! Of course not!” Mark reaches over the table to ruffle Graham’s curls. “Never at you.”

“When we tore up paper, she was crying.” Graham fiddles with his book page.

Mark wonders why your ex’s actions are being brought up five years later. Last he heard, you had fully healed from the breakup long before Graham’s first birthday. But now he’s about to be six, and you're suddenly upset?

He’ll have to ask you about it soon.

“Are you ready to go to school, Buddy?”

“Yeah!”

-

You cradle your face in your hands and try to ease the tears back in. You’ll never get this article proofread and sent if you can’t see the keys.

The door opens, and Graham runs in just in time for you to finish wiping your eyes. “Hey, kiddo! How was school?”

“Mr. Lee let us finger paint!” Graham holds up his palm, covered in dried paint, and grins brightly. “Can I have gogurt?”

“Yeah bud. Why don’t you put something on the T.V.? You can have your snack in the living room today.”

“Yes!” Graham takes blueberry gogurt out of the fridge and — after getting you to tear it open — runs into the living room. Sneakers and backpack still on.

Mark trails behind, clutching a messenger bag to his chest. “What’s going on?”

You sigh and close the laptop. The manuscript will have to wait. “Ben called. About a week ago. His girlfriend is pregnant. Called me to tell me he wasn’t going to leave her— like that would heal what he did to me. Then he called this morning to tell me they’re engaged.” You burst into tears then, and you feel so pathetic for doing this in front of your old schoolmate, that you hide your face behind your palms and allow your shoulders to shake. “Why weren’t we enough? Why wasn’t I enough?”

Mark scoots one of the chairs in front of you and sits, leaning his elbows on his knees. “Hey. Look at me.” With gentle hands, he grabs your wrists and pulls them away from your face. “It is not your fault he left.”

“But it has to be me in some way,” you retort. “He must not have loved me. Something, because now he’s going to raise her child after he left mine. Graham deserves a dad.”

Mark places his forehead against yours. The two of you used to do it all the time in school, mostly with immature giggles in the spaces between, but now it’s heavy with intention. “Graham has not felt even a little bit unloved in your care. You are all he needs, okay? You’re amazing.”

You nod, head still pressed to Mark’s. “Yeah. Okay. Sorry for getting too emotional, there.”

“Be as emotional as you want,” Mark says. “I’ll be here to balance you out.”

Your heart stutters at the words, like maybe they mean something more than he’s letting on. Of course it’s stupid to think Mark Lee would ever even consider you, but just the knowledge that he cares makes your soul feel a little lighter.

“I’m a mess,” you stutter, bringing your fist up to wipe at your nose.

“Nah,” Mark grins. He runs the pad of his thumb across your cheek and grins. “You’re alright.”

-

“It’s snowing!” Graham wakes Mark up by jumping on his chest.

Mark sucks in a breath, winded at the sudden weight, and grabs the boy, lifting him off of his chest and onto the mattress. “Hey, Buddy. Let’s not jump on sleeping people, okay?”

“Okay,” Graham says. He’s already lost interest in Mark, now crawling off of the bed to open the blinds. “Come look at the snow!”

“I see!” Mark rubs his tired eyes and checks his watch. “We might have a snow day, Graham.”

“Yes!” Graham pumps his fist into the air. “Let’s go tell mom!”

You’re sitting on your bed, chewing on a red licorice rope and flipping through a fashion magazine. You look up when Mark and Graham enter.

Mark likes seeing you like this: the domesticity of you in the morning, lazy and true. His chest sparks when he thinks this may be one of the only moments he can capture you like this, so he intends to commit the sight to memory.

“Did I hear snow day?” You grin at Mark, childlike wit in your own eyes — the same as your son’s.

“Looks like it.” Mark rolls up the sleeves of the sweater he slept in. “You want pancakes? I make some mean chocolate chip pancakes.”

You shift your gaze away from his arms and clear your throat. “Uh, yeah. Just let me get dressed and I’ll help—“

“No need,” Mark insists. “Enjoy your quiet time. Graham and I will make the most delicious pancakes you’ve ever tasted.”

“With lots of chocolate chips!” Graham shouts.

You give him a pointed look. “But not too many.”

Graham huffs. “But not too many,” he repeats.

-

Momentary splashes sound from your bathroom, followed by Graham screaming “It’s a dragon! Run for cover!”

Mark giggles from his place on the couch. He’s got mushroom-patterned socks on, and he’s tucked up into the cushions, nursing a can of Monster. “How does he still have so much energy?”

You sigh and pull your beanie down over your forehead. “You’d think a snow day would tire him out. Thanks for constantly carrying him up the hill, by the way. I know you’re a teacher, but sometimes I forget how good you are with kids.”

“I do have a godson,” Mark reminds you.

“But Mikey is a baby,” you say. You only know the baby’s name because of Mark’s constant snap stories about him.

“Most babies and kids want the same thing. Affection and attention.” Mark scoots over to the edge of the couch and pats the cushion.

You sit next to him. “I guess that’s true. You’re really good with Graham. He’s not this open to other adults.”

Mark is clearly blushing now; you can see his pink cheeks even in the light of the television. “He’s great in class, always helping the other kids.”

“He wants to impress you,” you say. You pop open a can of orange soda and take a sip. “He thinks you’re just the coolest guy.”

Mark laughs and shakes his head. “Didn’t you hear, Y/n? I’m handsome and cool.”

“Oh, of course,” you nudge his shin with our own sock-clad foot. “How could I forget? Mr. Ladies Man in high school.”

This makes Mark blush even harder, because he most certainly was not a ladies man in high school. In fact, he was a nerd in all senses of the word, part of the debate club with a few other boys. He had a few dates here and there, but nothing ever stuck.

“Shut up,” he mumbles. “My time is gonna come.”

“Hasn’t it already?” you ask before you can really process your own words. But of course he knows that he’s grown into his face, right?

Mark is positively handsome, eyes bright and lashes long. He’s so warm and comforting to you. He must be just as comforting to everyone else.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re handsome, Mark,” you say plainly.

“You mean that?”

“Of course I do,” you say. “Why would I lie?”

Mark opens his mouth, perhaps to call you out. To tell you you’ve been too honest, but he’s interrupted by your son.

“Mom! I’m ready to get out now!”

“I should go,” you say, still looking at his eyes.

“Yeah,” he says. His sweater has small spots on the shoulders where snow has fallen and since melted. He shivers.

“You should take a shower. You’ll catch a cold.”

“Okay,” he whispers. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

-

Haechan comes over the following Saturday night to hang out with Mark, and you’re surprised at how much he truly hasn’t changed since high school.

He’s still got infamously perfect eyebrows, and his voice is still high despite its blunt sarcasm. “Nice place.” He raises his brows as he looks around.

“Who are you?” Graham is sitting at the kitchen table, watching Minecraft playthroughs (kid-friendly ones you’ve watched through yourself) on your phone to entertain himself while you clean.

“I’m Haechan, Mark’s friend.”

“This is Mr. Lee’s friend from school,” you say, detailing your words so they’re easier for your son to digest.

Graham stares at him for a moment, not quite judging but not quite accepting either. “Okay. Do you want to see my rock collection?”

Haechan looks genuinely excited, and accepts before you can come up with an excuse for him. Graham tells Haechan to stay in the kitchen while he grabs all of his rocks.

“How have you been?” you ask the taller man. “Like, with the flooding and everything?”

“Well, I’m on a couch at Taeyong’s, which is good since he doesn’t charge rent. But that means I’m near Mikey, and that baby has some lungs.”

You laugh. “I remember when Graham was a baby. I was so young, and my mom told me it was my responsibility to wake up and take care of him whenever he cried in the middle of the night. I was so pissed at her for making me do that, but those were some of the best nights to bond with him.” You realize you’re rambling and shake your head. “Whatever. Baby screams are loud as hell.”

“You can say that again. I’ve been talking to my friend Johnny about taking his spare room and paying rent. I dunno how many more sleepless nights I can take.”

“Why would you need to pay rent if you’re just crashing?” You wipe down the kitchen table to keep yourself busy.

“Didn’t Mark tell you? Our landlord is in heaps of trouble because the pipes weren’t up to code and that’s why they busted. The damage is basically too expensive to fix, so we’ve got to find new places.”

You stop cleaning. “Mark didn’t tell me that.”

“Oh.” Haechan scratches his brow. “He probably didn’t want to worry you. He feels really bad that he’s stayed with you this long.”

“It’s only been a month or so,” you counter. “Besides, Mark’s a great housemate. He cleans and keeps Graham occupied. Plus, now I have someone to watch corny game shows with.”

Haechan grins. “Oh. Okay, I get it.”

“Get what?” Mark, finally out of the shower, steps into the kitchen and immediately tackles Haechan in an energized hug.

“Nothing!” Haechan’s voice cracks

You shoot Haechan a weird look, and change the subject. “Where are you guys going?”

“To play video games at Johnny’s.” Mark says, and the thrill in his voice makes you think of high school. Of the debate team bus rounding the corner. Of you standing there, waiting to congratulate him with a big hug and a frosty from Wendy’s.

You miss it. “Have fun, okay? I’m probably going to tuck in as soon as Graham does, so just let yourself in.”

“You’re leaving?” Graham comes in, and his arms are filled with smooth and rough stones and gems he’s both found by himself and bought at random general stores while traveling.

“Not before I see your rocks!” Haechan says with so much enthusiasm, you think he’s telling the truth.

Graham giggles and drops the rocks onto the ground. Of course, he wants your guest to sit on the floor and count rocks. You’re almost embarrassed.

“ ‘ Okay, Y/n?” Mark laughs at your expression. Then he places his arm on your shoulder, thumbs the skin of your upper arm.

And once again, it’s high school. It’s senior year graduation and Mark is the only one who congratulates you. It’s his comforting touch, him coming over in the middle of the night after you texted him a picture of your first sonogram. It’s that same comforting touch. That little “I’m here,” and it melts you on the inside, leaves you in the shell of an eighteen girl again. Scared, and worried, and a little less alone.

“Yeah,” you manage. “I’m okay.”

-

The television plays Cartoon Network reruns on a low hum. Mark is curled up in a blanket, nursing a bottle of water and thinking over Haechan’s words.

You’ve liked her since high school, dude.

Which is a complete lie. Seriously, Mark didn’t have a crush on you in high school. He would know if he had a crush on his best friend. You’ve been his friend since freshman year, and that’s all you’ve ever been.

Now in college, it was different. In college, Mark was alone in a dorm with Taeyong, and you were one of the only people from high school he stayed in contact with. In college, he would bring you your favorite snacks and drinks, and other things you would forget to buy because you were a part-time student and a full-time mom. In college, you would pull all-nighters with him, working on your exams while Graham was asleep, then using energy drinks to get through the next day.

Mark even remembers the time your mom caught the three of you fast asleep on your rug, with unopened monster cans and an empty milk bottle beside you.

Throughout your entire pregnancy he was warned not to stay friends with the pregnant girl — it’d be too much for him, he wouldn’t want to become the new father, and all kinds of other stuff people would mumble to him when you weren’t around.

But you never expected him to be anything other than your friend. You never asked him for the help he gave — though you thanked him always — and you never once assumed he’d take the role of Graham’s dad.

And now… now he finds himself wishing you would.

“Mr. Lee?” Graham creeps up without him even realizing.

Mark jumps, sets his water — and thoughts — aside. “Hey, Bud. It’s really late. What are you doing up?”

Graham sniffs, and Mark realizes that the boy is crying. “I had a nightmare.”

Mark holds out his arms before he can think, and lets the five-year-old crawl into his lap. He wraps them both in his blanket and turns the television up just a little more. “Was it scary?”

“You left.” Graham says, voice less watery, like he doesn’t know the weight of his words. He’s focused on the rerun of Adventure Time that’s playing. He’s not even remotely interested in his nightmare now, with his tears dried up, and his eyes drooping back towards slumber.

“I’m going to leave one day,” Mark says, because he thinks it’s important that Graham knows.

“You should stay with me and Mom,” Graham says. He yawns. “We like you so much!”

Mark’s heart stutters. He tries not to think about it.

-

When Graham’s bed is empty the next morning, you freak out. He’s always in his room in the morning. Even if he wakes up before you, he stays in and plays with his toys.

You’ve already got your phone out, and your mother’s number called, when you walk into the living room.

Relief floods your system. Mark and Graham are asleep on the couch, snuggled up serenely like they didn’t just cause you to have a premature heart attack.

You hang up before the call to your mom can go through and stand there, watching the two boys sleep. Graham has both his arms wrapped around Mark’s forearm. It’s such a sweet picture that you take out your phone and snap one.

The flash is on.

Mark scrunches his nose and winces. “What the–”

“Sorry!” You whisper. “You both looked so cute, I couldn’t help it.”

Mark smiles, still sleepy, and finally opens his eyes. He peers at you, copper brown under fluttering lashes and you’re almost intimidated into looking away. “He had a nightmare.”

“Oh?”

“About me leaving.”

“Oh.” You frown. “I’m really sorry about that. I keep telling him that you’re moving out soon, but I don’t think he fully understands.”

Graham stirs. You reach down and pick him up. Your knuckles brush across Mark’s warm, sweater-clad chest and you suddenly wish you could cuddle with him, too. You shake the thoughts away and focus on your drowsy son. “You’re staying at Grandma's for a few days, remember?”

Graham rubs his eyes and perks up. “And I’ll see her cat?”

“Yes,” you confirm. “But we’ve got to get you dressed because she’s coming in a few minutes.”

-

“Mark Lee!” Your mom’s voice embarrassingly rings through the apartment, and you realize Mark has taken it upon himself to open the door. “Y/n told me she had a temporary roommate but I never thought she would finally ask you!”

“Oh my gosh…” you mumble, buckling Graham’s overalls and hauling him up into your arms. “Mom! His apartment flooded so he’s staying here. Don’t be weird about it.”

“But he’s so handsome,” your mom coos. You’re concerned she might reach forward and pinch Mark’s already ruddy cheeks.

“Thanks,” Mark laughs. “But she’s right, I’m just squatting until I can find a new place.”

Your mom harrumphs. “Well, I don’t see why you can’t stay here forever. Y/n doesn’t even use that office room. And even if she did, the two of you could just share a room.”

“Mom!” You plunk Graham into her hands and grab his overnight bag. “You have to leave.”

“Did I say something wrong?” She sounds worried, but there’s an undisclosed mirth in her eyes that makes you think of your freshman year, when you did have a crush on Mark.

“You said everything wrong,” you say, kindly pushing her out. “Have a good time, Graham. I love you! As always, Mom, call if you need me to come get him.”

“Yeah, right!” She yells over her shoulder. Graham is already giggling, so you close the door with confidence.

You turn back to your roommate. “I’m sorry about that, Mark.”

“It’s fine.” He smiles, but it’s reserved. “But speaking of me finding a place… I know Haechan told you that I can’t go back to my own apartment. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“It’s okay,” you say. You want to say “You can stay here as long as you want, and long as you’ll let me keep you,” but that would reveal too much, and you don’t want to lose the one good friend you have.

“And I was thinking I should move out soon anyway.” Mark pulls his sweater sleeves until they cover his hands. He’s hiding. He’s shielding himself the same way he did in junior year, when he got turned down by his crush to go to the prom. “I don’t think it’s good for Graham to get this attached to me if I’m just going to leave.”

“Oh,” Your sleeves are too short, but you want to shield yourself too. “Yeah, that’s… that’s probably a good idea.”

Mark stands there for a beat, like he’s waiting for you to say something more. Like he hasn’t just taken your heart and pushed it aside. Like this hurts a lot less than it actually does.

But any word out of your mouth would be tearful. It would be honest. It would ruin everything. “I’m going to go on a run.”

-

There’s a cricket outside that won’t stop chirping against your window. You blame it for your insomnia, choosing to ignore the anxiety of eventually losing Mark. It feels so horribly childish, since you’ll see him when you drop Graham off at school. And you’ll see him whenever the two of you go out for coffee on weekends.

But you won’t see him in the kitchen, reaching for the pancake mix so his shirt rises up and you can see the dimples in his back. You won’t see him humming along to the radio while he works on his lesson plans. You won’t feel his warmth when the two of you stay awake, nursing spiked lemonade and giggling at the commentary videos you find on YouTube.

He’ll just be Mark again. He won’t be home anymore.

Startled by the realization, you get out of your covers and rush to your door.

It opens before you can even reach for the doorknob, and there’s Mark in his pajamas, biting his lip and avoiding your eyes.

“I don’t want you to leave,” you say.

Mark confesses, “I love you.”

You open your arms and he dives in, face pressed into the space where your neck meets your shoulder. Warmth envelopes you and the scent of pine fills your nose.

Mark is timeless. Youthful glory and childish pride. He’s a pinch on the side and a push on the swings. Like a rock that actually skips on the first try. Like shoes that you can slip on when they’re still tied. And he’s here, in your arms, squeezing you like you’re something valuable enough to lose. He’s confessing love like you aren’t the worst possible candidate for his heart.

“I can’t offer you much,” you start, but Mark bumps his forehead against yours, boyish and playful — football fields and bright red lockers and secret notes on bathroom walls.

“I’ve known you for years, Y/n,” Mark’s voice is a low rumble. Copper eyes blinking at you like you’re something to second glance at. “I know what I’m getting into. I want you. I want Graham. I want everything this is, and everything we’ve been for the past month. I don’t want this to end.”

You close your eyes, because his are too honest. He’s open and vulnerable and gentle — a child on the first day of school, ready to make friends. You take a deep breath, try to remember what you were like on your first day. Rosy cheeks and shy glances. Knobby knees and a trusting heart. You reach out for whoever you once were — the Y/n with a heart open and willing to be loved. “I don’t want this to end either. I’m in love with you, Mark.”

His grin lights up your world in its entirety. Gold flecks in onyx black disappear as he smiles, too thrilled to keep his eyes open. And when he kisses you, warm lips against cold ones, you feel like a puzzle has just slotted into place.

It would only make sense that you would grow to love the boy you grew up with.

#Nct fluff #nct fanfiction #Nct angst #Nct scenarios #mark lee fluff #mark lee imagines #mark lee angst #mark lee fanfic #mark lee scenarios #mark lee x reader #nct x reader #destwrites

[asteriismos]

stay home - jacob barber

warning(s) : smut, eighteen! jacob and reader, soft fluffy smut

words : 3k

authors note :  sorry i’ve been away for a while. there will be more requests getting written soon. idk if i like this one or not lol it may get a rewrite

BUT ALSO A SOFT SMUT WITH JACOB B LIKE-

Oh my God yes, can you rewrite that closet scene so it's Jacob and reader

you had been there when andy gave the news to joanna, jacob, and laurie that he found out ben rifkin’s phone was now in evidence. you listened to the older adults as they explained that this meant that andy and joanna could go through the phone and find anything to defend jacobs case. this was good news, very, very good news. 

this news, though good, was obviously something that the barbers didn’t want you knowing. you knew this by the fact that when andy had come home only ten minutes earlier, he asked for jacob to come down and only jacob. andy knew that you were there, as did laurie, but this was a family affair. something that they didn’t want you to go telling other people or the media about this news. which you understood, jacob’s safety in this trial was what really mattered. 

but you were a snoopy person, wanting to know what they were talking about so badly that you stood in the doorframe leading to jacob’s room, being quiet as you listened to the conversation. it felt a little wrong to be snooping, but the kitchen was right there next to the stairs and it was hard for you to not hear the conversation. 

hearing the conversation cease and footsteps making their way towards the stairs, you turned and walked into jacob’s room, mindlessly looking over the stuff that was on his desk. his computer, which was bright and shown on the screen was a google doc for a paper he was putting off, was the only thing that really brought light into the room other than the small lamp adjacent to the left on the desk. 

the footsteps neared closer and from the hallway outside of his room, jacob said, “my mom and dad are going out to get takeout, what do you want from the chinese place?” chinese food. it was jacob’s favorite takeout food, even if it tended to make him a little sick after he ate it. you always laughed at how he always wanted to go there when both of you were hungry and didn’t want to go to either of your houses to make food yourselves. 

you turned to face him and shrugged your shoulders, part of your cardigan sliding down your arm. “i’ll just get the chicken fried rice, i’m not too hungry,” you said. jacob smiled and walked back downstairs, seemingly to tell his parents what you wanted. you waited patiently for him to come back, and when he did, he closed the door and stood idly next to it, his eyes scanning his room before making their way to your own. 

there was a certain unvoiced aura that has been between both of you for a really long time, ever since the day he got arrested and charged with the murder of ben rifkin. you two had yet to even really talk about it, because you weren’t really sure how to even start talking about it. it wasn’t a casual conversation starter, quite the obvious. talking about the murder of ben was beginning to be taboo in your suburban town. 

jacob barber was in the same class as you for as long as you could remember. you two even went to the same preschool when you two were both three years old. he was born in august and you were born in september so you were always a little bit younger than you, but each of you were some of the oldest in your soon to be graduating class. already 18 in the beginning of senior year. because you were a girl and jacob was a boy, it was quickly established that you couldn’t be friends just because that’s how it was in elementary school. the boys hung out with the boys and the girls hung out with the girls. you can even remember having a boys vs girls ‘war’ on the playground about who had the most cooties. so you didn’t know him well until sophomore year english class. 

the teacher in that class, mrs heng, was a spiteful woman who obviously hated children. you always wondered why someone would become a high school teacher if they openly talked about how messed up the ‘younger generation’ was. mrs heng had a strict seating chart that didn’t change for the rest of the year, and she placed you and jacob to sit next to each other at the double desk. back then you had only really heard people talk about jacob and the same went for you, so it was pretty awkward at first. after a while you two started to warm up to each other and the rest was history. 

you two were now nearing your two year anniversary and everything seemed much different than how it was two years ago. how could either of you think that any of this would happen? 

jacob, still standing awkwardly with his eyes at yours, cleared his throat. “did you hear any of that?” he was good at reading you. he knew your facial expressions like the back of your hand. and he always knew when those gears in your brain were turning. 

you breathed out, realizing that you were holding your breath. you didn’t know why you were being so passive with jacob, you two never kept secrets from each other. but you, like everyone else, was trying to tell if jacob actually did it or not. of course you weren’t like the people who jumped to the conclusion and painted him to be some type of monster. you knew he wasn’t a monster. he was jacob. your jacob.

“yes.”

your tone was softer than you wanted to be. and jacob couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt in his heart for having to put you through this. he knew that people were mean to you at school, on social media, and even in newspaper articles about him. they all mentioned how jacob had a girlfriend, and how she might just be as messed up as he apparently is. it broke his heart in two. 

he walked over to you, the apparent height difference showing the closer he got to you. there was a point where you were taller than jacob, back in eighth grade when all the girls were going through puberty and the boys were still left in the dust. then in sophomore year a month into dating him, he started to get taller and taller. you swore that you would see him one day and then the next he would be two inches taller. 

his hand reached out to grab your own, making you sigh at the contact. you missed him. now that he was out of school and was finishing up his last year of high school with a private tutor, you never got to see him at school and sometimes not even afterwards because you had your own responsibilities with trying to graduate with good grades. tonight was the first night this week you came over to hang out with him in almost two weeks. 

“i'm sorry, about everything. about roping you into all of this, you don’t deserve it,” jacob said, his hand squeezing yours. 

you looked into his eyes with concern. “and you do? jacob, i’m so sorry this is all happening to you.” you could deal with a little bit of bullying, but jacob? he was looking at the rest of his life in jail if he was found guilty of this. and the evidence was piling up against him. you almost didn’t know how he was keeping it together. the world was crashing down on jacob barber and he was still making sure that you were okay. 

you did really love him. you have since sophomore year when he used to write on the corners of your worksheets and ask you how your day was. then when you would turn them in, you’d have to scribble out the conversation so that the teacher didn’t see. in the beginning stages of your relationship he would put little notes in your locker that you still kept in your room to this day. a part of you believed that you would always love jacob barber, no matter what happened in these next coming weeks. 

his eyes looked down at the ground, sighing. “i know, it’s just. i worry about you all the time,” he said. he really cared about you, loved you more than anything he’s ever known. it didn’t even matter what happened to him, as long as you were safe from possible violent people and the media. they were all painting you to be someone you’re not. jacob wished that they knew the real you. about how supportive, kind, and considerate you have been with him this entire time. the entire world was against jacob barber and here you were, still defending him and standing by his side. 

feeling a sudden chill, you shivered under his touch, making him smile a little bit and look back into your eyes. all thoughts of the trial melted away as you two came back into reality. without saying anything, you let go of his hand and turned to walk into his closet. it always confused you as to why he had such a big closet. but laurie said something about how jacob’s room ( despite it being smaller ) used to be the master bedroom before they added on an addition to the house. which explains why jacob had a walk in closet despite him not really even needing it. only about 2/3 of it was even filled, the other was just empty with a few boxes used for storage. 

you heard jacob follow you, he leaned against the doorframe and watched you search through his expanse of sweatshirts. you were trying to find the perfect one to wear so you wouldn’t be so cold. hands grabbing and pushing away hangers, you came across a white one that he never really wore. amused, you turned to look at him and held it up by the hanger for him to see, “i don’t think i’ve ever seen you wear this one.”

a light blush spread across his cheeks, “yeah. i bought that one to wear and give to you a month ago. never got the chance.” he motioned to the hoodie with a sheepish smile on his face. 

you smiled as well, biting your lip and setting it down on the shelf next to you. you came over to him and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer to you. jacob pressed a kiss to your cheek and raised an eyebrow. “what’s on your mind?” he asked.

you shrugged. “just you.”

“i’m flattered,” jacob said, pecking you on the lips this time. 

you looked into his eyes. he was the same person that you fell in love with. and you missed him this close to you. you missed him inside of you. you two haven’t had sex in so long, and his parents were gone you were the only people in the house. 

you were so desperate for him. “make love to me.”

he hummed. “what was that?” he cocked his head to the side and put his hands on your waist. his thumbs pressed into your hip bones. 

“make love to me,” you said again, catching his eyes. 

he pulled away just a tiny bit, a curious look on your face. “what sprung this on?”

you just shrugged your shoulders, biting your lip again but in a more seductive way. “i love you. and i want you. we’re all alone in this house and it’ll be fun.”

he didn’t respond, instead kissing you with a desirable force. your back hit the wall with a calm force that you didn’t even mind the folded clothes that fell down from the top shelves. you laughed into the kiss, hands coming up and tangling themselves into jacob’s hair. the strands fell in between your fingers like silk. you tugged at them, eliciting a soft groan from him into your mouth. 

jacob pulled away from you and pulled up your shirt, hands coming to your sides and capturing your lips with his again. his right hand trailed upward, cupping your breast. his thumb rubbed along the skin above your bra, squeezing a tiny bit. jacob was being gentle, loving, appreciating everything about your body. 

usually when you guys had sex, it would go fast. mostly because you guys had so much pent up tension that you two have to go at it hard and fast to get relief. this time it was slow, genuinely appreciating everything about each other. it was rare that you got times like this, but now that it was here, neither of you were going to take it for granted. 

you could tell that he had pent up tension, just the way that he was kissing you told you that. hot kisses pressed to your lips or on your jaw. it caused a pressure to build in your stomach. jacob went down to kiss up and down your neck, making sure not to make any marks where they could be seen. he did however, leave a large one just below your collarbone, which made you throw your head back with a tiny moan. the way that his teeth grazed across your skin felt so good.

“jacob, we don’t have that much time,” you spoke, hands pulling his face up to look at you. he gave you a lazy grin, kissing the valley in between your breasts. he then came up face to face with you and leaned in, his hot breath fanned against your face. 

“you’re right, you’re just so beautiful i want to kiss every single inch of you,” jacob replied. you shivered at his words, cheeks reddening. “what? it’s true. i love you.”

you pecked him on the lips. “i love you too, may i?” your hands went down to the end of his shirt and lightly tugged on it. he laughed and nodded, his arms raising up as you guided the fabric off of his skin. once the shirt was off and discarded, your hands came to his sides and pulled him into another long kiss.

his lips still on yours, jacob went and started to mess with the button of your jeans. after a few attempts, he finally got them unzipped and pulled them off of you. you finished by kicking them off your ankles. your hands came to do the same for him, undoing his belt and letting him do the rest. your hands were too shakey to finish up the job anyways.

one finger hooked into the waistband of your panties and pulled them off of you as well. the only thing seperating each of you were his boxers, which were discarded soon after. 

jacob hiked you up against the wall, grabbing the bottoms of your thighs and pulling you upwards. your legs wrapped around his waist, hands holding tightly onto his shoulders. you were off the ground in his arms against the wall of his closet, which you hoped didn’t drop more clothes on you. the last thing you wanted was for you guys to finish and then later have laurie barber ask what the hell happened in the closet to make the folded shirts on the top shelf all fall off.

there was a moment of silence between you two while he lined himself up with your entrance, the tip of his dick sliding through your folds. you moaned out, giving him a look that said please. jacob chuckled and pushed himself in. 

the feeling of him stretching you out while he slowly pushed in made you groan out. you fogot how good this felt, how he filled you up just perfectly. right now you thanked god for birth control. jacob took a moment to let you adjust to the feeling after he bottomed out, since he didn’t warm you up with his fingers earlier. if there had been more time, he would’ve. but there will definitely be more times to be together. 

“you - you can move,” you whispered out, your hands going to his face. “please jacob move.” you begged, making him laugh again.

“needy are we?”

you didn't have time to answer because he pulled out of you and pushed back in, continuing at a moderate pace. your back pressed against the wall every time his hips rut into yours, sending you closer and closer to that peak.

both of you were pretty riled up. because of the stress of the arrest and the upcoming trial, no one leaves you two that alone together to have sex. this was one of these rare moments you got to spend with each other and it was so worth it. 

it was so worth it to hear those desperate moans come out of his lips every time his hips met yours, the lust in his eyes when his head bowed down and then up again to meet your eyes. jacob pressed kisses to your neck, licking a stripe up your jawline. a half moan half sob left your lips, feeling him reach that spot in you that only he could get. he hit it over and over again, 

you moaned out, hands pressing harshly against his back. nail’s digging into the skin on his back. usually he wouldn’t like the pain, but it felt so good mixed with the pleasure of you so tight around him. both of you were really close, his thrusts were getting faster and harsher with every single time he pulled out and in. “god jacob, im going to come.”

jacob nodded his head that was in your shoulder and watched your face as you hit your orgasm, admiring the sweat on your brow and the way that your head threw back. 

your moans in ecstasy seemed to cause him to hit his orgasm as well, his hands squeezing the back of your thighs. he attempted to pull out, warm hot liquid spilled inside of you and in the inside of your legs. he took a moment to make sure you were steady on your legs as he set you down. you leaned against the wall to catch your breath. 

#defending jacob #jacob barber #jacob barber x reader #jacob barber imagine #jaeden martell

[daddysfangirls-marvel]

Goth Boss (2)

Warning: language, angst, mention of self-harm, 

summary: Tony stark x daughter goth reader. The avengers find out that Tony has a secret teenage daughter and make tony ask her to visit. But when they meet her the avengers find out why she was kept secret.( could bucky and Steve he terrified of how y/n looks since they are from a different time and seeing a goth girl for the first time scares them) (tony has a strained relationship with y/n as she grew up without him and he kept her secret) 

Part 1 | Part 2 |

 They were in an old-timey diner late at night sitting in a booth in the back and keeping a low profile. (Y/n) was looking out the window at the passing cars and closing stores while Tony was more focused on the black coffee spiked with a hint of Vodka in front of him. She got a cup of black tea in front of her. Neither of them said anything and the air around them was very tense.

(Y/n) was aware that her mother sat down and told Tony all the significant things he missed in her life the good and the bad. He was surprised to learn how many things she missed he was more surprised to learn that she actively tried to get him involved in these things.  He missed so many things and he had only himself to blame.

When a problem arose with (Y/n) Tony simply threw money at it without even learning what the problem was and pushed it on to others. But what really surprised him was that (Y/n)’s mother didn’t use any of the money he gave her not even the child support. She had a couple million dollars on the side due to this.

“Are you going to keep staring at your coffee or are you going to talk?” she sighed heavily and rubbed her forehead ”It’s Sunday night I have school in the morning I have a test tomorrow and I haven’t even studied for it .” 

“Geometry test, right?... Peter told me and since-”

“Cut the shit Stark. What do you want?”

“I thought we were going to try” he laughed awkwardly “ You know you don’t have to call me Mr. Stark”

“Baby steps. Now Mr. Stark you better start talking before I start walking. I don’t have all night” (Y/n) was extremely tired and tired (Y/n) was moody (Y/n) and she didn’t have time for bull shit like this, unfortunately.

“ I talked to your mother. I never realized how much of your life I’ve missed-”

“I call Bullshit” (y/n) said leaning back and crossing her arms a look of irritation on her face “ I... I missed my very first day of school because you said you would take me and you never showed up but mom didn’t have the heart to tell me you weren’t coming and I waited. Later in life, I learned you were partying in the Bahamas. I remember the first play I was in I called you nonstop to make sure you would come you were on a yacht off the coast partying again. Or the father-daughter dance I got dolled up and waited all night for you, I was the only girl in school who didn’t go the other girls without fathers managed to get their older brothers, uncles, and grandfathers to take them. You didn’t show up for anything. Except for that one dance recital, you showed up at the very end smelling like booze and swaying on your feet we took you home and I tried to show you the video but you passed out of the couch hours later you woke up sick and rushed to the bathroom you never made it... you threw up on me instead.”

“she- your-”

“Mom never knew because I didn’t tell her I cleaned up and dragged you back to the living room. I was seven. After that, I stopped doing dances, plays, and recitals I never liked them anyways I only did them to get your attention. But after that night I realized that if that was the attention you were going to give me I didn’t want it. I rather have those monthly five-minute phone calls than threw up in my hair.” (Y/n) looked down at her remaining tea it was cold she chugged it down.

“ I gave up on you when I was seven. I didn’t want you anymore after that... My being goth isn’t a rebellion against you, as you said when I was 14. Me stopping those plays, dance recitals, and performances was a rebellion against you. Me turning those monthly five-minute phone calls to two-minute phone calls then every six months a minute phone call was a rebellion against you. Me doing everything in my will power to be nothing like you is my rebellion against you. Me knowing and growing to be perfectly fine without you is my rebellion against you. 

“Look at me I’m 16 going on 17. I’m going to graduate next year. I have grown into a proper, fine, and functional adult I am an amazing woman. And you contributed to none of this” 

(Y/n) stood up opening her purse and putting a few dollars on the table for her tea. She felt good right now she felt confident and she was proud of herself. She has never spoken her mind on the case of her father to anyone and it felt good to let it out even if it was only a fraction of what she truly wanted to say. With a confident smile on her face, she turned to walk away but someone grabbed her wrist stopping her. She looked down to find Tony in tears her smile slowly faded as shame and guilt began to build.

No. She wasn’t in the wrong.

“P-please... give me another chance, let me fix it. I promise -just give me another chance” her heart clenched as his lip quivered.

“I’ve given you a hundred and one chance. Every time I called you for help that was a chance, every time I or my mother dialed your number that was a chance, every ring was a chance, every sent straight to voice mail was a chance, Every tear I shed for you was a chance. And that last phone call where you said I never brought good news and that I was a problem child nothing less nothing more that was your last chance.” She snatched her hand away “ I sorry to get your hopes up but now you know how I felt every time you didn’t show up and broke a promise. I’m not giving you another chance goodbye Mr. Stark.”

And with that (Y/n) quickly left the diner and began to walk down a random street. She didn’t know where she was going but she had to getaway.

“I’M SORRY” Tony screamed as he chased her out of the diner. She turned around quickly.

“Sorry? Sorry doesn’t- Sorry doesn’t turn back time and give me a real father, sorry doesn’t show up at my performances, sorry doesn’t wipe my tears, Sorry doesn’t erase the words you said, fix the promises you broke. SORRY, SORRY, SORRY. Sorry doesn’t fix anything. Sorry does jack shit. Fuck your sorry and fuck your fucking tears. You abandoned me so I’m abandoning you. I’m done”

(Y/n) didn’t even realize it started raining until she was a few blocks away. She didn’t even realize she was lost until she was soaked to the bone. Running under an awning she quickly dialed the only number that came to mind she didn’t even know who she actually dialed until she heard their voice.

“Hey, what are you doing up so late?” Peter answered

“I’m lost and wet and cold. Please... h-help.” (Y/n) didn’t know why but she began to sob hard she couldn’t even hold her self up her knees buckled and she collapsed on the grown.

“Woah, Woah, baby calm down. I’m on my way can you give me a street name or something. A Name of a building?” Peter was in between panic mode and superhero/ super boyfriend mode right now. (Y/n) was a mess on the other end of the line as tried to give him the name of the building she was in front of but another sob and a mess of words he couldn't make out came out. Fortunately for Peter Karen tracked (y/n)’s phone for him and put her location up. He knew exactly where she was.

“Hold on baby I’m on my way”

It took Tony a while to gather himself then he got to his car and he let the dam break. He was sobbing like a child good thing his windows were tinted because it was disgusting. Gathering himself enough to start the engine he began to drive. He got to a light when something caught the corner of his eye he saw a someone sitting in front of a store soaking wet and crying it was a little girl. It was his little girl. Tony quickly began to unbuckle himself and step out of the car. But before he could even open the door all the way something landed in front of his daughter. 

Spider-Man.

The friendly Arachnids picked her up and quickly swung away before Tony could even react completely.

(Y/n) was shivering and shaking as Peter set her on her feet. “What happened ?” he asked as he looked around his room for a towel and dry clothes. 

“I... I told Tony I was going to give him another chance but then I thought about it and I realized I didn’t want to give him another chance. And that’s what I told him” Peter jumped as he turned around he found (y/n) standing in her underwear with her back towards him. He cleared his throat and handed her a towel over her shoulder.

“w-why were you out in the rain?”

“We were at a diner I left when it started raining and I got lost. I’m sorry for pulling you from your patrol.” Peter gave her some dry clothes without looking.

“No, I’m happy you called me. I would have come to you no matter where or when you called me” Peter felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and hug him from behind.

“Still,” she said kissing his back.

“How about you spend the night? I’ll put your clothes in the drier” He pulled her hands up to his both giving her knuckles gentle kisses.

“Thank you, Peter” 

(Y/n) messaged her mom to let her know she would be staying at Peter’s place. Of course, she had questions but once Tony’s name was mentioned she left it alone. But she did call May and let her know that (y/n) as there.

Peter put her clothes in the drier changed into some sweat pants and slid into bed with her. He kissed her forehead as he wrapped his arms around her.

“ Listen, I’m not going to get involved in your situation with Tony.” And Peter really wasn’t he knew despite them dating and their feeling towards each other she was quite envious of his relationship with Tony and she had told him this. She wanted the relationship that he had with her father. Peter knew all of this and in order to keep the peace and not upset her, he never mentioned Tony or his work with him. He changed his name in his phone to ‘The Boss’, when he talked to others about him he called him ‘The Boss’, and whenever he had to go to him he said he was going to ‘Work’. He basically made it so Tony’s name was never mentioned in the presence of (y/n). And he never mentioned (y/n) while at the tower or with Tony none of the Avengers even knew they were dating. Only their friend in their small circle May and her mother knew they were dating, that was about five people.

“I’m not going to get involved but please don’t let this drag you down don’t let this hurt you beyond repair. I care about you too much to watch you in pain.”

(Y/n) leaned forward kissing him “ What did I do to deserve you?”

“That’s my line” she laughed a bit before her breathing slowed down and she slowly fell asleep to the sound of Peter’s beating heart. 

Peter didn’t go to sleep so soon he instead spent a few more hours staring at her, stroking her hair, and gently kissing her fingers. In kissing her fingers the sleeve of her (his) sweater slid down her revealing her wrist which was covered in scars both horizon and vertical. His heart panged at the sight of her, no doubt, self-inflicted wounds. Peter choked on a cry as tears began to fall. How could she be in so much pain and no one notice? How could she hide such pain?

Peter sniffled and wiped his tears. He couldn’t question her he shouldn’t have been prying into her business even if it was by accident. But he knew now to stop questioning her on her sweaters all the time. Taking a few deep breaths and calming down Peter brought her scared wrist to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss and squeeze. He didn’t sleep at all that night.

-

(Y/n) woke up startled a loud crash traveled through the apartment. She looked around trying to see where the panic was but then she realized that this wasn’t her room and she wasn’t at home. Then a raging headache introduced itself to her along with the oh so bright light. Moving quickly she shuts the blinds it was then that she realized she was in Peter’s room and in his clothes.

“Oh shit” she whispered as she clenched the sweater shirt, that was very clearly not her, to her chest. She did not recall all of the events of last night, especially what happened once she arrived all that was blank. Did they... do it?

“Hey,” Peter said as he slowly kicked the door open carrying a tray of food “ I made breakfast” he place the tray on his desk he turns to her and notices her distress. “ Hey, hey is everything okay? What’s wrong?”

“I... what happened last night?”

“Um... I picked you up in the rain after your talk with Tony swung you here. You changed out of your wet clothes, I didn’t see anything. And we went to bed. Nothing happened last night nothing like that. We slept actual sleep.”

(Y/n) sighed in relief as she fell back against the pillows. Peter then place the breakfast tray on her lap.

“You should eat. You’ve been asleep for a very long time” (Y/n) laughed a bit but then she looks out the window then to the clock on Peter’s desk. It read 10:17 am.

“OH MY GOSH WE’RE LATE “ (Y/n) was about to jump out of bed but Peter stopped her pushing her back on the bed.

“We’re skipping today. May and your mom called in sick for us. We’ve got today and probably tomorrow to do whatever. Listen don’t worry about all of that right now. Eat. I got to go clean the kitchen it was like a hurricane hit it.” He kissed her forehead and tried to quickly scurry off

“Peter?” he stopped and turned back to her “ Thank you”. 

He blushed and stuttered a bit before deciding he had nothing say and left tripping as he went. She laughed at his shy and clumpiness. He was adorable. 

It was (y/n) turn to blush when she looked down and realized her pancakes were misshapen hearts. In the hall leaning against the wall, Peter smiled as he heard her giggle. It might have taken him a good hour and a half to get it good but at least she liked them. Now he was off to clean the kitchen. Now that was going to take some time.

-

It was her lunch break and she was sitting in a park staring at her phone Peter had promised to have (Y/n) call her as soon as she had woken up it was noon now and she hadn’t received any call yet. She was starting to worry. Her phone rang.

“ (Y/N)”

“Um...n-no”

“Tony?”

“Y-yeah...You haven’t heard from (y/n)?”

“no, she spent the night at Peter’s. She wasn’t feeling well and he took care of her. She was supposed to call me when she woke up.” She probably shouldn’t have shared that information with him but she could hear the distress in his voice and she knew Tony was with her last night. “what happened last night I thought you two were coming back together?”

“She... she changed her mind... Remember that time I woke up on the floor in the middle of your living room and you were super pissed. You never told me why you were angry.”

She sighed so she told him that story. Although she had shared many stories with Tony about the bad things he did in (y/n)’s childhood she left many stories out as one she wasn't supposed to know those stories and two she knew he had no memory of any of the events and three they were all just so terrible she just wanted to pretend they never happened. Meaning a huge chunk of (y/n) childhood was missing and, although it wasn’t pretty, the man was very present at the beginning of her childhood at least everything that had dealt with Tony was forgotten or a distant memory she didn’t want.

Tony did a lot of bad things caused a lot of pain and he didn’t even know it and honestly, she wasn’t going to be the one to tell him. He was a better man now, sort of, she didn’t tell and wouldn’t tell of his past demons. He was trying.

“... was I really that bad?”

“Oh, Tony. You were terrible, awful, horrible. The absolute worse. You were so bad that there were days I got on my knees and prayed to Lucifer himself that he’d take you because heaven definitely wasn’t answering my prayers... you were that bad Tony.”

“I-I sound terrible, Oh I was terrible.” he laughed but she could hear his voice crack she could imagine the tears streaming down his face. “ I’ve ch-changed now. I promise I’ve changed now.”

“I Know Tony. I’ve seen it you’ve changed and you’re so much better now but just because you’ve changed doesn’t mean the past has”

“She changed her mind. She doesn’t -she doesn’t want to anymore. She doesn’t want to fix anything anymore.”

She sighed heavily “ Tony, in order to put something back together there needs to pieces and unfortunately, there are no more pieces left. You broke her she got tired of waiting for you to pick up the pieces and fix her so she went picked them up herself and tossed them out.”

Her heart broke as she heard Tony sob over the phone. They are separated, and were never together, to begin with, but she still held love for him and worried for him. But she couldn’t help him here all she could do was listen to his cries. She didn’t like it she had to do something.

“Tony, What are you doing tonight?”

“Um crying” he let out a sad laughed she could hear the tears in his voice.

“Let's meet up tonight. Let’s talk”

Request tags

permanent tags

@lovely-lollipops-blog @totallyweirdsam @sexysamsungl @lilylovelyxo @iamwarrenspeace @geeksareunique @that-random-emu @supreme-leader-jazlo-ren @stone2576 @lil-dino-trash @metal-armed-dino @dylanobrienmoviekid @theshortegg @dontevenblink-badwolf-tardis @mandylove1000  @isnotashtonstan @broitsmydick @onceaballeralwaysaballer1213 @mypage-myfandoms @jordynhartley2001 @midnightdream83 @cookies186 @i-am-marvel-trash-forever @marvels-queen-bee @aebeessun @gabriels-gumdrop @the-best-alchemist @smile-my-bean @valeriae2903 @cassiopeia-barrow @uberduber-loulou @spideyboiiiiiii @lookinsidemyhead @actors-hot @lokilvrr

MCU tags 

@acupofhotlatte @actors-hot @drakesfiance

#peter parker #peter parker x stark!reader #peter park fanfiction #peter parker x reader #tony stark #Tony Stark fanfiction #tony stark daughter #goth boss #tony stark x daughter #peter parker x stark!daughter #Goth boss series #goth boss 2

[bentchcreates]

Start Here, Stories of First Encounters 

Let me just say this right off the bat, I’m giving this 6 of 5 Stars! First of all, the editors and my co-authors deserve the 5.5 of 5 Stars. This is my favorite book this year, cheesy for me to say, but it is! I’m giving a half star more for my own story because I’m very proud of this, okay? :P I’ll talk more about that on a separate blog post, haha.

To begin, I want to thank the editors (and our PM, Hi Mina!) for coming up with this anthology. The intros by Ron and Brij, in itself, were already strong messages to those who are looking for contemporary romance that represents Filipinos of this time, LGBTQIAP or not. It perfectly put out the reasons behind the conception of this anthology, as well as the hope that this sparks a flame towards more Queer Romance and Queer HEA in Philippine Literature.

1. In the Moonlight by Agay Llanera

This was a sweet start to set the tone for the rest of the stories. It’s an awesome sequel to my other favorite, Another Word For Happy. And like what I said in my review for AWFH last year, Caleb seems to have been made after my own heart.

I wish I was exaggerating, but the indecision, the awkward reaction to ‘the kiss’, the hyperawareness to the smallest of things, IT ME! When I was Caleb’s age, at least. LOL. And I’m sure a lot of gay people (maybe not even gay people, everyone, really) will find it relatable one way or another.

What Caleb is better than me, though, is his courage towards the end of the story. He did something I never would’ve been able to do. And I hope when others read this, they’d be inspired to be braver, too.

2. Come Full Circle by Bobbi Moran

I love me some slow burn romance and huhu, the slow burn in this one killed me (in a good way!).

This short felt quite episodic as the characters are shown through different stages of them finding themselves – and eventually, love – but that slow progression allowed me to really root for them to be together at the end.

I found the attention to detail fascinating (especially the architectural ones when Alana and Marion went on a holiday) but what I loved most about this is the accuracy of tiptoeing in a relationship when one is still unsure where the other one stands. I mean, relationships are already complicated without the whole guessing-and-hoping-the-other-one-plays-on-the-same-team narrative, but add in sexual confusion (and tension!) and you’re in for a wild, but nonetheless more interesting, ride. This story tied to a full circle satisfyingly.

3. Gorgeous by Motsie Dapul

This is probably my first F/enby romance and it certainly lived up to its title. This might also be the first fiction story I’ve read using the singular they/them pronoun and while it took me about a minute to re calibrate my [faulty] sense of grammar, it wasn’t jarring and it told Jays and the MC (I’m not 100% sure she was named, I need to reread the story, stat!)more genuinely for me.

It is also somewhat a variation of the enemies to lovers trope which is always interesting. I’m happy to note that there is grovel. :) 

I think what I want to focus more about this story is how something that happened years ago, something that seemed small and irrelevant to you, might mean a whole different world to another person. And simple things like words said haplessly, or actions that weren’t well thought of in our youth, could still impact us as adults no matter how much we’ve changed in the time in between.

This story tells and awesome story of discovering one’s self, discovery of love, and acceptance of the MC’s past, present and future with Them. :)

4. Shipping Included by Danice Sison

Can this be any cuter?? <3 <3 <3

I will admit that I didn’t get all the KPop references but I know those who are knowledgeable (and obsessed) with oppas will appreciate and enjoy this.

Done in alternating POVs between the protagonists, David and Kiko, the story’s strength lay on the well-rounded characterization of the heroes, as well as the kids who made their meetcute extra cute! There is a glimpse of what it must be like to be a Filipino KPop fan while also focusing the spotlight on those who don’t share the dedication but support their loved one’s hobbies nonetheless.

The Kuya and Tito may not be in their girls’ fandoms but Kpopocalypse gave them (all of us, really) a different reason to swoon and make fingerhearts at each other.  

5. Delubyo by Barbie Barbieto

This is beautifully written.

This was the first work from the author that I’ve read and I loved it so much, it made me seek out her other work. Haha. The style and flow of words are smooth and easygoing, it hooked me up real quick.

Add to that is Pebbles’ odd four-month relationship rule which I thought was mean at first, but actually makes so much sense and is understandable from someone who’s constantly afraid to put her heart on the line. Still, I don’t tolerate it. (I loved this so much, I’m super invested and I want to have a talk with Pebbles bec huhu, the poor ex-girlfriends! LOL)

I love the progression of her feelings towards Gabrielle, told brilliantly somewhere in the middle of the story – after that awesome beginning! It made the ending such a relief and a source of immense kilig!

6. The Other Story by H. Bentham

*sly grin emoji*

7. Blooms and Hues by Ella Banta

I loved the softness of the themes in this short story, reminiscent of Gay YA fiction I used to devour in college (from foreign authors like Brian Sloan, Alex Sanchez, John Hall, etc.) and the short films I still find on YouTube from time to time.

It is a lovely addition to this anthology, despite not being heavy on the romance like the other stories, especially since being queer in this country, love, relationships - and matters of the heart in general - are less likely to be this soft and dreamy. (At least during my time as an actual young adult. IDK, maybe kids these days are allowed this gay tenderness we weren’t given access to. It wasn’t even such a long time ago, I mean…anyway, that’s not what this review is all about. I got distracted. lol)

The artistic MC and LI are adorable. And flowers! I’m never not in love with stories where flowers come into play.

8. Another First by Yeyet Soriano

I admit that I felt scared to continue with this once it was established that Jess, the MC, is in a long term relationship at the beginning of the story. I dislike scenes with messy break-ups due to cheating, but I soldiered on and was greatly relieved that this didn’t go that way.

I liked that the characters acted like the adults that they are and that this did not turn into a rehash of popular love-triangle telenovela plots. I especially loved the part where things had to settle down and fall into place for all characters (Jess, Lili and even Matt) separately at first – on a personal level – before the romance could be resolved. It showed a healthy depiction of self-discovery and acceptance a little bit later in life.

9. Luck from the Skies by Katt Briones

This one I’ve actually read before the book came out and ugh, rereading it second, third and fourth time did not make it less wonderful! The characters have supporting roles from Katt’s other book, Chasing Mr. Prefect, but the timeline here is before that book’s time.

I liked the fictional artista/modeling angles and the progression of friendship between Chan and Asher towards a romantic ship (#ChaSher5everr!!!). The rainy weather theme is also very Filipino and how it plays in the advancement of the plot is just brilliant! And kilig! So kilig!

Sab is defineitely a scene stealer (I love bestfriends!) but since the romance was so strong in the first place, she didn’t overshadow my boys. LOL.

Also, prepare to crave bulalo!  

10. Lemon Drop Friday by Brigitte Bautista.

“Here goes [Brij] again, making a mess [with my heart]”

When I was reading the review copy and got to this point in the book, I stopped for a full day before I started this story. Part of me knew I would breeze through it and I didn’t want the book to end just yet. And I was right.

Brij did it again! Made me fall in love with her mastery of words and then made me cry because this was so good and so satisfying.

I was highlighting passages throughout the book (for review notes) but with this one, I couldn’t even stop to highlight words, I just wanted to fully immerse in that universe and feel the love, and the fear of rejection, and the ultimate HEA where these messy girls finally, finally got together!

I have a favorite quote (aside from the mis-quote above. Lol)

“If she looked at me a tad longer, she would figure it out.”

Argh! MY HEART! I loved Tala’s POV so much! It’s quirky and funny and honest and SO relatable. I’m done talking about this because I WILL SPOIL IT FOR EVERYONE so please get the book and read it! :P

To end, again I want to thank everyone who worked (and continue to work hard to promote) this book! I cannot fully express into words how important this is to me, as well as to others who might need these stories in their lives (whether they know it or not). I hold this dear this not because it is among the first queer books from #romanceclass, but more because all were written with wonderful skill and heart. Each story offers something unique for the reader who might be reading queer for the first time as well as someone looking for themselves in the written page,

We yearned so much to be represented well. We craved for stories we can connect to on a deeply personal level. We waited for our happy endings, in fiction at the very least.. This is definitely the beginning of us getting all that. And more.

Blurb:

There’s a first time for everything. Gatecrashing a KPop concert with an oppa in a business suit. Taking shelter from the storm with the girl you’ve been meaning to shake off. That kiss that blurs the line between friendship and something more. A one-night stand (or, is it?) with your best friend from across the hallway.

Dive into these 10 stories of first encounters – unapologetically queer, happy endings required, with a smattering of that signature #romanceclass kilig. Whether you’re recalling your own firsts or out there looking for one, there’s a story in here for you.

So, go on.

Turn the page.

Start here.

Edited by Ronald S. Lim and Brigitte Bautista. Featuring short stories by Agay Llanera, H. Bentham, Ella Banta, Danice Sison, Yeyet Soriano, Barbie Barbieto, Katt Briones, Bobbi Moran, Motzie Dapul, and Brigitte Bautista. This anthology contains M/M, F/F, F/NB romance stories with happy endings. Some stories have a high heat level.

Release Date: January 27, 2018

Book Cover Design: Dani Hernandez

Additional Photography: Alexandra Urrea & Chachic Fernandez

Buy Links:

Pre-order Start Here on Amazon: bit.ly/rcStartHere Order Start Here on paperback (PH only): bit.ly/StartHere-PrintPH

Add Start Here on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37880247-start-here

Author links:

Katt Briones: @kttbri (Twitter& IG)

Ella Banta:  @gabbie_ellaine (Twitter) , @ellamaepot (IG),  gabrielluna.wordpress.com (blog) , https:// www.facebook.com/ ellabantawriting/ (FB)

Agay Llanera:  http:// amzn.to/ 2k2gj34.(Amazon)

Yeyet Soriano: @ysrealm (Twitter & IG) @Yeyetsorianowrites (FB), www.yeyetsoriano.com (blog), [email protected]

Danice Sison: @hastyteenflick (Twitter)

Bobbi Moran: [email protected]

Motzie Dapul: FB.com/atemozzarella, FB.com/atemozzarellastories, @atemozzarella (Tumblr) , mozzarellastories.wordpress.com (blog), motzie.dapul@ gmail.com.

Barbie Barbieto: @barbiebarbieto (Twitter),  barbiebarbieto.com (blog) 

H. Bentham: this is me. heh.

Editors: 

Brigitte Bautista: @brijbautista (Twitter & IG), brijbautista.wordpress.com (blog)

Ronald S. Lim: @tristantrakand (Twitter), [email protected]

#start here #bentchcreates #bookish #romanceclass #lgbtqiap

[fox-household]

Act 4: Education and Moral Standards, Chapter 4

Alright this took like over a month, but here we are finally. Hope this is all good, school year has started again which means I might be more active with chapters. Sounds crazy I know but I find it much harder to be productive during holidays. Anyway hope the drama in this helps you if you’re bored from normal daily life stuff. This one gets a little painful. Anyway the next chapter will be the end of the act which will be good to get over with. Then we’ll move on to a mini-act, a little fun one. Anyway hope you’re all having a time. Stay safe out there.

FIRST, PREVIOUS, NEXT, INFO 

SCI As it kept becoming apparent to Sci, traversing a school without much direction wasn’t quite as easy as he’d first hoped. At first, he’d returned to outside the room where they met Mr Breve, but as expected, the other two were not there. Going over the list in his head of rooms that Asgore’s teachers resided in, he wandered the different halls and levels, following labels on doors to see if he could possibly be going in the right direction and while they didn’t help much, using the vague list in his head and his watch, he could only try and predict where to go. ‘’Alright well, if Art is done and they haven’t been to Home Eco yet… perhaps it’s… Science? But where’s the Science Wing? I really wish there was a damn map around here’’. As he spoke to himself, he kept on walking, starting to be carried away by his train of thought, the tracks leading him to different ways he could get out of his predicament. Unfortunately for him his thoughts started to cloud his awareness and it wasn’t long before he felt a small force impact the front of him. Looking down the skeleton found that a small, light haired human girl in a sweater had just ran into him, the impact causing her to fall over backwards. Listening to her groans of pain for long enough, he offered her his hand, ‘’Hey kid, sorry about that, didn’t see you there. You alright?’’ The girl looked up at him with small smile as she took his hand, her voice soft and quiet, ‘’N-no that’s fine, my bad. Thanks, sorry for bothering you sir’’. ‘’Don’t sweat it, also please don’t call me sir, you’re making me sound old.’’ ‘’Sorry mister, won’t do it again… I think I n-need to get going now, sorry again.’’ Sci sighed at her change of title not finding it that much better, but he decided to live with it. For a moment he was content with just that, giving her a wave and a ‘’So long’’, before a realisation came to him. ‘’Wait! Can I ask you a quick question? Where’s the Science Wing?’’ Already having skipped half way down the hall, it gave her a small surprise to have to turn around to the monster, ‘’Oh lost? Sorry I should’ve asked being interviews and all’’, she gave a small apologetic bow that the skeleton just could not understand, she didn’t do anything wrong. ‘’The Science Wing is the first stairs behind you, go down and then to your right, then find the second left down the hall, that should take you to what you’re looking for.’’ Sci went over those direction multiple times in his head in quick succession to make sure with complete certainty he wouldn’t forget. Just as he was about to say goodbye to the girl, allowing her to go on her way, another small human came from behind him and shoved him to the side to run past him, the first thing he couldn’t help noting was the cowboy-like garments on the female human. ‘’Come on Hope, we ain’t got time, she’s coming this way at this moment.’’, the cowgirl said with a hurried tone, grabbing the first human’s hand while simultaneously pulling her along. Without needing any confirmation, Hope nodded and started running along with her friend, quickly looking back at Sci, ‘’See you later Mr Skeleton, nice m-meeting you’’. He watched helplessly as they ran around a corner at the end of the hall, his face just filled with confusion at the events that had transpired in front of him. Just when he thought that all of that was the last of what he had seen, loud footsteps that sounded like heeled shoes came from behind him, turning around to see a tired, furious looking old woman, angrily striding over towards him. ‘’Excuse me, have a seen a girl wearing a green sweater or another absolute rat of a child wearing a cowboy costume?!’’, her voice was stern, and she went straight to the point, impatiently waiting for the monster to answer. ‘’Oh uh yeah, they went somewhere past me? Are you alright chasing after them, should I be worried?’’, he figured the truth was the best answer as he gave his classic smile and shrug, hoping that would be enough to get him out of whatever mess he could potentially be caught up in. ‘’Just that first child is under my care, the foolish girl seems be caught up with that other one, disobeying me because of a bad influence, on today of all days. But don’t worry, when I catch up to either of them, there will be hell to pay!’’. With those last words, without any sort of farewell, she stormed off down the hall in the direction Sci pointed, leaving him finally in peace, wondering what on earth he had just dodged him. It took a little bit until he finally found Alphys sitting outside one of the classrooms that he saw on the map, alone she sat on a wooden chair staring at her hands, he couldn’t help but feel he was about to interrupt her deep thoughts. Sci moved over and sat down quietly next to her on a similar empty chair. For a whole minute he just watched her toil over something in her head, even muttering a few words under her breath that he couldn’t pick up, concern starting to grow that maybe she wasn’t doing so good. Then Alphys’ gaze came across the skeleton and with a sudden look of shock, she stopped what she was doing and just stared at him wide eyed, ‘’Sci, s-sorry I umm… g-glad you’re back, h-how are y-you now? Feeling better?’’ ‘’Oh you know me Al, can’t keep me down for long, I’m real good,’’ he gave her a wink and an enthusiastic thumbs up, ‘’Butt what about you? You seem quite nervous’’. The lizard monster winced, ‘’Oh j-just these interviews… the t-teachers here a-are crazy, the art t-teacher spent a m-mere two m-minutes showing m-me Asgore’s stuff b-before sh-showing me all h-her ‘top student’ p-pieces.’’ His shrug was almost a little dismissive, ‘’Is that really so bad? I mean they would’ve been good pieces, right? I feel like it could’ve been worse.’’ ‘’N-no, i-it’s not the quality, b-but the quantity, t-the amount of time…’’ ‘’Oh dear.’’ ‘’N-not only her c-current top students, th-there was work f-from f-former students, art from l-like ten y-years ago, back i-in her o-original universe… and w-worst of all, when i-it was all o-over it was twenty l-later than the scheduled time I w-was meant t-to be done… I g-got so many scary l-looks from th-the other p-parents as I l-left the room.’’ The skeleton snickered and covered his mouth, ‘’Well Al, I’m at least certain that they’ll end up finding the same painful experience as you. To focused with their own strife to worry about you. Was that all it was?’’ Alphys gave another slightly pained expression, ‘’S-she was the w-worst, b-but there was also a c-couple of the o-other teachers, the history one w-was painfully s-slow, he w-went into d-detail on everything th-they had been l-learning. The gym t-teacher was full on, s-scary, aggressive and j-just mean, he k-kept on critiquing me o-on posture and… my uh… physical mass.’’ Those last two words having an annoyed and hurt edge to them. ‘’A-at l-least the maths t-teacher was relatively normal, c-could get on w-with her well’’. He nodded at her, feeling some minor relief he wasn’t there but at the same time he felt bad she had to deal with all alone, he decided to focus on what the actual goal was. ‘’So what about Asgore’s scores or whatever…. What do the teachers think of him?’’ ‘’Oh w-well he d-does really w-well in History and Ph-physical education, art h-he d-does fine, b-but maths i-is a little bit of a struggle f-for him.’’ ‘’Do we need to do anything with this information? Like I guess help him with maths?’’ She shrugged, ‘’I-I don’t know, I-I think I’ll r-report to Gaster first and s-see what he h-has to s-say, but m-maybe? I don’t know Sci i-it sounds s-scary, I m-mean we know th-the maths, just t-teaching? I c-can’t do th-that, I d-doubt there’s a s-single universe out th-there where I’m a t-teacher.’’ Sci tried to give a reassuring smile, ‘’You wouldn’t be that bad surely, besides it's not like you would have to properly teach him, just push him in the right direction, give him a little support, he shouldn’t need to be taught the entire subject or anything.’’ The skeleton gave her a wink, ‘’Trust me, I know, I had to do this with Paps when he was a teenager, especially with sciences and maths, could become difficult between work and him, but it can be managed.’’ He didn’t expect to see his friend give him a confused look, nor her response, ‘’Oh, so y-you were an a-adult when he was in school, I-I d-didn’t think you w-were that much older th-than him.’’ ‘’I mean, we were in school together for while, just later on as the older brother I did have to outgrow school and move on, get a degree and such. Though I did help him during school as well.’’ Alphys seemed hesitant for a moment as she looked to the side, before glancing back Sci’s way, ‘’Wh-what was school l-like for you? I d-don’t think I’ve ever heard anything about y-you from your universe’’. He stopped and looked up at the roof, going through his memories, ‘’Oh well that’s an interesting question. I didn’t go to school at the start, I wasn’t a very healthy child at all…’’, he could already sense the next worried question coming from the other monster so he quickly looked at her, giving a smile, ‘’…no need to worry, I’m ok now, that can be a story for another time. Anyway, I was home schooled by my mother for quite a while and even without that I was always reading books and learning.’’ He stopped for a moment and Alphys could just pick out a blissful grin on his face, a legitimate one. ‘’I think I can attribute my love for science from that. When you almost never get to leave the house and get stuck in bed almost all day, every day, even non-fiction books can be as exciting as fiction. All those science texts that spoke of the world around us, how everything worked, lots of things that I had never even heard of, it felt like the very world outside my front door could be an amazing place where so many things were possible. Not only that but when it comes to Astrology, when everything else is just amazing to a young boy, just imagine that in extension to the exterior world, there’s a whole universe out there, unexplored and full of infinite possibilities. That’s why I eventually became a scientist, because I wanted to see everything I read as a kid with my own eyes… otherwise afterwards, school was fine, had a few people to hang out with, was pretty chill throughout the years, never struggled or worried to much about anything except making sure my scores were high enough’’ He looked over at Alphys, letting her know she didn’t have to keep her silence, he always found her to be a good listener. ‘’W-wow…. Th-that’s r-really nice, wish I-I had s-such a good r-reason to g-go the w-way I d-did, for m-me science was…’’, she furrowed her brow as if she was struggling to remember something, trying break past a mental wall, but with an almost defeated look she sighed, ‘’… I’m n-not sure, guess I j-just found it m-my natural c-calling or something’’. ‘’Hey Al, there isn’t anything wrong with that, I think that’s a perfectly suitable reason, as long as you’re happy.’’ ‘’Y-yeah I g-guess… well I’m honoured t-to learn the o-origins of Dr Sci’’ His expression turned to one of amusement as he laughed, ‘’If only I had a dollar for every instance…’’ ‘’Wh-what do y-you mean?’’ ‘’Al, hate to break your grand image of me, but I’m not a Doctor, I don’t have the title or doctorate or anything.’’ ‘’What?! Really? Never?’’, surprise at this revelation caused her voice to get a bit higher. ‘’Hehehe nope, I’m just plain old Mr Sans’’ ‘’B-but why?’’ Sci shrugged, ‘’School never really agreed with me, eventually I dropped out of college and managed to weasel my way into a job with Gaster’’. The lizard monster nodded, ‘’O-ok, I s-see, that’s… awfully s-surprising to s-say the least, s-sorry for assuming,’’ He let out another chuckle, ‘’Don’t be, people do it all the time, it’s no biggy… now enough about me, what about you Al? What was school life like for you? I’m sensing you were real big on hanging out at the library. ‘’ Alphys’ face reddened a little bit at being called out like that, ‘’M-maybe y-you’re right… but school w-wasn’t very e-exciting for me. I-I didn’t r-really h-have many friends, was sort of a-alone most of th-the time, I w-was the one s-student everyone f-forget was in th-their class. Although my l-lack of presence made s-sure I was only m-made fun of like… e-every once and a wh-while I guess… heh.’’ He couldn’t help but grimace, ‘’That must’ve been rough, sorry to hear that.’’ ‘’O-oh don’t worry, I g-got th-through it eventually, Uni was a l-lot b-better though, i-it was much easier t-to find people w-with similar interests and s-stuff. Made a f-few friends and I e-even still t-talk to some of them online t-to this day… so y-yeah, th-things did look up in th-the end. Th-thanks for th-the concern though’’. His smile finally returned, deciding it was best to focus on the positive side of it all, ‘’Well I’m really glad to hear that at least, things did turn out well in the end. Got friends then and now you’ve got a lot more friends, right? Well you have one in me at least.’’ Alphys let a big smile come to her face, ‘’Thanks. I assure y-you, I am ex-extremely grateful f-for e-every single one of you for b-being in my life’’ ‘’Geez, calm down on the sentimentality, you’re going to make me blush’’, he nervously scratched back of his head, embarrassment being shown merely by his expression. ‘’S-sorry… I um-…’’ Soon two monster parents walked out of the classroom they were sitting outside, disappearing down the hall and leaving the classroom vacant for them. ‘’I g-guess we sh-should go i-inside?’’ ‘’Sounds like a plan, ladies first?’’ Alphys gave him a playful squint before leading them both into the classroom.

 ASGORE

 Asgore was starting to really wish he had paid more attention to the schedule and that he knew where to go to find the others. Left, right, left, left, he couldn’t find his destination anywhere. He had been walking for fifteen minutes, but yet the sound of a walking cane in front of him brought his exploration to a halt, seeing a figure ahead of his path. The tall skeleton monster also stopped at the sight of the goat monster, resting on his walking cane, taking him a few seconds to finding some semblance of a comfortable postion. Asgore could read his face, the mental preparation on his expression was obvious, his gaze also noted a glare from a smaller skeleton monster standing behind. Gaster and Sans kept their gazes on him, moments turned to multiple seconds before finally Gaster threw away the silence. ‘’Asgore, it’s pleasant to see you here, why aren’t you with Dr Alphys?’’, his tone was calm and cold, he didn’t expect less. ‘’Turns out you don’t actually have to be there, something I learnt no thanks to you’’, he crossed his arms as his expression turned to one of aggressive seriousness, a feeling of anger and even resentment was building up within him, his tone wasn’t any better. ‘’Well I’ve always believed that you all being present is for the best, I think that it allows a good, healthy conversation between student, teacher and parent’’ ‘’Well it isn’t like you have a good idea of what is and isn’t the best. I think I can attest to that’’. Gaster’s eyes narrowed, the goat knew he was getting to them, the effort to stay calm draining his energy. But despite that jab, he apparently decided it was best to ask a question. ‘’You know anything about what the teachers have said? Anything you would like to talk about?’’ ‘’Just talk to Al, she’s reporting everything to you right? Best we don’t talk, right?’’ His voice kept getting more pointed towards his guardian. Finally his calmness cracked, and his voice raised, his anger becoming more apparent, ‘’Do you really plan to keep being so difficult? Can’t you just bite back that attitude for one damn minute?’’ With this Asgore could feel some negative form of satisfaction at getting to him, almost a victory that didn’t come close to filling him with any happiness or closure, just fuelling the void that was his resent. ‘’You going to apologise, admit you were wrong, going to stop keeping all your stupid little secrets, stop being so controlling? Stop doing a terrible job at parenting.’’ Suddenly, Sans came to his father’s defence, breaking his silence with a real pissed off smile, ‘’You think you’re funny? Stop whining and just be grateful you’ve managed to get away with your disrespect as much as you have.’’ ‘’That’s enough Sans.’’ Those three words with a huge amount of force put behind them managed to shift his focus, ‘’You really going take all of this from him? Stop letting him talk to you like this.’’ ‘’Just… leave. Go find the others or something. This is between Asgore and myself, you need not get involved.’’ ‘’But-…’’ ‘’Now Sans! Do as I say. This isn’t the time.’’ The seriousness of his tone could not be more apparent and without another word, Sans went to leave, not before shooting the other kid a despising look. After a small amount of silence to confirm Sans was gone, Gaster spoke, regaining a fragment of his calmness, ‘’Asgore, you know I have very good reason for what I do, you just need to realise that’’. The prince let out a small huff of dismissal, ‘’Always making it sound like you can’t be wrong. Typical. But you think I should be ok with you lying to me? About something so important?’’ ‘’Yes, if it’s for you own safety, then yes.’’ ‘’Well you’re wrong, you should’ve told me as soon as you found out, you should’ve told me I was a danger to everyone around me, things could’ve gone wrong and I could’ve got people killed? Is that freaking ok?’’, he could his blood boiling at Gaster’s every word, his mind racing and filling with every negative thought under the sun. Gaster wasn’t much better, his voice also rising, ‘’With the mental state you were in at the time, I had to hide it from you, you were vulnerable and in pain after everything that you’d been through. I’m certain that if I told you the truth, you would’ve snapped, jumped off the deep end, I have no idea what you would’ve done but I refused to let that be a risk, I am trying to help you with everything I do’’. ‘’You had no right to keep such valuable information from me’’. ‘’As a parent I had Every. Single. Right! I know what’s best for you Asgore. You just can’t see it.’’ Finally Asgore just hit his limit, he needed to inflict pain right now, he wanted to hurt him and he needed to get his emotions off his chest. ‘’WELL I WISH I COULD REVOKE THAT TITLE FROM YOU!! YOU DON’T DESERVE IT, NOBODY DESERVES THE HELL THAT’S YOUR PARENTING’’. Gaster clenched his teeth as the hit from his words hit him in his core, pain was stricken on his face, ‘’ ✡︎□︎◆︎ ♓︎❍︎◻︎◆︎♎︎♏︎■︎⧫︎ ♍︎♒︎♓︎●︎♎︎’’ The skeleton watched the child have sudden regret filled face, yet his vision being clouded by red didn’t allow him to notice until afterwards, when it was to little and to late. ‘’Maybe for you… maybe it would’ve been better if we’d never-‘’, he suddenly returned to his senses to prevent himself from trying to return fire, but watching Asgore’s face turn from regret to shock and sadness made him realise that he didn’t prevent the damage. ‘’Y-you… we both know how that sentence was going to end don’t we?’’, his voice sounded like it was a struggle to get out through troubled breathing. ‘’Asgore, you know I didn’t mean that, I think we both g-‘’ ‘’I think I need to leave now.’’, with those simple words he turned around and started to walk away in a hurry. ‘’Wait stop, please don’t, we’ll deal with this like civilised people’’, Gaster desperately pleaded as he summoned a skeletal hand behind Asgore that grabbed his shoulder. On reaction he furiously grabbed the hand and chucked it at the ground, giving it a hard stomp, cracking it into the ground until it disappeared, the skeleton wincing at the action. ‘’DON’T TOUCH ME, just stop! If you want me gone so badly, then you never have to see to me, Ever Again!’’ He turned to face Gaster, it was evident that tears were starting to form in the child’s eyes, but before the adult could see them drop, Asgore turned back around and ran away, out of sight. Gaster held his head in a pained expression, feeling a headache coming on, though he turned when he heard the voice of a cat monster come from behind him. ‘’Ummm sir, you ok? Couldn’t help but hear the umm end of the commotion’’, he said with a cautious tone. The scientist groaned, wishing nobody had to hear such a thing, ‘’I’ll be fine, I just need to… get a better handle on… everything. Sorry you had to hear that’’. ‘’Hehehe no it’s ok, teenagers right? My daughter is going through a similar phase, all argumentative and stuff over the most trivial things. That the same thing going on here?’’ Gaster started to walk away before he started speaking, his tone returning to one of calculations and cold. ‘’Exactly. Trivial matters. Just focus on your own business, if you will’’.

#glitchtale alphys #quantumetale Asgore #science sans #fox household #act 4 #story #undertale #parent stuff #past #school life