Tumgik
#tending
lucasbarr · 1 year
Text
Saw the queen Miss Dolly Parton tending and I got scared she died 😂 Tumblr don’t do that to me !
2K notes · View notes
jaketsparrow · 6 months
Text
Tending Part 5!
Tumblr media
Pairing: Jake Kiszka x f! Reader
Word Count: 11.1K
A/N: Sorry I just had to tease you guys today and make you wait :) Again, I’m so very sorry this took a while, I just had a lot going on! I hope you enjoy the chaos of this chapter, my mind reallyyyy just went wild. 
Another special shout out to @gvfpal for being amazing and getting the first dibs on this piece! Thanks for always listening to my crazy ideas :) 
MINORS DNI
MENTIONS OF/ TW: Sexual content (of course), unprotected sex (Don’t do this!), angst, swearing, Dom! Jake, restraints, possible orgasm denial, impact play, etc, it’s filth. 
Masterpost
Driving lately has become a weird buffer zone in your life. Every time you get into the car your thoughts just start running. It feels like stepping out of your life momentarily; like you are closed off from your own world. It was like being in your own TV show and watching the recap of the last episode. It’s safe, isolating, and a place to let your thoughts just go. 
As usual, your thoughts go to Jake. He has consumed your entire mind. You were once happy being alone; in fact, you preferred it. Every man you’ve dated in the past year or so hasn’t been someone to take home to the family. Honestly, neither was Jake yet, but there was something different about him. Jake was different than any man you had been with, you felt like he did care for you, but he just didn’t know how. It was like he was a confused little kid who didn’t know whether to kick his mom or hug her when she came home from a long day away. 
You’ve never found yourself weak or needing a man, but Jesus fucking Christ, you needed Jake. Every time you’re in his presence you can’t help but feel your heart rate rise, feel the need growing between your legs… He just had this majestic siren song that you keep falling for. You’ve accepted at this point that Jake was right, he will never be the perfect boyfriend, let alone the perfect man. He was protective of you and did care for you, but he would never let you know that without a fight. 
“Pants off, now.” He commands. 
Oh.
Did he really just?... 
He’s standing over you with this stupid judging face. You don’t want to obey him, but your body is telling you other things. Your heartbeat has traveled from your chest down between your legs, pulsing at the thought of fucking him again. You feel frozen in this state of complete lust. Last night’s extravagance deprived you of his cock, and now… that’s all you want.
Clearly annoyed by your hesitation, Jake scoffs and reaches down to your waist. He wraps his arms around your midsection and lifts you over his shoulder. Your core cuts into his shoulders as he hoists you over him. You feel like a ragdoll trying to manipulate your way out of his grasp.
“Jake!” You whimper, trying to wiggle yourself into a more comfortable position.
“You really ought to learn to fucking listen to me.” His open palm meets your clothed ass, providing a cushioned, but still stinging smack. You yelp, quite loudly, surprised by his actions. He turns his head to look at your defeating position, “You’re in big fucking trouble now.” 
There he was. The Jake you have been craving. The Jake that surprised you your first night together. The Jake who you always secretly wanted, but were also a little scared of. This version of him was almost completely heartless, using you as he pleased. You become his plaything when this persona switches on. And you enjoy every minute of it. 
He loops his fingers underneath the waistband of your sweats and yanks them off in one vigorous pull. Your ass is now on full display. You reach below his shirt and rake your nails across his lower back, trying any means to rile him up further. 
Jake winces through gritted teeth, “You’re such a fucking whore.” 
“And you fucking love it,” You cry.
Another open-handed smack breaches your ass; another yelp fires out of you. This one is sure to leave a mark. 
“You’re gonna wish you were good.” 
He starts his walk to the bedroom, and you continue to try to wiggle free of him. His grip is firm on you and the position he’s burdened you with provides no leverage to win. Although you really don’t want to be set free, it’s more fun not to completely comply with 
his whims. 
He approaches the bed and throws you down with a brute but controlled force. Your head falls back into the mattress you neatly made not that long ago. You reach your hands out to brace yourself from breaking. The fabric bunching up in your fists. 
“Hey! I just made this!” You chime.
Speaking at that moment was something you instantly regretted. 
Jake is standing over you, breathing hot and heavy. The tension in the air is thick and you know what you have gotten yourself into now. His demeanor is fierce, brow furrowed and eyes glaring through you. His hands are balled up by his sides and you can see the rigidity in his body. Behind his eyes, his brain is wracking through plans of what to do with you, his disobedient girl. 
You slide your legs up and down the mattress, nervous and excited about what he is thinking of. You run your hands down your stomach, trying to entice him to do something, do anything to you. Anything he wanted. You slowly part your legs, presenting yourself to him. 
“No. You don’t deserve that.” He barks, “If you think any of this will be for your pleasure… You’re delusional.”
“...Jake.” You beg. 
He reaches down towards your head, sending his fingers through your scalp and to the back of your neck, whipping you up, tugging his fingers on your hair. He leans closer to your face, still hovering over you. 
“Not.” A harsh pull at the back of your head puts you eye to eye with his looming presence. “My,” Another wincing pull tearing at your scalp, “fucking name.”
Jake holds you in his grip, dominating you completely. You feel defenseless, like an injured bird, waiting for him to care for you, but he doesn’t. 
“Please! Please, sir!” You beg. 
He releases you from his grip and your neck snaps back up to its rightful place. 
“Color.” He demands. 
You look up to him, eyes fierce and ready. “Green.”
Jake grabs your jaw, resting his grip along the bone, “You are mine right now. I didn’t give everything up for you to be flirting with my fucking twin. Do you understand me?”
You nod your head vigorously, feeling the shame settling in you. Who knew you could feel ashamed and horny all at the same time. 
“Words.” He orders.
You swallow any shame and try your best to put it aside; it wouldn’t help you now.
 “Yes, sir.” You mewl.
His hands move to the side of your neck, holding your jaw firmly with his thumb. 
“You know what you should be doing right now.” 
He guides your eyes down to look at the growing bulge in his pants. He seems harder than ever before, completely drunk on his own control. You look up at him through heavy eyes, scared. You’ve been here before. You need to please him again. 
Jake releases his hand from your jaw and moves it to run his fingers through the top of your head, coaxing you to get started. Gently placing your hand on his cock, you try to gently stroke him through his clothes. 
He fists your hair into his fingers, “No, no teasing. You don’t get to do that right now.” 
There would be absolutely no option for control for you. No teasing, any brattiness would come with a consequence. Jake steps back and leaves a bare spot on the carpet in between you two. His hand pushes you forward, launching your feet onto the rug, and then onto your knees. He releases his hand from your scalp and starts unzipping his pants. 
You are completely silent; compliant with his wishes. Waiting for his instructions. Your head rises to watch his cock slide out from his boxer briefs. It was daunting to see him like this, completely full, swollen even, bigger than you ever thought he was before. His right-hand grips around the solid skin, slowly stroking. His other hand reaches out to grab your cheeks, holding your mouth open in an ‘o’ shape. 
Your eyes graze up his body to meet his eyes. The chocolate brown irises are almost unrecognizable in this position. His dominating stature shines over you, completely taking over you. You can feel your excitement growing beneath you, but there is nothing you can do about that. The warmth that was blossoming between your legs would be shut until your turn if you were even allowed one. 
He loosens his grip around your jaw, resting his hand under your chin. 
His velvety tone sweeps into the air, relinquishing any uncertainty you had, “If you need me to stop,” Three taps of his fingers rap gently across your jaw, “Just do that, okay? Tap three times.”
“I won’t need to stop.”
A complete surge of neediness consumes you. You need him, you need to make him feel special, to remind him that you were going to be the woman he would never forget. You take your hands from your lap and fly them to his body. One hand grips into his thigh and the other takes its position around the base of his shaft. You nearly knock him over in the act, sending him into pure bliss. Almost taking him out of his command, shocking him with your ability to be the whore he wanted you to be. 
“Fuck…” He cries. “My fucking little slut couldn’t even wait-”
You slide your mouth as far as you can down his shaft, gagging yourself on all of him. His body shudders below your hand and you feel proud of your ability to melt him as much as he does to you. 
It doesn’t take too many wet strokes for him to finally gather himself back. His hand reoccupies the back of your head, trying to chase that same feeling again. Your mouth is shoved with as much of him as you can take, almost too much to handle. It’s worth the praise, you tell yourself. Take all of him now, and get all the rewards you can. 
“You’re taking me so well.” He says in gravely tones. 
You truly weren’t, you were choking him down, barely hanging on. Tears streaming down your eyes. You try to shoot your best doe eyes up at him, begging for him to have enough. You were reaching your limit, pushing yourself to a new maximum. 
Your head kept bobbing rhythmically against him, trying to hold him deep in your throat. You were doing things you didn’t even know your body was capable of. 
“My best little whore looks so good down there, sucking my cock.”
A swift and hard push of the back of your head launches you as far as you can take Jake, knocking your nose into his lower stomach. 
Three taps.
Fuck. You did need to stop. 
Jake slides out of your mouth as you cough heavily, gasping for air. You collapse your head, trying to stabilize yourself. Deep breaths. 
Jake tucks himself back into his pants and tries to assess the situation. He bends down to you, bringing his face down to yours; sweeping the hair out of your face. The switch was flipped, he was going into protective mode. 
“Sunshine.” He whimpers. You try to hold back your coughs and lift your head to his. He pushes the last strand of hair out of your eyes, “Are you okay?”
You nod your head, holding your breath in fear that more wheezes are going to escape. One deep breath through your nose clears the burning tickle in your throat. 
“Yes, I’m okay. Keep going.” 
His face lights up with your permission. The classic Jake smirk runs across his lips, almost a full smile revealing his excitement. 
“Good girl.” 
The words melt you. Any bit of praise was going to keep you going; it was going to make you need him more. 
He lifts you slowly back onto the bed, trying his best to be gentle only for this moment. He sprawls you out onto your back and sits next to you. 
The slowdown of all the action, the passion, is getting to you. He’s treating you like a weak girl, but you weren’t. He just took you by surprise. You wouldn’t let that one moment take away the Jake you had been craving. 
“C’mon, are you going to fuck me?” The words sputter out of you, only half confident, but still ringing strong through the air. 
Jake snaps his neck to scowl at you. There it was. 
His arm travels to your neck, holding you in place, once again choking for air, “What if I’ve had enough of you today? What then?” 
What if? Would he still be here if he did?
“You fucking want it and you know it… You’ve been thinking of it since last night. Seeing my cunt all soaked and not getting to feel it for yourself.” 
Who the fuck just said that? A month ago those words wouldn’t have even been something you would be comfortable thinking, let alone saying out loud. 
Your vile words shock Jake as well; you can feel the grip on your neck waiver a moment as he processes. And then. Well.
“You think you fucking know it all? My little slut thinks she knows me better, huh? I think it’s you that’s been craving my cock. You could barely wait your turn to fucking choke on it. You’re dying for me to fuck you. You’ve been naughty, trying to get me to take you. Being a little whore in front of me. Now you can wait.”
Jake stands up, and for a moment you’re actually worried he’s about to walk out of the room. Instead, he reaches for your left ankle and yanks it to the corner of the bed, the sheets sliding you across the mattress. 
“Shirt off.” He orders, and you comply instantly. 
He rounds the edge of the bed and grabs your wrist next, pulling it up by the pillow you slept on last night. With his other hand, he reaches deep into the side of the mattress between the bed frame and pulls out a restraint. It’s a soft cuff with velcro to hold it together. He holds it out for you so you can see. 
“Green?” He asks, eager for your answer.
“Fucking yes.”
A rip of velcro and then the cuff is wrapped around your wrist. You softly tug at the restraint, noticing it wasn’t going to be easy to break out of it, but you guess that was the point. 
Two more rips and soon your ankles are loosely restrained to the corners of the frame. You have more movement with your legs than your hand, but still would not be able to break free of the cuffs. 
He walks around the bed to the other side, surveying your naked body. Taking in each inch with his gaze. He was going to be the predator, and you the helpless prey. 
One last rip of velcro and the other cuff wraps around your wrist. Once he’s satisfied with the cuffs, he walks over to stand directly in front of you, watching you test each limb for movement. 
“What if I just left you like this? Just stood here and watched you beg for my cock.” The words are cold and cruel. You can feel the fire, no, the need burning in you with the thought of not having him. 
“No! Please, please. I need you. I want you.” You beg mercilessly. 
“So much for all that back talk before, huh? ‘Please’” He mocks. “I’m not so convinced you’re ready to be good yet.”
The need is gathering through your stomach, down between your legs. There was no way to hide the slickness that was starting; he would be able to see all of you.  
“Please!” You gasp, “I can be good, I promise sir… Just please fuck me. Fuck me, Sir!”
“Hmmm…” He drops his hands down on the mattress, staring you down, watching you writhe through the desire. “You don’t deserve anything. Trying to make me upset, trying to tease me, such a fucking whore today.”
The words coming from him are completely a facade. He knows he wants this now. He’s in too deep. He loves to see you like this, completely helpless; completely his. You have more of a say in this than he wants you to know. But you know what to do. You know the games he likes to play. 
“Please, baby. I know. I was such a bad girl… I’m a dirty slut. I fucked up. You can be mad at me, please… please just take me, I want to make you happy.” 
He watches you for a brief moment, letting the pleads hang in the air. His eyes are lit with an insatiable lust. He wanted it. He wanted it bad. He may be able to mask it with his words, but his body tells a completely different story. He pushes himself off of the mattress and begins to undress himself. Teasing you with each reveal of his tanned skin. 
First his shirt. The edges of the fabric slowly climb their way up his gorgeous soft stomach. It was like a curtain lifting at the beginning of a show, each inch elevating your excitement for the first act. 
The silence was eating at you. What was he thinking? What was he going to do…
“Please, Please…” You implore. 
Next is his zipper, slowly sliding down to once again, reveal his bulging, practically jumping cock. The sight of it is sending you into a ferality. You pull against the restraints, trying to lift yourselves towards it. Paying no mind to the forces holding you back, you try to reach for him.  
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” He growls, “So impatient.” 
Pleading moans erupt out of you. You feel like you’re being withheld from the thing you want most, well, because you are. You feel your core tightening. His sultry, teasing behavior is absolute torture. 
“I need you! I need it, please!” 
Slowly, the remainder of his clothes fall off of his body, revealing his perfect stature. His body looks like it’s carved with absolute perfection and care. Each edge is softly rounded, ready to be touched. 
He crawls across the bed, bringing his head close to your aching cunt. His breath permeates your skin. He reaches one finger up to your lower stomach, slowly dragging it from your navel to your clit. You’re whimpering with each movement he makes. 
“Is this...” He finally plants his finger firmly onto your bundle of nerves, shocking every muscle in your body, “What you want?” 
“Yes, yes, yes…” The words are echoing out of you, pressing for more. 
“You’ve been very good, surrendering to me. You know your a bad girl, right? That I’m being extremely forgiving for even taking you this far.” 
“Yes, sir…” 
His tongue crashes into you, at first wide and spreading you, then narrowing onto your needy clit. The first pass over you sends you into complete shock, you can’t do anything but feel. The restraints prevent you from being at all distracted by anything but his soft, precise movements. 
He builds his pace, tasting everything of you that he can. 
“Oh poor thing, you can’t even help it.” He teases, “You just have to take it all.” 
“I want it all…” It’s getting harder to even form sentences. All you can think about is his face on you, completely drenching you. His tongue exploring each fold, each sensitive spot. You feel the tightness, the excitement rushing through you. Your legs shaking, arms fighting against the restraints. Labored moans fighting their way out. 
“Oh, well that won’t do.” He stops everything, denying you the release you were feeling so close to, “I’m sorry sunshine, but this is for my pleasure. Remember?” 
You whine, exasperated cries spilling into the air. 
“Are you being ungrateful?” 
A flat-handed smack splays across your swollen cunt. You lift your neck to watch it all happen. The evil smirk splayed across Jake, the hand meeting your skin, the soft gasps escaping your lips. 
“Color?” He asks. 
You think for a moment, “Green.”
Another soft blow swats at you, absolutely wrecking your body. Each blow feels like a shock wave of filthy pleasure. 
“Fuck…” This moment felt so dirty. Felt so good. He always pushed you to new levels of pleasure. 
He wastes no time at this point. He can’t wait any further to feel you. He knows he can’t hold out on you any longer. 
Jake pushes himself up on the mattress and starts to slowly pump himself. A steady stream of spit falls from his lips onto his cock, lubricating himself. 
“Are you ready for this?” He asks, most likely not caring how ready you are, it just means he was ready. 
You nod your head, unable to even fathom the force he will bring to you. 
“Words.” He commands. 
You strain to focus yourself, “Please just fuck me.” 
He reaches over to the corners of the bed, releasing your ankles from the restraints, but leaving your hands in their disciplinary holds. 
He grabs your hips and lifts you to line up with him. His cock blows into you, straight to the hilt. You moan loudly, almost graphically. He squeezes his thumbs into your sides, stabilizing himself. Low grunts come through his gritted teeth.
He isn’t giving you any mercy, pounding himself into you. Each drill pushes further and further into you, breaking you in two. 
“Fuck, you feel so good,” You groan. 
“Yeah? My little slut likes getting fucked like this?” He asks. 
“She’d like it a lot more if you were harder,” You reply through choked breaths. 
You don’t need to beg much for this. 
“That’s why you’re my fucking favorite.” 
Jake assumes his hand on your neck, gripping you tightly. You thought he was going hard before, but this was unreal. Each pump into you provided a harsh blow to your body. It was calculated, menacing, everything you fucking wanted. 
You feel him fill you entirely, your cunt consuming every inch of his unyielding cock. You feel yourself already losing control, building to climax. He feels so good, better than ever before. You both feel confident in each other, and you both know how to get each other to the highest high. 
“Oh, you think you deserve to come?” 
Fuck. 
“Please!” You beg. “Please sure, please.” 
He looks deeply into your desperate eyes. He can see the absolute terror of being denied. You feel like maybe he might give in, might let you get there. You know how close you are and you can feel him getting there too. You risk it all. 
You wrap your legs around his waist, holding him into you, preventing him from escaping. 
“You fucking-” 
You both gasp in unison, reaching your orgasms just moments after the other. Jake lowers himself by your ear, uttering complete pornographic moans. It feels intimate to hear him like this, to hear how happy you’ve made him. 
Your body shudders underneath him, clenching around his softening body. Your restricting hold increases every tightening muscle in your core, lifting your back completely off of the mattress. Feelings of butterflies flurry through your body, starting from your satisfied cunt, down through your legs. 
You both mix within yourself, feeling your body flood with him. 
“You fucking slut.” He chokes out. 
You giggle in his ear, “Admit it, Jake, you fucking love it.” 
Instead of feeling excitement for your destination, you just feel uneasy. You could feel the sweat slickening the steering wheel the harder you gripped it. Deep down, there was a part of you that wished you didn’t agree to go see the band. 
The last time you interacted with Josh, it left Jake feeling jealous. He truly had no right to be jealous of you just making friends. But now, there was some lingering destructive intent. You wanted him to feel that way; as petty as that was of you. You were always the one chasing after Jake, begging him for attention, begging to be the only one. That morning with the twins was your opportunity to give him a taste of how it feels to be you. 
That point didn’t entirely come off to him, instead, the argument just led to more intense angry sex. That was always going to be the best way for you two to get in the mood. 
You hate knowing that Jake can get out of any argument by getting you fired up. At least you knew that all these arguments could in theory just be your foreplay, not ever real fights. It made you feel diminished, but then again, he would always find a way to make everything up to you by the end. 
Jake and his stupid, stupid apologies were going to kill you someday.
You both knew you had work that night, so Jake opted to drive you home so you could get ready. The morning and early afternoon flew by at his house. You were quite exhausted at that point and were ready to wash away the very sinful acts that still lingered on your skin. 
You didn’t have much time to prepare yourself for the shift and had to rush through your usual routine. Shower. Brush your teeth. Get dressed. Get out the door. The whole hour went by in a blur. 
And just as usual, you pull through the cavernous parking lot of fleets and find your always unoccupied spot in the back. You still manage to arrive before Jake, whose car was missing from the lot. You turn off the engine and head into the back door. The kitchen is busy, with loud clanging and shouts emerging from behind the hallway walls. 
You drop your bag and head out to the main floor. Chris is nowhere to be seen yet, and the only other employee you can see is… of course. Mariella. 
She’s wearing this shit-eating grin talking to the regulars. You feel a wave of disgust run over you and you have to try and control yourself from letting your emotions get the best of you. The last time you saw her she was trying to fuck up your relationship with Jake, and well… She succeeded. You can’t let her do that to you. You can’t let your jealousy burn through what you have with him. He chose you, and you chose him. 
Breathe through it, let it go, and kill that bitch with kindness. 
You walk to the bar and hop under the counter, joining her behind the bar. She doesn’t turn to acknowledge you as you clock in. It all feels so middle school. You pretend she doesn’t exist, and she’ll probably do the same. 
The dishwasher beeps and you run over to start emptying the glasses. She pops her head over to look at you briefly but turns back to continue flirting with the 40-year-old in front of her. 
You’re extremely annoyed, but continue to complete your chores; well technically hers. Where the fuck is Jake? And why the fuck is she still behind the bar? 
“Hey girl,” Hearing her voice is like the equivalent of drinking lemon juice. It’s bitter, soured, and ultimately- unpleasant. 
You don’t even bother to look back at her, instead zeroing in on the steamy glasses. 
“So,” She starts, “I hope I didn’t fuck things up with you and Jake.” 
You snap your head to look at her, trying your best to display how uncomfortable you are in her presence. 
She’s so fake. Of course, she hopes she fucked things up. She manipulated you with the perfect words to turn on Jake. You continue to pull the glasses out of the dishwasher, lining them up on the counter to be put away.
“No things are fine. We talked it out. He said he’s done with all the temporary girls.” You glare back at her. 
Being petty is fun. 
“Aw, well I’m so glad to hear it babes,” She rests her hand on your shoulder and breezes past you out from behind the bar. “Oh and don’t worry, I closed out all my tabs.” 
The rage is filling in you. You felt brave at this moment, ready to settle any sort of anger you felt with her. 
“Mariella.” She stops to turn, just a few feet away from the counter. You stride over to the corner of the bar, separating you two with the counter. “What you did…” Your voice and bravery is starting to trail off when the reality of the situation was setting in, “What you did was fucked up. You knew I liked him before you did anything with him. When I finally got my chance you chose to be a backstabber and try to kill my dream. That’s not what friends do.”
Her face hasn’t changed through any of your words. A scowl is burned across her brow, “Who said we were friends?” 
Her words take you back. You thought you had been friends. You had worked at Fleets together for over a year now and had spent many nights together drinking and complaining about the shithole bar. Now she was denying it all? 
No. You can’t let her keep getting to you. You can’t let her make you second guess yourself anymore. 
“No, you don’t get to do that to me anymore Mariella. You don’t get to make me feel like shit. So what you had Jake first? So what you don’t want to be my friend? I am not jealous of you anymore, and you can’t make me feel second class just because your tits are bigger and you can seduce any of these losers in this bar. I won. I get Jake.” 
Mariella bursts out laughing, almost in tears. “Whatever! You won! Great for you. Hope you enjoy it all. Good luck with that mess of a human! I hope you’re very happy together.” 
She continues laughing to herself as she walks into the back office. 
That wasn’t the satisfying ending you wanted. 
You pull into a spot in front of the venue. The parking lot was dimly lit and full of cars. People lingered in front of the door, chatting, sharing cigarettes, waiting for something exciting to happen. 
The band had already been here for an hour or so setting up; probably having some pre-show drinks to loosen up. Even though they don’t go on for another twenty or so minutes, you decide it is better to leave earlier than to just sit idly waiting in your apartment. But now that you were here, and were early, you don’t want to go in until it’s time for their set to start. 
You feel your heart climbing into your throat. You truly didn’t think you would still get anxious over these things, but after everything that’s happened this week, it feels like walking on glass. 
You press your hands into your face and try to regulate the fear permeating through you. You try your best to flush it away, remembering you’re only here to support the band. You can’t let Jake’s jealousy control you forever. Whatever happens, happens. 
Jake walks through the back and heads towards the bar. As soon as he sees you a huge smile appears on his face. Was he actually happy to see you, or was he just thinking about what you both did just hours before? Either way, you smile back. The cheerful appearance of him is making you blush. Everything starts to feel real like never before. 
The back office door opens again and you see Mariella waltz out to the back. Chris appears in the doorway, making direct eye contact with you. Shit. Did she just tattle on you for being mean to her? Why does every interaction with her feel like high school all over again? 
Chris brings his hand up to wave you towards him, one finger inching in his direction. An audible sigh escapes your lips. Jake jostles to the bar and hops over the counter with incredible agility. 
“What the fuck?” You ask, completely perplexed at his insane amount of energy. 
He laughs, knowing how strange his action must have been. He walks past you, quickly uttering, “You make me feel like a whole new man baby.”
You would be inclined to jump onto him and mount him right there if you knew your boss wasn’t also staring you down from the other room. You try your best to acknowledge Jake, while still slipping away. 
“Oh good, you needed a new personality,” You joke, slipping out from the bar, “One sec, I’ll be right back.” 
“Screw you!” He sarcastically jeers from the POS system. 
You awkwardly jog over to the office door, letting yourself in. Chris is already back in his seat at his corner desk. He looks defeated, and well, really annoyed. His hand is sprawled across the right side of his face, holding his shaking head. You close the door behind you, trying to make him aware of your presence. 
“Sit,” he barks, pointing at the spare dining room seat opposite to him. 
You gingerly sit down on the cold wooden chair and try to sit up straight, holding yourself as professionally as you can. 
“What the fuck is going on?” His words cut the air. 
What situation is he even talking about?
“With?” You ask, surveying for him to give you more. 
Chris sighs and leans back into his chair, resting his clasped hands over his beer belly, “Listen, you’ve always been a fine employee. You show up, you do what you need to, and you leave. But I don’t deal with fucking drama. I don’t deal with he said she said, she’s dating him, he’s into her, bullshit. That’s why I put the rules in place.”
Ohhh what the fuck? What the hell is he even talking about? Mariella totally fucking tattled on you- to your boss of all people! 
You angle yourself forward, your face painted with confusion, “Okay, first off, I don’t know what to say to any of that, second of all, what rule?” 
“The no dating other employees rule.” The what? Chris continues, “Jake knew about it... I had a conversation with him about it. And yet we still have bullshit! And I really don’t fucking want bullshit.”
“Hold on, hold on,” You brace your hands out, trying to slow Chris, “Why am I just hearing of this rule now?”
Chris drops his hands, “I dont know. I just… I thought you were a lesbian.”
Your face drops and utter shock goes through your body. “Chris-”
“What? You were always hanging around Mariella and never had a boyfriend and only flirted with the ladies.” He throws his hands up trying to save this conversation he has so clearly lost. 
“Chris… Just because I’m not trying to suck face with the forty-year-old alcoholics out there, does not mean I’m a fucking lesbian.” You bury your face in your hands, completely over this entire interaction, “You have to tell all the employees the rules. Even if I was gay, what if I dated one of the other girls here?” 
“Listen… I don’t know why I didn’t tell you, okay? But bottom line, Jake knew.”
“Okay,” You trail off, “So…? Sounds like you’re getting at something else here Chris.”
Chris squares himself, leaning his hands into his thighs, “Well… Either you two,” he motions with hands a cut across his throat, “You know, end it. Or, one of you has to go. We’ve had struggles with this in the past. You both are great bartenders, but that can all change when you start getting into little spats and fighting in the bar.”
Little does he fucking know… 
“So, you want me to end my relationship, which I don’t even know if it is a real relationship or not-”
Chris moans, “God. I don’t care what it is-”
“Or you want me to quit?” The words feel sour and morose. 
Chris stands up, trying to get out of the unpleasant exchange. He walks over to rest his hand on your shoulder. A sad, looming expression dawns on him. 
“Doesn’t have to be you, kid.”
He goes to open the door, letting the light of the bar flood through the office. You can feel the tears forming in your eyes. A slight choke sits at the back of your throat. Everything that has to do with Jake and you always is a fucking disaster.
Why does everything have to be so hard? Why can’t you just have it easy? Why can’t Jake just be yours and you be his? What does everyone have against you two? Is this a bigger sign that maybe he just can’t be with you?...
“Chris,” You beg, “Can I just talk to him for a few minutes?”
He shakes his fist and tries his hardest to let go of any frustration, “Fine, but make it quick I hate that regular.”
And the same as he did with you, he waves Jake over to the office. Jake tilts his head like a sad puppy and quickly jogs out from behind the bartop. He strolls into the hallway, and Chris brushes past him to go take his place. 
The tears are still welling in your eyes and you can’t quite regulate your breathing. The frustration and anger you feel for Chris’ stupid policy is mixing with the dissatisfaction of Jake once again withholding information from you. 
“Sunshine?” He asks confused. 
You grab his hand and pry him into the office, closing the door behind him.
“Sit,” You plead. 
Now the roles were reversed. You try your best to compose yourself and consume all the sad emotions that were begging you to crawl out. 
Jake sits in the same chair as you did, “What?-”
“Jake.” Breathe. Don’t take it too far, “Did Chris inform you of a certain… No dating other employees rule?” 
He shifts awkwardly in the chair, obviously trying to avoid the interrogation, “Well, yeah, but-”
“Please… Please don’t say we’re not in one, because that will fucking kill me right now.” Your voice is breaking.
He sinks back into the chair. For the first time, he seems… hurt.
“I wasn’t going to-”
“Jake if you knew, why didn’t you tell me? Now I’ve got Chris telling me one of us has to quit or we… or we… you know…”
He runs his hand through his hair and turns to face you head-on. He reaches out for your hands, and you half haphazardly return them into his grasp. 
“I didn’t want you to not consider us an option. So I didn’t say anything.”
You take your hands back from him, quickly planting them on your hips, “So you think putting my job at risk is perfectly fine? All this behind my back shit is getting pretty old Jake, and we’ve barely even been at this a few weeks.” 
He drops his head, catching the crown of his hair in his fingertips, “What the hell did you want me to do?” 
You throw your hands in the air, fumbling to even find the right answer, “I don’t know Jake! But we could’ve tried to figure this out together before I was once again blindsided by something you hid from me! Because of your mistakes, Mariella came tattling to Chris-”
He lifts his head, staring you down. His eyes are sincere yet concerned. A look you’ve never seen from him, “She what?” 
“I told her to fuck off. I finally stood up for myself and she came in here to tattle.”
Jake closes his eyes and clenches his fists softly, “She’s not the kind you attack with words sunshine.”
You shake your head, not even believing that he’s telling you that you shouldn’t have stood up for yourself, “Jake that’s beside the fucking point. Because of you now I have to choose between walking away from my job or you.” 
“You’re not seriously going to choose are you?” 
“Doesn’t sound like I have a choice. I don’t want to. I want you, but I also need a fucking job. And right now you’ve pissed me off again.” 
“Again, what the fuck was I supposed to do? Do you wish I did nothing at all?”
“No,” You retort, quick to remind him you did want this. 
He rises to his feet, trying to establish some sort of control in the conversation, “Okay, so what then? You knew we were going to be all or nothing, or at least I did. I knew I had to have you, I didn’t think the rule was going to be held up.” 
“Jake.”
He rests his hands on your shoulders, “No, don’t fucking choose. What’s he going to do?”  
“Jake I’m pretty sure he’s going to fire one of us if we don’t pick. And we’re both on thin ice here so it will ultimately be whoever he likes more…” 
Jake shakes his head and drops his hands off of you, beginning to turn towards the door, “Can’t believe it. That you’re even considering it. After everything.” 
You grab his wrist, “After what Jake? After you finally decided you wanted to be with me? After I sat waiting months for you? After you fucked my friend? After you avoided this whole situation? After what?”
He snaps his wrist back to his side and reaches for the door handle. He shoots one last distraught glance back before heading back out into the hallway. 
It was about halfway through their set before Josh jumped off the stage to rush to you. He had been waiting for the right moment to run over to you all night. Shooting you happy glances, singing to you from the stage, and even ushering Jake over to the side you were sitting on so you could see him better. 
He waited until the worst possible moment to rush over to you, during one of Jake’s solos. 
He was worse than you when it came to pushing Jake. You could push him and get away with it, you knew it was all an act. But with Josh… He thought it was all a fun game, not realizing later that you would have to defend his actions like they were your own. 
Josh grabs your hand to lift you out of your seat, so eager to get you on your feet. The chair that you previously occupied clatters behind you. The crowd is completely distracted by Josh, and well, you. He swoops you close to him and soon your feet are moving along to the beat, jumping around with Josh in a flurry of happiness. 
Usually, you only had the enjoyment of watching live music, never participating in it. Here, you were now a part of this moment with them, and the one you wanted most to be happy for you, would clearly find this all too much. 
Josh grabs your hand and spins you around him, moving charismatically, so smoothly; quite romantically. If people were looking, they might think that Josh was the one you were with. Jake’s playing gets more technical with each moment, trying to win back the crowd’s attention, but everyone is watching his twin and you, swirling in a passionate dance on the bar floor. 
A smile is lit across your face; you’ve never had this much fun before, ever. There’s just enough whiskey in your system to completely evaporate any fear, or really notice the crowd cheering you on. You lower your hand across Josh’s waist, and he matches you, squeezing into your hip. You both circle each other, intoxicated in the glow of the moment. 
Jake’s solo slowly clamors to an end, and Josh realizes his cue to run back to the stage. He drops his hand from you and places a fragile kiss on your cheek before rushing back up to the mic. 
The crowd erupts in drunken cheers and you turn to notice the gathering they had made around the floor. They’re on their feet, clapping, enthusiastic about the thrilling moment. You awkwardly curtsey to the group and make your way back to your seat, picking it back up off the ground. 
The spirit of the moment quickly is burned when you look up and see Jake is not matching your excitement. A looming, angered glare is searing through any happiness you feel. He’s barely paying attention to the music, instead, steaming on the side of the stage. Gripping the guitar so tightly you fear it would break with any tighter hold. 
Shit. 
“Chris, can… I’m sorry can we just work this shift and figure it out tonight? I just want to do my job right now.”
Another classic Chris grunt and he waves you off, “Go. It’s gotta happen though. One of the choices.”
“Yes, yes I know,” You grovel, hoping that if you can’t come to a decision, he won’t be picking you to go. 
You rush back over to the bar and continue the chores you had left earlier. Of course, Chris didn’t bother picking up any slack, and neither did Jake. 
The thoughts are unraveling in your mind now. The control you had tried to exert is slowly withering away. Even though you had felt far more tough lately, you still couldn’t completely swallow the soft, emotional side of you. 
What the hell kind of choice is this? Lose your job or lose the boy you fought everything and everyone to have? Why does the universe fucking hate you?! 
Your body felt weighed, completely exhausted by all the drama and all the decisions. If you didn’t have responsibilities outside of this relationship, you would instantly pick Jake, but you can’t risk not having any income. You were a girl alone. No rich mommy or daddy to come to save you when you needed it most. You had given all of that up. No friends that could save you, they were miles away back home. You hate to admit it, but you were truly alone here. 
Sure, you had people, but no one that would be willing to take in a stray. Jake had his brother, he had more than you. It wasn’t fair to compare, but you were thinking it. 
He doesn’t seem to want to give you up either, at least that’s how it feels. He was heartbroken; defeated in that office. Just as sad as you. 
“Coming through-” Jake strides past you, holding onto three drinks, carefully balancing them in his hands, until he’s not. 
You turn to move, not realizing how close he was to you and knock your arm into his, sending the drinks flying over the front of your shirt. 
“Fuck!” You exclaim. 
Jake matches your sentiment, “Oh, shit.” 
You quickly run to grab a rag from the shelves behind the counter, trying to soak up the sticky liquid as fast as you can, before any stains set in. 
“Foul!” Yells one of the nasty regulars.
“Dude, shut up.” Jake retorts, rushing over to assist you, “I’m sorry, I should’ve-”
“It’s fine.” You don’t mean to be harsh, but in that moment all you could do was try to get him away. You didn’t want to think about him, about the situation, about any of it. You just wanted to get back to work. 
“This is Danny, and this is Sam,” Josh introduces the two other members of the band. 
You all gathered around the corner booth at the bar after the set. Jake had been avoiding you, taking his time to pack all of his things. The other boys were far less concerned with cleaning up, and headed straight to the bar, well straight to you. 
“Ohhh, so you’re the mysterious girl we’ve been hearing all about, huh?” Sam crosses his arms over his chest, surveying you, trying to be funny. 
“Oh yes, I’m very mysterious,” You joke back. 
Josh chuckles, “She isn’t one bit mysterious Sam, Jake is just always very vague with his lover’s darling. He doesn’t like to kiss and tell.”
You swallow back a large gulp of Jameson Ginger, “Oh yeah. I’m well aware.” 
Danny echoes into the conversation, trying to eagerly get in, “So how long have you two?...”
“Not long.”
“Oh,” Sam ponders, “I thought. Well, he’s been talking about a bartender for a-”
Josh shoots Sam a concerned look, trying to shut him up.
He knew? Did he know about Mariella? 
“Oh no, I’m not the only bartender,” Your comment is snide and condescending. You hope it’s not making a fool of yourself, but you want everyone to know the games Jake likes to play. 
You feel the alcohol finally hitting you now, maybe you didn’t realize it before, but standing with them for that short few moments was turning your mind into rubber. 
“Sam, c’mon. He’s your brother, you know how he is.” Danny whispers to Sam. 
Shit. Not another brother. 
“Was.” You correct, holding your finger out at Danny, “Let’s hope it’s was.” 
“Yes Mama,” Josh puts his hand on your shoulder, he turns to face the boys, “We like her, so we’re going to hope it’s ‘was’.”
“Where did he even go?” You ask, slurring your words slightly. 
Sam shrugs his shoulders, and is the first to sit in the booth, “I don’t know but I’m not waiting around for him to have any fun!”
“I like your thinking!” Josh exclaims, jumping in the booth beside Sam. 
Danny corrals on the other side of Sam, and Josh pats the empty seat next to him. Fuck. 
You cautiously slide into the booth next to Josh, trying to leave ample space between the two of you. 
The boys are like classic best friends. Danny and Sam seem to have a great bond, completely forgetting the fact that they aren’t blood brothers. They act like they’ve known each other their whole life. Their outfits are almost matching, both in patterned jeans and snug-fitting plain shirts. Their hair is just about the same length, except Danny’s is curly and wild, and Sam’s is sleek and flowing; similar to Jake's.
Josh is clearly the eccentric one of the group, sporting some sort of animal skin vest and low-rise dark wash jeans. He has on so much jewelry it jingles with each movement he makes. He’s practically wearing a tambourine with all the clangs. 
They all speak amongst themselves, raving about the set, the crowd, parts they think they nailed, and parts they want to work on more. It was a nice break for you to just enjoy being there with them, getting to know them just by watching. You were picking their brains without them even realizing that you were doing so. 
The two brothers fake-bickered with each other. Similar to how Josh and Jake would torment each other, but in a much more playful and innocent manner. You could see Jake in both of them, in different ways. Josh, well because they were twins, they shared eerily identical expressions. Josh just carried all of them in a more lighthearted way. Sam, on the other hand, you could see Jake’s sass within him. 
Just as you are finally ready to find a way to sneak into their fun, a presence joins you at the booth. You can feel the heat radiating off of him as he slides into the spot next to you, pushing everyone further down in the booth. His hand reaches over to your thigh, grasping it tightly, marking his territory. 
“Hi, Sunshine.” He grits through labored breaths. 
“Welcome!” Josh roars, “Glad to finally see you joining us!”
“Well, someone had to talk to the manager- who by the way, was very impressed by our performance. He wants us back next month.” Jake says these words as if they aren’t even exciting at all. 
“Oh! That’s awesome!” You cheer, looking around at all the boys. 
Their faces light up with victory, and they immediately start cheers-ing each other. 
Josh nudges your shoulder, “It was most definitely our dancing Mama! That energy got the whole crowd going! You’re our good luck charm.” 
You blush at Josh’s kind words, “Wherever you guys go, I’ll be there to cheer you on…” 
You drop your hand to the table, showing the boys you’re in this with them. They all take turns grabbing your arm and showing their appreciation. 
“Yeah, they really loved you.” Jake sneers. 
The sarcasm is lost on Sam, who pipes up, “Yeah they were all cheering for you guys! It was awesome, they stayed standing the rest of the set!”
Danny nudges Sam and whispers in his ear. Danny is like Sam’s conscious, warning him of all the sourness that is happening at the table. Sam awkwardly smiles. 
Jake pulls your drink from your loose grip and finishes the remainder of it. You shoot him a disgusted glance, furrowing your brow harder than you thought you possibly could. 
The boys all sit in silence, watching this awkward interaction.
Josh is quick to break the ice, like always, “So next time, maybe we can coordinate something? A little moment just for us?”
You turn to him, trying to warn him not to say that in front of Jake. But it’s too late for that. Jake grips your thigh, hard, nearly breaking through your jeans. 
“It’s not her band.” He snaps. 
“Yes Jake, I know it’s not my band,” You crack. 
“I liked your dancing!” Danny encourages, “You were really good!”
You grin back at Danny, thanking him with your expression. 
Josh jumps back into his own conversation, “Ok, but imagine, if we did that spinning thing again, but we lined it up with-” 
“Maybe you can take up one of your solos to dance with her.” Jake is being completely rude. You know the cause of it all. You know why he’s so ill-mannered. You try your best to forgive him but know there’s too much brash to go unnoticed by the others. 
“Josh, let’s think about this another time, okay? Let’s enjoy the victory of the night for now,” You turn to Jake, “Jake, we were just playing around okay?”
Jake rolls his eyes and leans back into the booth. He takes his hand from your thigh and rests both of his wrists on the table, fiddling with the callouses on his fingers. Josh nods his head and finally gets the point. 
Danny jumps up from the booth, excusing himself to go grab some more drinks. The table’s vibe has completely changed, instead of excited conversation, it’s mute. Sam is paying attention to the music playing over the speakers, tapping along to the beat. Josh is trying to get his drink down as fast as he can. And Jake… Is being Jake. 
His mood has been absolutely horrible. All because you chose to have fun. How rude of you.
“Hey,” You poke at him, “You don’t need to be like this right now. You have so much to celebrate!” 
“Oh yeah, let me celebrate that my girlfriend wants to be around everyone here but me.” He growls under a low breath. 
“Jake,” You comfort, “I came here for you, I’m excited for you.” 
“No.” Jake raises himself, and turns his head, angling towards you, “I do believe Josh, is the one that invited you. And if I’m not mistaken, you two were the ones dancing during my solo. Oh and also, it wasn’t you that came to see me after I finished up, it was the drunk old bar manager.” 
“Jake…” This time it isn’t you trying to calm him down, it’s Josh. He’s protecting you. 
“Fuck you Josh, you do this shit on purpose, trying to piss me off.” 
The tension is starting between the two, and you’re quite sure those heavy sips weren’t helping the situation at all. 
“Hey! Need I remind you, who was the one who-”
“Shut up.” 
You glance your head between the two of them, confused. Jake drops his head and turns away from Josh. Josh swirls the ice around in his cup, trying to avoid eye contact with you. 
“Josh…” You pry, “What did you do?” 
“Don’t,” Jake interjects, trying to hold off Josh. 
What the hell was going on? What sort of fucked up twin telepathy was happening. 
“No, no,” You scold, “Maybe I should ask what the fuck you did Jake? Huh?” 
Sam slowly tries to crawl out of the booth, avoiding whatever is about to go down. 
Josh crosses his arm, trying to yield to Jake, “He did nothing.” 
“Okay?” Your voice is shaky, trying to understand if this even involved you. This drunk version of you was trying any way to find out more. “Clearly someone did something.” 
Jake lifts his head, staring down Josh, almost pleading with his eyes to keep quiet. 
“Josh…”
You turn yourself to block Jake’s eyeline, lining yourself up with Josh. 
“Is it about me?” You ask, imploring. Hoping that his answer would be no. 
Josh sighs and drops his arms, bracing himself on either side of his legs. He takes a long breath. 
His silence confirms it all for you. 
Jake echoes in your ear, “Don’t worry about it.”
You scowl back to Jake, “No more hiding shit Jake.” 
He reaches his hand up to his mouth, trying to find the right words to say. Before he even has a chance, Josh lets it spill out. 
“Jake wasn’t going to go back to you.” 
He could have stabbed you in that moment and the feeling would have been the same. 
“Fuck! Josh!” Jake yelps. 
Your heart drops. Jake fighting him is proof enough that what Josh said was true. You turn to Jake, tears welling in your eyes. 
“What…” You push Jake’s shoulder, “the fuck,” another push, “does that mean?”
You feel your whole body shaking with anxiety. The alcohol is climbing up your throat; tears starting to fall from your eyes. 
Josh grabs your hand, trying to prevent you from hitting Jake any further. 
“Mama, listen. He just didn’t think you wanted him anymore. I went over to talk to him about it and told him he should try again.” 
You turn to snap at Josh but feel horrible even thinking about being mean to him. He was honest with you, trying to help. 
“So, but…” You feel absolutely defeated, “So if you hadn’t said anything he wouldn’t have…?”
Jake turns completely away from the two of you, dropping his head into his hands, trying to breathe through it. 
“You fucking ruin everything, Josh. You always get to be the sun. You always get to save the day.” 
You turn to Jake, cautious to defend Josh, “Jake you need to tell me what happened.” 
Jake doesn’t turn back to you. Josh tries to grab your hand one last time, silently asking you to go easy on Jake. 
“Why wouldn’t you come back?” Your voice is breaking completely now. The rush of emotions is piling through you, breaking your heart all over again. 
Knowing he didn’t want to come back felt like it was all your fault. You were the one who turned him away before knowing the entire story. But also, you had a right to be upset. The juxtaposition of it all was fucking with you. Who was right? 
Jake is still silent, holding himself up in his palms. You turn back to Josh, begging for any sort of help. His hands rest on his cheeks, realization setting in of what he did. He went too far. Twins weren’t meant to be this damaging to each other. The public tension of it all was awkward, pushing each other too far. 
“What’d I miss!” Danny perkily walks over to the table, holding everyone’s choice of drinks. Sam’s trying to hide behind him, knowing what situation he left. 
You pout through the tears, showing Danny that he didn’t miss anything too good. 
You rise from your seat, standing on the wooden bench, climbing over Josh to leave the booth. You pat the two best friends on the shoulder, apologizing through silent chokes of your tears. 
Sam gingerly hands you your next round, placing the glass in your hand, and patting your knuckles. You awkwardly smile back at him, thanking him for the drink. 
You take a hefty swig and place the remainder of the drink in front of Jake, “Here… Unlike you, I don’t like putting good things to waste.”
The boys all wince through their teeth, and Jake jolts up to scowl at the boys. 
You secretly run past the booth and into the dark bathroom in the back of the bar. 
The shift is by no means easy. The two of you are in the worst rhythm you’ve ever had. Even on your first shift together, it was like magic. You could almost sense each other coming, you were good at trading off tasks. Tonight…. Was not that. 
Jake screwed up three orders, and you took two more drinks to the chest. Each time exclaims were made between the both of you, and patrons took it upon themselves to call out. The understanding for your bodies that you had just hours earlier was completely gone, completely out of sync. 
Usually, it would just be you struggling with your own thoughts, but you could tell the weight of the situation was sitting heavy on Jake. You had left things in a horrible, but justified place. You didn’t exactly feel bad for what you said, because, well it was the truth. So what Jake had to give up a booty call? You were the one that got the shit end of the stick every time. 
The bathroom was full of women. They were all slightly older than you, and mostly concerned with their friends who were far too drunk, or paying attention to how their makeup was holding up. 
You snuck through them, trying to find the one empty stall. You closed the door behind you and quickly locked it, stowing yourself away. The echoes of their voices melted with the loud music vibrating on the walls. 
Fuck.
What the hell? 
He couldn’t even look at you. 
He couldn’t even admit it. 
Why wouldn’t he come back? 
Well… You did kind of end that last night on bad terms. During that entire week, you wanted to run back to him; but you didn’t. He just needed a push. But what if he never got that push? What if he never showed up to tell you what actually happened… 
He never even tried to explain himself at the bar. He just kept trying to get you going. He can’t admit when he’s wrong. Does he have to be persuaded into being nice? Not entirely. Not all the time… 
Chris is about ready to lock up. He does his usual survey of all the surfaces, walking laps around each table, around the counters, really just pretending to look at everything. There really weren’t any expectations for the cleanliness of each table. He was actually just waiting for one of us to say something to him. For one of us to have decided. 
It was the stupidest fucking rule known to man. It’s a bar. People are bound to start fucking each other. Thats life. 
Jake and you had not broached the subject any further. There was no time and no further discussion to be had yet. It was the worst decision for either of you to make. It was utterly ridiculous. You didn’t expect Jake to give up his job either and almost started to believe that this was some sort of ending.
You tried not to think about it too much. Tried not to let that reality set in until you knew it for a fact. 
One last swipe of the counter, and you had completely cleaned up. Jake on the other hand was sweeping the floors, trying not to clean up in the same area. You try your hardest not to keep staring at him, but you want so badly for him to look at you. You want to figure this out… together. 
He places the large broom at the corner of the bar and strides over to Chris. You’re watching it play out in front of your eyes like a movie. You pretend to be distracted at the POS, but sneaking glances over your shoulder. 
Chris runs his hand over Jake’s shoulder and gives him a firm shake. Jake drops his head and nods. Reaching up to pat Chris’ hand. And just like that it’s over. 
What… What happened? 
Jake strides out of the bar, avoiding your eye contact, and slowly disappearing into the hallway. 
Oh, what the fuck? 
This is it. This is the end. Jake is giving you up. This wouldn’t be a romance novel. He wouldn’t run to you and lift you up, he wasn’t going to kiss you like no one was watching. He was just going to walk away, again. 
You throw your hands up, staring down Chris, trying to emulate ‘what the fuck’ with your body language. 
Chris mopes over to the counter, dragging out the moment as long as possible. He plops himself down on the stool in front of you, clasping his hands on the bar. 
“Go home. See you on Monday this week, kid.” 
So wait… He just… 
“Wait… What the fuck just happened?” You’re completely flustered, almost not believing what this means. 
“Jake quit. Go home. Talk to him.” 
TAGLIST (ILY GUYS!!!) Sorry if I missed anyone!
@gvfmarge @takenbythemadness @heckingfrick @gvfpal @sanguinebats @giraffehippy @anythingforjtk @lipstickitty @pinkandsleepy1934 @gretavansara @ohgodthefeeling-gvf @jakekiszkasbuttsweat @milkgemini @violet-hayes
99 notes · View notes
realityescapee01 · 5 months
Text
Wounds and Scratches
Steo | Stiles x Theo
Theo came back to the pack house, bloodied and wounded. He just came back from an undercover op for the pack. He was able to capture a rogue omega.
He was stabbed to his stomach, slashed on his arm and cut on his palm. He took the omega back to Scott for interrogation. Afterwards, Scott gave him an order to patrol the tunnels.
Tumblr media
"Oh, for fuck's sake, Scott! He's hurt, send someone else!" Stiles had enough.
Theo is hurt and Stiles goes off on it.
Theo snarled, he struggled to get on his feet. He just got slammed to a wall by their enemy. He was in pain but he was still able to distract the enemy enough for Stiles to lay the mountain ash prison around it.
"Good job, guys."
Scott and them went back to the pack house. Stiles watched Theo bend over a bit, holding his tummy and has a pained expression on his bloody face. Dried up blood from his forehead. Busted lips and a sprained ankle.
Stiles thought back at the bad things Theo did to him and the pack. That is why Stiles thought Theo deserves all the beatings he's taking.
Scott decided to take in Theo despite everything he did. Scott being the kind and giving person he is. Stiles was against it. He doesn't want Theo in. But Scott insisted they could use Theo's skills.
What skills? The manipulative skills? The cunning, the smarts, deceptive skills? Well, yeah, those are useful. Stiles begrudgingly admitted.
So here is Theo in their pack. Being used as a scout, a spy, and first liner. Scott always sends him in first, first to whatever danger they're facing.
It's strange to Stiles because Theo wouldn't put up with those, but seeing as Theo was indeed putting up with all of it, maybe, Theo is doing everything to be better now, to be good, to make up to them, to make up for everything he's done.
Stiles heard all about it from Liam. Theo's redemption arc. Stiles wasn't buying it at first but later on, he started to believe too.
Or maybe the courting of Theo is affecting his judgement.
Oh, yeah, Theo is courting Stiles.
For about 2 months now. At first, Stiles is just playing Theo, but things got shitty for him and he genuinely needed Theo's help.
Like when he's jeep broke down. Theo drove him to and from his FBI internship. Every weekend, when he comes home and goes back to the FBI classes.
The long drives gave them a lot of time with each other. And Stiles found himself enjoying those times.
Stiles found himself chatting and calling Theo at nights after classes too. Sometimes while Theo was in tunnel patrol. To discuss and bounce off ideas from his homeworks of cases; murder mysteries and investigations. And Theo gave him very good insights every time.
Maybe because Theo is one little psycho himself that is why he understands how those criminals think. Stiles laughed on the idea. He is like those FBI agents having a serial killer to talk to and consult cases about.
-+-+-+-
Theo calls him, all wounds and injuries healed up. He is driving Stiles home. Stiles jogs to Theo's truck and they go and get drive thru food. Stiles ask if Theo's okay. He looked hurt really bad.
He's got bandage on his hand. Again.
"What happened there?"
"Oh, I got cut. And I keep getting cut there so it's getting harder and harder to heal." -Theo explaining, trying not to put pressure on it too much while driving.
"I'm fine, Stiles."
Stiles have an idea of what happened. Having seen how hard Scott is using Theo out there. Then he received a chat from Scott to remind Theo about his underground tunnel rounds later tonight. Stiles felt irritated. Theo just recovered and now Scott is on him again with the errands.
-Isn't Liam on tunnel patrol tonight?- Stiles replied to Scott.
-I'm taking Liam with us in the talks. Where are you guys now? Will you be here in an hour?-
-Yeah, we're close. Keep Liam on patrol, let's bring Theo in the meeting-
-Why Theo?-
-It's decided. Just wait for us.-
They are to meet with the new group in town. Invite them to join forces or discuss terms on co-existing in Beacon Hills.
Scott met up with Theo and Stiles on the way to meet the werejaguars. They learned they're all female, a small group of 5. The talks start. Stiles let Scott do his thing while he observed.
"... We don't wanna join forces, we do not wanna stay near the Nemeton, which is basically a signal light to all hunters. Just let us be for a few days, I promise we won't cause trouble."
Their leader explained. Scott huddled with Stiles and Theo.
"I don't know about you, but werejaguars are highly aggressive." -Theo muttered.
"I agree." -Stiles nodded, remembering a certain Kate Argent.
"Yeah, I think so too. I will ask them to leave by dawn. Liam and the others can stay here to watch them until then" -Scott relayed the decision to the group leader. There were some friction but Scott brandishing his alpha status made the leader back down.
"Okay... but... we will only leave if he comes with us."
"What?" -Scott didn't expect a request.
"Him."
"No way." -Stiles strongly disagreed.
The group leader was pointing at Theo. "At least give us some protection. A capable mate for me."
Theo just scoffed. "I'm not up for mating."
"That or we stay as long as we like."
"... How about this." -Stiles proposed. "The real reason you're here is because you're all sick. You plan to steal our herb reserve. Preferably tonight because you know our resident doctor wouldn't be home."
The gang leader took a defensive stance.
"Okay, I'll give you a generous amount of 9 herbs and then you leave tonight. No taking Theo with you."
"What if I don't agree?"
"Well... you have to deal with a true alpha." -Stiles turned his head to Scott, who was half shifted by now.
"It was said this place and your pack is sanctuary to all supernatural beings!"
"Not if you threaten to take anyone away." -Scott said with a growl.
The group leader knew there is no way they'd win. "Fine. Get me the herbs."
After Scott's new recruits arrived with the herbs, the werejaguars left. But their leader really likes Theo, and as she passed him by, she said:
"We'll be 2 towns over, if you change your mind." -plus a hand, slowly gliding down Theo's muscular arm.
"I have my eyes set on someone else." -Theo shrugged the leader's hand away from him.
Theo watched the group leave and looked at Stiles. Having a renewed faith on a chance.
A chance that Stiles actually likes him back. With the human getting all no-way-you're-taking-Theo upset a while ago.
After that, Scott still wanted to send Theo on tunnel patrol duty but Stiles said Theo's driving him home even before Scott got the chance to say it. And so Theo drove Stiles home.
"Hey, Theo. If you like, you can stay here. Liam could use the tunnel patrol experience." -Stiles invited him to stay there to avoid the patrol task.
And Theo did. They went up to Stiles' room and Theo acting all strange.
"Hey? What's the matter?" -Stiles just went about the room as normal.
"...This is the first time for me. Here, in your room."
"What?!? You've never been here?" -Stiles remembered all the pack members whose been in his room. And yeah, this is Theo's first time to be here. "Well, there's a first to everything. You never know, you might be coming here more often in the future."
"W-What?" -Theo didn't expect that.
"Nothing! Nothing." -Stiles blushed. He was just being playful, flirty if you will. Because it's true, if he decides to answer Theo, then definitely, Theo would be in his room more often.
Theo was smirking and shaking his head, thinking of a comeback, but that caught him so off guard that he couldn't come up with one.
"Uhm, I'm gonna head to bed. By the way, use this on your wounds." -Stiles threw him a poultice Deaton taught him to make. Something to make the wounds stay clean for a longer time.
Theo caught it and sat on the chair by the window. He took the gauze off his hand and tended to it. He lifted his shirt and applied the poultice to random cuts on his torso.
Stiles just watched him. He memorized all the spots Theo has wounds and scratches and bruises.
"Well, uhm, Theo, I'm tired, I'll go to sleep, stay as long as you like." -Stiles headed to bed.
As he laid down, he smiled to himself on how things turned. Before, he couldn't stand Theo, but now he can sleep in the same room with Theo present.
The next day, Stiles woke up and Theo was gone, left a message of thanks and that he headed to school.
Theo goes to school on weekends, in a special program to make up for the lost time when he was dragged to hell; and once made, he can go back to school to continue his last sem of senior year.
Stiles thought to give Theo a visit.
He finds him on the lacrosse field. Coach Finstock recruited him.
Theo sensed Stiles and looked at his direction. Stiles waved.
"Bilinski!" -Coach Finstock intercepted him. "What are you doing here?"
"I missed you, coach!" - Stiles attempted to give coach a kiss.
"Ugh!" -Coach Finstock stopped him with a hand to his face.
Stiles knew that way, coach would leave him alone. Theo jogged towards him.
"Hey." -Theo in lacrosse practice uniform.
"You joined?" -Stiles sat in the bleachers.
"Yeah." -Theo stood right in front of him.
"I never knew you like sports. Sports aside from hunting and killing."
Theo laughed at that. "Just to release some aggression."
Stiles just nodded. He looked at the other players. He remembered his lacrosse days back then. And that winning shot he got. It was the fun days. Way before the shit hit the fan.
Stiles stayed to watch Theo practice with the team. He decided to stay even after and play with Theo a bit.
"Fine! But make sure you tidy up the things!" -Coach Finstock let them stay.
"Want a serious match or just for fun match, Stiles?"
"Just for fun." -Stiles gripped the lacrosse stick.
"Okay." -Theo smirked and threw the ball right past Stiles' left shoulder and into the goal.
"Ha! For fun, I said! Not for the Olympics or something!"
Theo laughed. They change places. It's now Theo's time to be goalie.
"Theo, no superpowers!" -Stiles was gearing up for a shot.
"Okay."
Stiles kept licking his lips and aiming and aiming for the goal before actually taking the shot. And of course, Theo caught it. Stiles was mad accusing him of using chimera powers but Theo didn't. Stiles is just really not good at it.
"Okay, that's it. I don't wanna play anymore!" -Stiles throwing the stick down.
"I didn't use supernatural powers, Stiles. You're just really bad at it."
"Just- Forget it!" -Stiles waving his hand off.
Stiles waited for Theo in the lockers. He looked at the seat where they confronted Theo. And where he said: "I came back for you." Stiles didn't really know the gravity of those words.
Theo wanted him. From day one. And there he is right now, feeling the same. He wants Theo now.
He turned his attention to the sound from the showers.
Theo is in there. Naked.
Stiles felt a little panic and stepped out of the lockers. A few minutes after, Theo stepped out too.
"Stiles, are you okay? I smelled panic."
"I'm fine. Let's get outta here." -Stiles walked away. Fast. He wanted to answer Theo but Theo is not asking him the question yet.
"Drop me by the tunnel entrance. I'm on patrol." -Theo said, settling in the passenger seat of the jeep.
"Oh. Okay."
"Stiles? Tomorrow, will you go out with me?"
"Oh? Where are you taking me?" -Stiles smiled. Theo courting him, does this quite a lot, take him on dates.
"It's a surprise." -Theo was smiling.
Tumblr media
"You know my anxiety, I don't like surprises."
"I know. But you'll love this."
Stiles agreed. And so their date was set.
The following week, Stiles gradually calling out Scott for using Theo too much. Scott took the use and abuse too seriously.
Stiles would lightly tell Scott to give Theo a few minutes or hours before being sent for work again. Sometimes they'd be out, hanging out, and Stiles would tell Scott to let Liam do the patrols. The kid needs that experience somehow.
Their date night arrived. Theo was driving them in his truck when Scott called. An emergency.
Theo sighed. "I guess date night is cancelled."
"Apparently so." -Stiles confirmed as he gestured for Theo to make that U-turn.
They were called towards the Nemeton and they saw Scott and Liam, shifted, chasing after their enemy of the week. The werejaguar leader came back.
"I warned you." -Scott intimidating the werejaguar. "Why are you back?"
"Nothing much... just some petty reason." -she spotted Theo and Stiles running over to them.
Liam lunged at her but missed. She charged towards Stiles and Theo.
Theo was fully prepared to intercept her but she made a sharp and quick turn towards Stiles.
They rolled over the ground. Stiles tried to wrestle her off but to no avail. She pushed Stiles over the cliff.
"Holy sh-" - Stiles couldn't do anything.
He was falling off the cliff. He could only hold his hand up, hoping to be saved.
"Stiles!" -Theo jumped after him.
Theo caught him and held onto exposed vines on the cliff.
"Tch!" -Theo exclaimed as the vine rope burned through the bandage on his hand. And brutally so onto the wound there. Making it bleed again.
They slid for a little bit more before finally getting caught on bigger vines, stopping them from falling.
Back at the top, Scott and Liam were trying the werejaguar to a tree and then hurrying to help Theo and Stiles. Lowering down a rope to get them back up.
"Stiles! Oh man!" -Scott pulled Stiles into a tight hug once the two was saved. "I was so worried!"
"I was too." -Stiles hugged him as tight, looking at Theo, nodding him a thank you.
They subdued the werejaguar leader, and as agreed -Scott will try to talk to the supernatural beings walking into Beacon Hills, with the goal of peace, and when it is not achieved, the hunters will take care of it- Scott called Chris Argent to deal with the werejaguar.
Tumblr media
As they were walking, Scott was going on about checking the old werejaguar hideout before calling it a day.
And Scott wanted to send Theo and Liam.
"Oh, for fuck's sake, Scott! He's hurt, send someone else!" Stiles went off.
"O-Okay. Me and Liam would go." -Scott conceded. He felt guilty afterwards, he never checked on Theo. And now only saw Theo's hand. "Sorry, Theo."
"Yeah. Apology accepted." -Theo soothing his wounded palm.
They parted ways. Scott and Liam towards the hideout and Stiles and Theo towards Theo's jeep.
Stiles applied poultice on Theo's palm. "Thanks. A lot."
"No problem. As if I would just let you die on me right there. You owe me a date."
"Well... our sched just freed up."
---
And so, they revisited their original schedule for tonight. The date:
"W-What the-" -Stiles was greeted by tiny lights floating in some enclosure far from the reserve. "What is this? I've never... there were no fireflies in Beacon Hills. Ever!"
"There are now." -Theo watched him enjoy the view.
There were so many. Flying, floating, near the trees too... it looked magical.
"Since when? How?" -Stiles wanted to get to the bottom of this.
"I don't know. Must be a Nemeton thing. Again."
Stiles wanted to ask questions again, but the view was so beautiful, he just accepted that explanation. The Nemeton does make and affect all sorts of stuff.
"Stiles? Can I ask the questions now?"
"Sure." -Stiles waved his hand, eyes fixed on the sea of fireflies in front of them.
"Will you... be my mate?"
"..." -Stiles blinked. A lot of times.
"Stiles?" -Theo was concerned.
Stiles looked back at him. The fireflies are near them now, surrounding them. Making Theo have the background of little lights floating.
Beautiful.
"Yes." -Stiles said.
Theo smiled, ear to ear.
"I was waiting for you to ask that." -Stiles revealed.
"I was waiting for you to be sure." -Theo walked slowly towards Stiles.
Reached for Stiles' waist and pulled him into a kiss.
-+-+-+ (complete) +-+-+-
thank you. more on my master list here
I also have an AO3 account
my art/design shop here (for fanart and other things I do)
redbubble shop
zazzle shop
Like the gifs used here? See source under them. Reblog, do not repost. Thank you all gif creators here ♥️
28 notes · View notes
toothandshore · 4 months
Text
I made a game called TENDING – I describe it as a mixed-media religion-building solo ttrpg.
it's designed to take players through the process of creating a fictional religion by:
exploring ideas from the natural world
focusing on a single holy site and how place interacts with community and belief
creating stories and details by playing out acts of devotional labour
– with dice/card-based and more open-ended prompts that can be responded to with a mix of writing, drawing and collaging.
please check it out if that sounds interesting! PS: if you have the games for gaza bundle then you have this!
15 notes · View notes
aiwallz · 4 months
Text
Eternal nature in hourglass ⏳
11 notes · View notes
swamp-milkweed · 8 months
Text
Tumblr media
jarod k. anderson, from "sentry," in field guide to the haunted forest
14 notes · View notes
asterjennifer · 2 years
Note
pampering saeran😢😢 III
🎀 “Hold still..” You tell him as he sighs, trying not to let the grin turn into a wide smile. “Why? It's just lotion, you know?” He says back. Your time to sigh. “It's not just lotion, silly... I need to make sure there's enough on every part of you.”
“Every part?” He asks curious, trying to turn his head to see your face when rubbing your hands over his back thoughtfully. “But that's only my back.” To you, it almost sounds a bit teasy but you immediately brush the thought off. “Well, this is just the start.”
He remains silent for a moment, letting you take care of him in the way you'd never imagined to do for someone. “Thank you.” His words suddenly sound a lot weaker than before. “I don't know if this really helps against my scars but.. I really appreciate you trying regardless.”
You smile warm at the gratitude, he not once failed to let you know how he's happy about your care and caress. It caused your heart to bleed. “It's nothing. And they won't magically disappear but..”
“The lotion's supposed to make them heal enough to almost be your skin color again.” You explained while running your hands over his delicate shoulder blades. Saeran nods to himself then. “By how pale I am, you think it can make them turn white, too?”
He's clearly joking as a little chuckle follows his words, and so you join in with a giggle. “Haha, don't worry. We'll see how much we need of it. It will be fine either way.” Your sincere promise chased a light shade of red over his cheeks. “I know,” He says lighthearted. “I trust you with everything, I have no doubt about it.” 🎀
64 notes · View notes
thedivinef · 1 year
Text
You are braver than you believe. Stronger than you seem. Wiser than you think and twice as capable as you have ever imagined.
28 notes · View notes
lcproductshop · 7 days
Text
Tumblr media
🌟 Step into the enchanting realm of LC Lifestyle, where magic and compassion intertwine in the most breathtaking ways. 🐉
Imagine a scene crafted by the masterful hands of Anne Stokes and Magali Villeneuve – a young woman, adorned in a delicate pink dress, cradling a baby dragon with soft, ethereal features. In this moment, mythical creatures come to life with a realism that takes your breath away, thanks to the cinematic perfection of ultra-detailed digital art.
But beyond the stunning visuals lies a deeper message: the importance of caring for one another. Just as the woman tenderly holds the baby dragon, so too should we nurture and support those around us.
LC Lifestyle isn't just about the awe-inspiring artistry; it's about fostering a community where empathy thrives. Let's create a world where every act of kindness echoes like an award-winning photograph, capturing the beauty of humanity in ultra-high definition.
Join us in embracing LC Lifestyle, where empathy and connection shine brighter than any global illumination. Together, let's make caring for others the cornerstone of our journey through life. 🌟 #LCLifestyle #Empathy #MythicalCreatures
2 notes · View notes
healthabitsite · 1 year
Text
How to Perform the Urdhva Dhanurasana Yoga Posture.
Tumblr media
Need an energy boost? Urdhva Dhanurasana can help you and strengthen your Arms, legs, Abdomen and Spine.
Learn how to perform the advanced Urdhva Dhanurasana yoga posture, also known as Upward Bow or Wheel Pose.
This backbend pose strengthens the arms, shoulders and back, opens the chest and energizes the body. Practice with proper guidance for best results.
Tumblr media
Step 1
Lie supine on the floor. Bend your knees and place your feet on the floor, heels as close to the sitting bones as possible.
Bend your elbows and lay your palms flat on the floor beside your head, forearms relatively perpendicular to the floor, fingers pointing toward your shoulders.
Step 2
Actively press your inner feet into the floor, exhale and push your tailbone toward the pubis, firming (but not hardening) the buttocks, and lift the buttocks off the floor.
Keep your inner thighs and feet parallel. Take 2 or 3 breaths. Next, press the inner hands firmly on the floor and the shoulder blades against the back and lift them over the crown of your head. Keep arms parallel. Take 2 or 3 breaths.
Step 3
Press your feet and hands on the floor, tailbone and shoulder blades against your back and, as you exhale, lift your head off the floor and straighten your arms.
Slightly turn the upper thighs inwards and firm the outer thighs.
Narrow the points of the hips and lengthen the tailbone towards the back of the knees, lifting the pubis towards the navel.
Step 4
Rotate the upper arms outward while keeping the weight on the base of the index finger.
Spread the shoulder blades over the back and let the head hang down, or lift it slightly to look down at the floor.
Step 5
Stay in the pose for 5 to 10 seconds or more, breathing easily. Repeat 3 to 10 times.
"THANK YOU SO MUCH, HAVE A GREAT DAY."
THANK YOU FOR READING THIS ARTICLE.
More Information Visit This Website
Healthabit
10 notes · View notes
elvishprincess25 · 6 months
Text
Tumblr media
Todays Prompt was "MUMMY" I drew Strac bandaging up Konig after a mission; her jesting about making him look like a mummy with all the bandages and him assuring her he doesnt mind...esp since he thought she was just lookin for an excuse to hold his hand.
5 notes · View notes
jaketsparrow · 6 months
Note
i just wanna say i cannotttt wait for the next tending updateeee i’ve been telling everyone to read it. i’m attached 🥺
🥹🥹🥹 don’t worry update coming soon! I had a bit of a tough week and didn’t feel inspired but this is motivating me to get it done! I can’t wait to share the next mess with you guys 👀!
6 notes · View notes
atapoll · 7 months
Text
Attapoll Install And Open The App!
Tumblr media
2 notes · View notes
handout24 · 9 months
Text
Do you want to win a $1000 Walmart gift card? Then click on the link below. For United States only
If you are lucky you can get it. If not then don't blame me again
2 notes · View notes
last-tambourine · 1 year
Text
One night that winter, Rhett was being a little grumpy and stubborn in the window of time between dinner and bed. He was tired, but he was also carrying a lot. His father had moved away the month before, and that absence weighed—weighs—more than I can imagine. It’s the elephant, not the elephant’s shadow.
I told Rhett, “I’m all yours,” meaning in that moment we could do whatever he wanted to do—a board game, a book, modeling clay, charades, Legos, cards, an art project—but also, beyond that, I’m right here, always, no matter what. I saw his face soften, and then he smiled. What did he want? A bowl of apple slices and for me to snuggle up and read Calvin and Hobbes to him. Done and done.
That night when I tucked him in, he said, “I’m all yours, too.” We curled up together in his bed, and I rested my head on his chest, the way he’s done with me for years. I could hear the clock of his heart right under my ear. If there’s a better way to keep time, I don’t know it.
~ I'm All Yours, You Could Make this Place Beautiful, Maggie Smith
2 notes · View notes
veraadmv · 1 year
Text
¿Te identifica? ✨️
Tumblr media
2 notes · View notes