#the nicest compliment i got was just a guy going 'WOW you are a LOT to look at but like- in a good way!'

[eddiesgorlie]

Me And A Guy Named Jerry

Jerry Schilling x Reader

Let me know if you want a part two or if you’d like more Jerry fics!

Summary: When Y/n travels to the United States with her sister, Priscilla, the last thing she expects is to find a possible love interest.

Warnings: None:)

Word count: 1,590

I was returning to America with my sister, Priscilla, to meet her sweetheart, Elvis Presley. I had met Elvis when he spent lots of time with my younger sister. He was always very kind and respectful so I never minded him being around. I was excited to be in America again, I had just turned 18 so I was hoping to find somewhere to live here. I hated Germany, I was tired of it.

So here I was, a driver picked us up in a very nice Cadillac and now we were driving up the famous Graceland driveway. My 16 year old sister was just about jumping with joy, she would stop describing Graceland to me the entire flight. She’d never seen it but Elvis tried his very best to explain it to her. As soon as the car stopped in front of the house, she shot out of the car and jumped into Elvis’s arms. He hugged her and complimented her dress. I got out of the car and walked up to the two. “Very nice to see you again, Elvis.” I said, shaking his hand. “The same to you, Y/n.” He said with a smile. “Well if you don’t mind, I’m going to show Priscilla around the property.” He said. “I don’t mind one bit. Have fun you two.” I said with a smile and wave. They walked off and I walked into the house as our bags were being unloaded from the car.

The house was beautiful, bigger than I’ve ever seen before. I walked around for a moment, trying to take it all in when I heard a loud bang from the basement. The door was open so I thought, why not? I continued down the steps and through rooms, following the sound. When I found it, I saw a man, leaning over a pool table playing. He was very concentrated so I turned and started walking out but the floor creaked and he turn to look at me. “Hi, I’m sorry.” I said. “Hey, its ok. How’d you get in here?” He asked. “I’m here with my sister. She met Elvis in Germany so we are just here visiting.” I said. “Oh, so you’re Priscilla’s sister?” He asked. “That I am. My name is Y/n.” I said, shaking his hand once he walked up to me. “Nice to meet you Y/n. I’m Jerry.” He said, bringing my hand up to his lips and kissing it. I immediately blushed. Now that he was close to me I could see him. He was cute and charming. “Have they shown you where you’re staying?” He asked. “Um, no. I’m actually not sure I’m allowed to stay here.” I said. “What do you mean?” He asked. “No one mentioned a room or me staying here so I was just going to get a hotel room.” I said. “Well if you’d like to stay here, you’re welcome to. I know we have a couple open rooms. They might not be the nicest but I live in one and it’s not too bad.” He said with a smile.

I nodded. “Sure, I’d like to stay here.” I smiled. “I will be you’re tour guide today, follow me.” He said with a smile. I followed his lead and he walked into another room and opened a door. “Will this room work for you?” He asked. I looked at the small undecorated room. “It will work just fine.” I said. “Perfect. Did they bring your bags in yet?” He asked. “Yes, but they’re upstairs.” I said. “Ok, we’ll put them in your room after the tour.” He said. I nodded and he led me around the house. Showing me every room and explaining the purpose until we ended up at the front door again, mine and Priscilla’s bags stacked up. “Which ones are yours?” He asked. “The white ones.” I said, grabbing two suitcases. He nodded and picked up three. “You and your sister don’t pack light.” He said with a laugh. “No we don’t.” I laughed. “She normally packs this much. I packed almost all my things this time since I’m planning on moving back to the states.” I said. “I didn’t know you were from here. Where’d you grow up?” He asked. “New York.” I said.

We dropped my bags in my room. “Wow, the big apple.” He said. “Yep. It’s not as glamorous as they make it seem. I really am liking Memphis though. The drive here was so scenic and peaceful.” I said. “I can agree to that, everything is so slow and quiet here.” He said. I nodded. “Well thank you so much, Jerry.” I said with a smile. “Of course, if you need anything I’ll be playing pool for a little while.” He said. I nodded and opened my suitcase, he stopped once he was halfway out of the room. “Hey, would you want to go get a bite to eat?” He asked. “That would be lovely.” I said.

Within an hour of arriving in Memphis, I had met a cute guy, gotten a place to stay and was now in the nicest car I’ve ever been in, a purple Cadillac. “This car is amazing!” I said. “I still can’t believe EP lets me drive it.” He said with a laugh. “I wouldn’t even trust myself to drive one of these.” I said. “Do you know how to drive?” He asked. “Nope, my parents didn’t want me to learn. “You probably should learn since you are planning on moving here on your own. How do you plan on getting around?” He asked. “I’m not sure, maybe the bus?” I questioned. “The bus isn’t the safest way, especially for a pretty girl like you.” He said. I nodded. “What are you wanting to eat? There’s a really good diner on Main Street if you like diner food.” He said. “Lets go there. I haven’t had a good American burger in so long.” I said with a laugh. “It is time to change that.” He smiled.

He opened the car door for me and the restaurant door. It was your usual American diner, but to me it was like a Michelin starred restaurant. “Do we wait to be seated?” I asked. “Nope, we just find a table we like and thats where we’ll sit.” He said. I nodded and followed him as he took me to a table. “This ones the best in my opinion. The sun doesn’t hit you in the eyes.” He said. “I can tell you’d been here a couple times.” I said with a laugh. “It’s one of EP’s favorites.” He said.

I grabbed a menu and started looking through when an older lady wearing an apron approached the table. “Hi there, what can I get for you today?” She asked. “I’ll get the Rainmaker with fries and a glass of water please.” Jerry ordered. “Got it. And for you sugar?” She asked, looking at me. “Hm, I’ll get the bacon cheeseburger and fries. Oh and water please.” I said. “I’ll have that right out for you two.” She said. “We’ll have to order milkshakes before we leave. They’re unreal.” He said. “Gosh, I would kill for a strawberry milkshake.” I groaned. “I’m going to sound like a parent here, but you’ve got to try that burger before dessert, its amazing.” He said. “Ok.” I laughed.

We talked about just about anything while we waited for our food to arrive. “Do you have any siblings?” I asked as my food was set down in front of me. “Nope, just me.” He said with a smile. “I wish I was an only child some times. Cilla can definitely make me want to strangle her. Eh, what are siblings for.” I said with a laugh. “She’s two years younger than you?” He asked. I nodded. “Yep, 16 and boy crazy or should I say Elvis crazy.” I said. I picked up the burger and took a bite. “Oh my God, this is amazing.” I said, covering my mouth. “I know, right?” He asked as he started on his fries.

After we ate we decided to head back to Graceland and order a milkshake another day. “Thank you so much, Jerry.” I said. “Of course, I really enjoyed talking with you.” He said. “I did too.” I smiled. Once we stopped at a stop light I leaned over and crashed my lips onto his and he quickly reciprocated and we only broke apart when the car behind us honked, signaling it was a green light. I blushed as we pulled away and he drove forward. “I-i liked that.” I smiled. “I did too, we might have to do that again when we aren’t driving.” He laughed. “I’d like that very much.” I said.

We made it back to Graceland and he started to help me unpack my suitcases. “Oh not that one.” I said, blush creeping on my cheeks as he started opening a suitcase. “Oh, sorry.” He said. I grabbed the suitcase and set it on the floor.

“You know that kiss we talked about having again in the car?” He asked. “Yes.” I smiled. “Would you like to have that kiss now?” He asked. I turned to face him and pulled him down to my lips. This kiss was almost nicer than the first one. His arms wrapped around me and pulled me impossibly closer to him. “I really liked that.” I said breathlessly once we pulled away from each other. “I did too.” He smiled.

#jerry schilling #memphis #elvis songs #austin elvis imagine #elvis the pelvis #elvis smut #elvis x reader #austin elvis x reader #70s elvis #elvis movie #elvis 2022 #elvis presley #elvis presley x reader #elvis imagine #austin butler elvis #elvis photos #elvis fans #elvisaaronpresley #elvis film #elvis music #elvis the king #austin!elvis smut #austin butler #austin butler fic #austin butler x reader #sebastian kydd #sebastian kydd x reader #austin!elvis x reader #elvis biopic #memphis mafia

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

Going on Omegle just confirms that I am a man's four and a lgbt person/woman's nine

#every queer person or woman: #youre so beautiful!!! #every man: #youre literally the ugliest thing ive ever seen #thanks brad youre not my target demographic either #the nicest compliment i got was just a guy going 'WOW you are a LOT to look at but like- in a good way!' #thank you random guy thats exactly what im going for #i dress to the female gaze what can i say

[chasingpj]

𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐨 𝐝𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫

pairing: leo valdez x child of iris!reader

requested?: yes!

translation: full of color

warnings: uhh, mentions of mental health and ?? maybe some typos lmao

category: headcanons, fluff, best friends to lovers

pre-relationship

though, leo saw you around camp often, you caught interest in him before he caught interest in you

i mean, he literally couldn't miss you because your outfits were always bright, whether it was a combination of colors or monochromatic

you and your siblings actually look like a rainbow threw up on you guys, and it's honestly iconic

no one at camp can not notice the children of iris, especially when they're in a herd

one day, you were sitting alone at a picnic table near the lake, and you found yourself drawing him in your sketchbook

you sketched a portrait of him while he spoke to piper at a table nearby

you've always found the floppy curls and how his brightest smiles always look a little manic to be adorable

when you sketched his portrait in your notebook, you didn’t intend for him ever to see it

until a couple of weeks later in the arts and crafts center, leo passed by and caught sight of a new project you were working on

he stopped in his tracks to compliment your drawing

since you were nowhere near done with it, you couldn’t admire the piece as much as he was

but his enthusiasm was so endearing

he politely asked if he could see more, and you didn’t hesitate to slide over your sketchbook

he noticed a lot of your drawings were scenery and people at camp; especially your siblings

he stumbled across a detailed sketch of a woman and her child sitting in a bus

“wow… who’s this?”

“oh, I don’t know. It was just a little girl I saw on the train with her mother.”

“so you just drew her?”

you never realized how weird your habit of drawing random people was until he had asked

you giggled nervously, quick to explain yourself, “I tend to draw people or things that I find beautiful. I wanted to capture how calm and happy she was with her child ‘cause at the time, I was stressed and angry. Watching and drawing her made me calm.”

leo nodded, a faint smile on his lips before looking back down at the drawing. “that’s really cool,” he complimented, and you shifted in your seat, suddenly shy.

And then it hit you

you were so willing to show leo all your works that you had completely forgotten that his portrait was in that book

your pulse thumped loud in your ears, mind racing to figure out a way to take away your sketchbook before he could see it

you ended up spending so long thinking of what to do that he arrived on the page in no time

right before he could see the drawing in its entirety, you slammed the book closed and snatched it

leo’s startled expression turned into a mischievous smirk

“was that me?”

you froze in your place; a squeaky sound escaped your throat in your embarrassment

leo’s brown eyes sparkled as he leaned into you, your gaze fixed on his, “y/n, you think I’m beautiful?”

AHHHH!

^^ that was you in your head btw

leo laughed, amused at your attempt to deny it

“then why did you snatch it away?” he raises an eyebrow before reaching over quickly to grab the sketchbook back

you didn't pull it out of his reach fast enough, leo getting a grip on one side

the two of you pull it back and forth, leo laughing at you as you continued to deny what he saw

though you were incredibly embarrassed, you couldn't contain the laughter bubbling in your chest

gods, of course, this would happen to me, you thought

he got it out of your grip, and you sighed in defeat, watching him flip to the page of him and piper

he was quiet, studying the picture for a second before giving you that playful smirk

“you think I’m beautiful?” he asked again

you playfully rolled your eyes, “it was more piper than you.”

your tone was sarcastic, only fueling leo’s banter with you

“oh really?” he chuckled to himself, “but i’m the only one colored in.”

you were silent at his observation before scoffing, “whatever.”

leo only laughed as you take the book away from him

“don’t you have somewhere to be, fire boy?” you asked and nudged his shoulder

the glint in your eyes made him smile, and he shrugged, “i guess i do. i'll see you around."

you nodded, too shy to do anything else, and he walked off

after that, leo took it upon himself to talk to you every day

leo teased you about the drawing all the time, and he found the way you would play along to be funny

before you both fell in love, you were close friends

you had such an optimistic point of view about life, and it was pretty contagious

somehow when leo was in the dumps about something, you always knew what to say

you were just so easy to talk to, and because of this, your friendship just grew naturally

your first kiss was towards the end of summer

leo invited you to hang out with him in bunker nine at, specifically, 6 pm

you teasingly asked if it was a date, and you remember the way he tensed up a bit

with a mumble, he asked, "what if it is?"

from the tone in his voice, you knew he wasn’t joking

in fact, his tone was hesitant, a part of him was expecting you to reject him

then the heavy pit in his stomach turned light when you smiled and said, "then I'm down."

the grin leo gave you made your heart flutter like crazy

your first date consisted of eating snacks and watching a movie on one of those portable DVD players

You picked up on the tension between you and him, and noticed the opportunities for a kiss kept passing

it was until Leo walked you to your cabin that night did you have a moment of boldness and asked, "so are you going to kiss me or?"

leo's eyes widen in surprise before his face broke out in the familiar smirk he gives when he flirts with you

you rolled your eyes playfully and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him into you

your first kiss was sweet and soft; a little awkward

his hands hovered over your sides for a second, not sure what to do with them until he decided to rest them on your waist

it was the perfect way to mark the beginning of your relationship

relationship

since you guys are both broke teenagers, you got creative with date nights

you came up with the idea of paint splattering with him

you guys got canvases, covered the walls and floors with plastic to make sure you didn't dirty them

then you filled water balloons with paint and just threw them

despite you guys singing and dancing around in the midst of it, the canvases came out so good

and to commemorate the beginning of your relationship, you hung them up side by side in bunker nine, and when you guys get a place together, you hang them up in the hallway of your apartment

leo is a huge gift giver; as i’ve said before in my “how he shows he loves you” headcanons

he’s made you a lot of things; canvases, jewelry, little trinkets with scrap metal

one of your favorite gifts from him is a suncatcher with rainbow quartz

you fell in love with it and when you move in together, you make sure to hang it up in the kitchen with the bunch of other suncatchers that he’s made you

i love the idea that you would attempt to bring more color in his wardrobe

a lot of his clothes are muted in color; you don’t mind it but you were interested to see what he’d look like in a colorful outfit like yours

To say the least, he was not that enthusiastic and maybe, you shouldn’t have put him in a monochromatic orange outfit but… you still thought he looked cute

leo thought he looked like a traffic cone though so it didn’t stick

it’s okay because you like him the way he is anyways

another thing is that you guys are super supportive of each other and leo loves just how you manage to lift his mood

once leo was having a bad mental health week

you guys were sitting under a tree, looking out at the water

his head laid on your shoulder and small sniffles came from the other

it hurt to see him like this and you wished you could do more to make him feel better

then you had the greatest idea to make a rainbow for him

so you did

leo was so stunned when he saw the rainbow form over the lake

he looked at you surprised and when you admitted to making the rainbow for him, the emotion on his face was indescribable

and then you laughed and held him when he started crying because he said it was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for him

another time, you insisted that meditation would be good for him

he literally sat down for like 3 minutes with his eyes closed before he was itching to get up and do something

even when he was sitting down, he was still bouncing his legs and fidgeting

so that fell through too but you still helped him in other ways and he’s so grateful for your optimism and bubbly personality

leo always says that you bring color to everything; literally and figuratively

one of the things you bring color to is his life

and he’s constantly reminding you of this; that his world just feels brighter now that you’re around

and it’s literal too

since you painted the walls of bunker nine a bright orange

he asked you why orange, and you told him because orange encourages productivity, creativity, and most importantly, optimism

it may have also reminded you of the orange outfit you put him into

anyways, you told him that it hurt you to see him get down in the dumps, and you insisted there was no way he could be sad in a bright orange room

needless to say, you were kinda right

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#leo x reader #leo valdez fanfiction #leo valdez one shot #leo valdez imagine #leo valdez #leo valdez timestamp #leo valdez fanfic #leo valdez x reader #leo valdez x you #leo valdez headcanon #my writing

[mercy-burning]

Something Different

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader Summary: Reader and Spencer go on their first date. PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3 / PART 4 / EPILOGUE Category: Fluff, Smut 18+ (oral sex- female receiving, penetrative sex, unprotected sex- creampie) Warnings: Sex, language (As always, if there’s anything I missed, let me know what I should include in warnings! I want to be as mindful as I can about what I post. Thank you!) Word Count: 5.9k

NOTE: This was my favorite part to write so far! I hope you all love it as much as I do! I have a little epilogue planned next, and I’m not sure when it’ll be up, but I’ve really loved seeing how much you enjoyed this series! Thank you for reading! 🥰

***

Y/N had never felt as much like a teenage girl as she did that Friday night. She stood in front of her floor-length mirror, smoothing out her dress and contemplating whether or not she should change. For the seventh time. And she'd been on dates before, but this time was different. Usually she barely knew the guys she'd gone on first dates with, but she'd already slept with this guy. On more than one occasion. And every time she did, she felt herself fall deeper and deeper under his spell. She wasn't sure if he knew the full effect of what he was doing to her, always taking up space in every crack and crevice of her thoughts until she felt like she couldn't breathe.

And that was what made this date different from all the rest. She knew Spencer. She liked Spencer. And she was almost positive that after this date she would be, at the very least, a little bit in love with Spencer.

At that thought, Y/N felt her heart swell in her chest, suddenly invested in the act of making him feel the same way, if he wasn't already.

So she reverted back to her original outfit choice, something she at first thought was too sexy for a first date, but ultimately was the boldest and best option. It was satin and deep violet in color, the fabric clinging to her body in every best way possible. It landed mid-thigh and the neckline was low enough to show just the right amount of cleavage without it being too overwhelming. Her father would have told her it looked more like a dish towel than a dress, and that fact alone was enough to convince Y/N that it was just perfect. It did have thin straps though, and it was freezing as hell at night, so she added a black cardigan that added just the right amount of elegance and warmth to the look.

She paired the whole look together with black pumps and threw her hair up in a loose clip, made for easy taking-down if the night ended as well as she hoped.

Just as she was applying the last of her makeup—simple black eyeliner and mascara, complimented with tinted cherry lip balm rather than lipstick—there was a knock on the door.

"Just a second!" she called out, rushing to spritz on some vanilla perfume and give herself a final onceover in the mirror. With a final deep breath, she switched off the lights and made her way to the door, silently praying that she wouldn't fall on her face.

"Hey, pretty gi— oh..."

The second she saw Spencer in the doorway, Y/N felt her insides swarm with butterflies. The way he took her in, completely captured by her presence as his eyes couldn't decide where to linger longest utterly wrecked her.

And he looked... God, if he wasn't the most beautiful man she'd ever seen. And of course she'd seen him in some rather beautiful positions prior to right then, but his hungry eyes, practically claiming her as his own as they raked her figure accompanied by the outfit he wore and the way his hair perfectly framed his face in soft waves... It felt like she was bathing in sunlight.

He wore a white undershirt and navy suit jacket, the tie the same color only accented with red stripes, and black dress pants. If she had to describe it, she would have said he looked like he came right of the page of a magazine, and even that wasn't generous enough. She knew she should say something to break the silence that had fallen between them, but she couldn't even remember her own name.

Thankfully Spencer seemed to get a hold of himself before she did, saying, "You look... amazing. A-and that's not even the right word, I... Wow."

Y/N felt her cheeks grow hot, playing with the hem of her cardigan. "Thanks, you... You look great, too. Um, let me go grab my purse, I'll be right back."

"Wait, before you do..."

She hadn't even noticed his hand was behind his back until he brought it out, bringing with it a small gathering of flowers. Lavenders. "You brought me lavenders?" she inquired, taking them with a smile. "They're beautiful. Thank you."

Spencer seemed to rock on his feet nervously. "They're generally known for their relaxation properties, and, you know, I figured since we always seem to end up talking about de-stressing, they seemed fitting."

Y/N laughed, her face growing warmer. "That's perfect, I love them. I'm gonna go find a vase for these real quick."

As she rummaged through her cabinets for something even remotely resembling a vase, she settled on a tall mason jar she had in the back, filling it with water and placing the flowers inside, letting it perch on the kitchen counter. When she turned around she found that Spencer had made his way inside, the door closed behind him. "Unfortunately they won't last very long without soil, water, and sunlight, but if they dry up you could always use them for decorations. I noticed you have lots of dried plants in your apartment."

With a smile, she grabbed her purse off the coat rack in the living room. "Oh. Yeah, I guess I do. I've always loved pressing flowers and stuff. My mom and I used to do it all the time when I was younger, and I guess it stuck."

"That's really nice. It's definitely better than the clutter of my apartment," he says with a laugh as they both make their way to the door.

"Oh, I don't know. I like your clutter, it's rather charming."

He laughed as he opened the door and stepped aside so she could walk through. "You've only been to my apartment once, and we were a bit... occupied for you to notice, so how would you know?"

They paused in the hallway as she closed the door and looked up at him, a knowing smirk playing at his lips. She grabbed the end of his tie and tugged it a little, turning it over in her fingers as she stared at him. "Trust me, Spencer, it's hard to believe that anything about you isn't charming."

It was his turn to blush, his smirk transforming into a shy smile. She let go of his tie and grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together before leading him down the hallway.

***

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were surprised," Y/N said once the waiter left to grab their drinks.

"Oh, I-I guess I just... I don't know why, it's just that I didn't... expect you to be a white wine person, that's all."

"You can tell what kind of wine I like?" she laughed.

Spencer returned it, brushing some of the hair from his face. "Well, I guess not, since I pegged you wrong..."

She shrugged. "You don't have to be embarrassed about that, I wouldn't expect you to have known."

"Oh, I'm not embarrassed, it's just that usually I'm better at reading people, that's all."

"Is that right?" Y/N mused, leaning forward a little. She smiled at him. "How come?"

Spencer swallowed before answering. "Well, my job... I work for the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI, so my team and I study human behavior to catch killers."

Holy shit, that's so hot, she thought, silently hoping she didn't say that out loud. "Wow, so... you're a total badass, then. I gotta say, G-man, that's impressive."

He blushed under the dim light of the restaurant lights. He'd picked out this nice Italian place not too far from their apartment. Y/N had always wanted to go because she loved Italian food, but it was always too expensive and she never really had the time. When Spencer had suggested it, she practically begged him not to, insisting that she didn't want to make him spend so much money on her. In turn he told her, "I don't mind, you're worth spending a little money on," and that was that. Still she felt a little guilty, but he didn't seem to mind one bit. Not to mention the place was absolutely beautiful, easily one of the nicest places she'd ever been to. So if he was willing to do all this just to spend some time with her, then Y/N figured it was a good sign.

"What about you, what exactly is it that you do?"

Y/N shrugged a little. "Oh, well it's no fancy badass government job, but I work at a music store downtown. I just got promoted, so I'm an associate manager."

"Oh, that's great! What kind of music do you like?"

The way he genuinely looked so interested in what she had to say made her heart swell. She cleared her throat before answering. "My parents raised me on Classic Rock, so my brain is pretty much just made up of Queen lyrics, but... I listen to a little of everything. There isn't much I don't like, really, save for maybe hardcore metal. Though, some of it I've heard is okay."

Spencer laughed a little. "That's nice. I don't really listen to a variety of things, mostly classical, but... I don't know, maybe you could... introduce me to some of your favorites? Broaden my horizons?"

He almost sounded shy asking, but that only made the sentiment more endearing. Y/N smiled so hard her cheeks hurt. "Anytime, G-man."

The waiter came back with the wine then, and they got to ordering. Y/N ordered a lemon chicken piccata while Spencer settled on pasta alla norma. Of course they had a side of breadsticks and they each got a small tomato soup to sip on while they waited.

They continued to chat about their favorite things, anywhere from as general as their favorite books and movies to as random as their favorite flowers and candle scents. It was nice getting to know these tiny details. And normally this type of small talk was awkwardly necessary and devastatingly tedious, but with Spencer it felt effortless. She liked telling him about her favorite things, no matter how small they were, and just the same she liked listening to him. The way he spoke, his eyes lighting up as he talked about what made him happy made Y/N warm, feeling once again that night like she was bathing in sunlight.

That's what he was. The human embodiment of pure sunlight.

As they ate they talked a little bit about their childhoods. Spencer mentioned how it was mostly just him and his mother, and he almost seemed a little sad when he talked about it. She wanted to let him keep going, but at some point she realized that he was getting a little emotional and uncomfortable, so she made a point to respectfully change the subject, in turn telling some embarrassing childhood stories of her own. For one thing, she loved telling anyone about how she angrily chucked a remote at her brother when they were kids and gave him a permanent scar on his forehead, but ultimately she loved seeing Spencer smile, and she knew that the story would do the trick. It always did.

"Why did you do it?" he laughed after swallowing a bite of his food.

Y/N shrugged with a smile. "He was bugging me about wanting to watch something else, and it just annoyed me so badly that I decided I had enough. I should have been sorry, too, especially after being yelled at, but I really thought he deserved it. And now when people ask why he has this big-ass scar on his forehead, he has to tell them that his big sister chucked a remote at his head. It embarrasses him and it amuses me, so..."

Spencer laughed a little harder, setting his fork down and folding his hands together. "Sounds... like an interesting childhood."

"Yeah, that's putting it mildly. My brother and I did a lot of roughhousing, which would make more sense if he was the older one, but what are you gonna do?"

"So... What, you put him in headlocks and pinned him to the ground like a wrestler all the time?" he asked with an amused laugh.

"Yeah, something like that," she laughed right back.

"Well, I hope he hasn't sustained too much injury permanently over the years... Maybe one day I can ask him about it."

The thought of Spencer meeting her family gave her more butterflies, and it became evident that he was feeling the same way, because he blushed almost immediately after he said it.

"You two would probably get along really well, actually. He loves true crime and stuff, so I'm sure he'd love to talk to you about your job if that's not too forward. Plus, he reads more than I do, so I'm sure you'd find something else in common there."

"Yeah, that sounds great. I like him already."

She smiled, her heart still beating exponentially fast. A small part of her wondered if maybe talk of meeting family members was going too far for a first date, and on any other first date it would've been. But Spencer seemed to be genuinely entertaining the idea of meeting and discussing some of his life with her brother, and that was what flipped the switch. She was starting to feel it. She was starting to fall in love with him.

***

When the two of them got in the car, Spencer turned on the radio before they started their journey home— a Classic Rock station. Y/N smiled, immediately recognizing the melody to, coincidentally enough, her favorite Queen song, Who Wants To Live Forever. She told him as much.

He turned the volume up and started driving, listening to her sing along softly. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed him turning his head every once in a while, obviously sneaking a glance at her enjoying her favorite music. The thought sent a bloom of warmth through her chest as the song faded out and started playing Photograph by Def Leppard. Spencer turned the radio down just a little and nodded, turning down the street.

"I like it. I can see why it would be your favorite."

"This is another one of my favorites, too," she replied with a gentle nod towards the radio, giving him a smile. "A lot of these songs probably will be, though, I've practically been spoon-fed Classic Rock radio since I was a baby."

Then she noticed where they were. A street she didn't recognize. "Where are we going?" she asked, looking around.

"Oh. I-I know I only really promised to take you out for dinner, but there's somewhere else I wanted to show you... If that's alright?"

"It's more than alright," she reassured, placing a hand on his arm and wondering where he planned to take her.

He took her hand in his and continued down the road, the radio shuffling through more songs that Y/N recognized and sang along to. At one point she made a point of dramatically serenading Spencer with Love Song by Tesla, air guitar-ing and everything.

Soon enough they were out where she couldn't see any buildings and only a few streetlights. Y/N hummed softly along to the radio, holding Spencer's hand once again as he pulled the car over down a random road and under this large tree. In front of them she could clearly see the sun setting over the skyline, illuminating everything around them in a soft orange glow.

"It's beautiful out here," she mused as Spencer turned off the car, the radio with it.

"Yeah, I, uh... I was in a particularly stressful point in my life a few years ago, and one day I just drove aimlessly. I don't normally drive at all, but I needed something new, something different to do that I could focus on, and I just ended up here. It's one of my favorite places."

She looked over at him and smiled, running her thumb over his hand. "I find that some of the best things in life happen when you try something different."

His eyes softened as she spoke, squeezing her hand and leaning his head against the seat. "You're right. That's... actually how I got you, know know."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Mhm... Yeah, I didn't even want to confront you about hearing what happened that night because I thought it would be too awkward, but... I don't know, I guess there was just something that felt right about the whole thing, like... like it was an opportunity to get to know someone new. And I couldn't stop thinking about knocking on your door and getting to know everything about this woman who likes to invade other people's privacy." He laughed as he said that last part, obviously teasing her about the whole thing, and she laughed with him.

"Well, then I guess that means I don't have to be embarrassed about that anymore," Y/N noted. "I felt absolutely awful about it, you know."

"Oh, I know. You were practically the color of a tomato when I gave you that Advil."

They laughed together as the sun sunk lower in the sky, and as the air between them grew silent, they just stared at each other, smiling. Even as the sun was leaving, Y/N could still feel its warmth radiating in the form of Spencer's presence.

***

They walked up to her door hand in hand, laughing about a joke she'd told him when Y/N realized the night was potentially over. The thought silenced her laughter, and suddenly she was nervous, like she hadn't already considered that the night would eventually have to end somewhere.

"I... I had a really great time tonight, Spencer, thank you. "

He smiled shyly in that way of his that made her just as shy. It was sickeningly cliché, she thought, feeling this way about a man she'd only just started to get to know, but she welcomed those feelings nonetheless. He was so obviously infatuated with her in a way she hadn't felt before, and it made her nervous because she didn't know how to react. All she could do was welcome and embrace his adoring glares and little touches and compliments, and hope that he knew in turn just how much she appreciated and adored him all the same.

His free hand reached out and cupped her cheek, to which she happily leaned into. "I did, too," he said softly, barely above a whisper. "We should do it again some time."

She smiled against his hand, and she didn't realize it then, but they were closer than they had been all night, toe to toe. "We should."

The world stopped for all of two seconds before he leaned down to kiss her. But something embarrassingly stopped her from letting it happen, pulling her face away just a little. "Wait. My breath probably smells like breadsticks."

Hardly the most romantic thing to say, and she regretted it the second it left her mouth.

Spencer only shrugged, smiling amusedly. "Who doesn't like breadsticks?"

That made her laugh. Hard. And she was still laughing as she pulled him closer and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

When he kissed her back, it was head-dizzyingly sweet, his hands softly brushing over her cheeks as she melted into him. Every time his lips parted, he came back stronger, pressing his lips and tongue to hers with slow, methodical precision.

She could have died right there.

But eventually they pulled apart, and she looked up at him with as much gratefulness as she could provide. "Look, I... I know it's not typically customary to sleep over on the first date, but... What about trying something different?"

Spencer grinned at her, rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip. "Lead the way, pretty girl."

She couldn't hide her blush as she reached over and opened the door, pulling him into the apartment with her.

The door closed behind him, and Spencer kissed her again, this time using one of his hands to press her to him, resting promptly on her lower back. Their kisses were just as slow and sweet as they had been in the hall, though there was a slightest shift in the atmosphere, bringing forth a newfound passion behind each of their movements.

His tongue traced over her bottom lip before he took it between his teeth and tilted his head to the other side, pulling her even closer to him than she thought could be possible. They both stumbled around the living room as they kicked off their shoes. Y/N got significantly shorter after removing her heels, so Spencer bent down and lifted her off the ground, setting her on the back of the couch. Her dress had ridden up to the tops of her thighs so she could wrap her legs around his waist. She slid her cardigan off at the same time he slid off his jacket, their lips still adjoined. Once they were removed, Y/N wrapped her arms around his neck again, and he brought his arms under her ass as he lifted her off the couch

She expected the journey to her bedroom to be rocky, stumbling into furniture and walls and tripping, but was glad to be proven wrong when suddenly she was swiftly seated on her bed, Spencer standing between her legs.

He pulled away from her for all of two seconds before kneeling and pressing kisses to the insides of her right leg, starting at her ankle and trailing all the way up past her knee and eventually to her thigh. His hands reached up to grip the bed as he looked up at her and pressed kisses to her other thigh. Hoping to give him more access, she used her hands to pull her dress up even higher, scooting out from under her butt and bunching up at her hips as she spread her legs a little wider.

He smiled against her inner thigh, running one of his hands over the other. "Patience, pretty girl. I want to take my time with you tonight."

The way he said it made her shiver, and her head leaned back as she leaned back on her hands, feeling Spencer continue his exploration. His mouth travelled from thigh to thigh, doing just about everything he could think of—kissing, licking, biting... One of her hands found themselves in his hair as she sighed out, "Please, Spencer..."

For a moment she thought he wouldn't give it to her, if only because she wasn't specific enough and that had become part of their sexual routine, but this time he granted her what she wanted, one of his hands reaching up and ghosting along her clit through the fabric of her panties.

She instinctually rutted her hips forward at the contact, which made him laugh softly, and before too long, he hooked his finger in the waistband of her underwear, sliding up her dress just a little so he could reach. She lifted herself off the bed so he could bring them out from under her, and he slowly, very slowly, slid them down her legs. His lips travelled up her leg again, taking the same care and curiosity as he had before, each second burning impatiently through Y/N's body as she took it all in.

Right as his nose brushed over her clit, he pulled away, leaving her cold and desperate. She opened her eyes and looked down at him, running a hand through his hair and silently pleading to do something.

He smiled and stood up, pressing a kiss to her neck before whispering in her ear, "Will you ride my face for me, baby?"

"Oh, God, yes," she breathed before she could think, and he laughed, his breath sending goosebumps down the right side of her body.

Spencer got up on the bed and leaned back, his head resting on the pillows as Y/N straddled him, hiking her dress up over her hips and stroking the hair from his face before hovering over it. Before she could do anything, his hands wrapped up over her thighs and pulled her down to him, not wasting any time getting to work.

The initial contact jolted her awake, and she cried out, reaching forward and grabbing the top of the headboard as she ground down on him. His tongue plunged deep into her while his nose pressed against her clit, and the more she moved, the more his tongue drew patterns, wanting to taste every inch of her until she was shaking around him. And that's exactly what happened. His tongue came up to flick and swirl over her clit, and right when he wrapped his lips around it and started softly sucking, she cried out. "I'm gonna— ohh..."

He hummed into her, encouraging her to finish, and she did, clenching her thighs around his head as he shook it back and forth, lapping up every last drop of her arousal until her thighs lost their grip. She lifted up off of him, but he brought her back down to run his tongue through her pussy a few more long, meaningful times. He finally let go of her legs, and she kneeled beside him, catching her breath.

Looking down at him she noticed how wonderstruck he was, running his tongue along his lips to still taste her, his eyes searching hers hungrily before she leaned down and kissed him. The taste of herself on his mouth made her groan, and he reached up to pull the clip from her hair. It tumbled down in a curtain around them before he tossed the clip aside and ran his hands through it, gathering it all to one side and pulling her closer to him.

As he kissed her, she brought her hand to his chest, working at his tie and struggling to get it off. He laughed against her mouth and sat up to do it for her, breaking their kiss apart. Has he undid the tie and the first few buttons of his shirt, Y/N reached back to grab the zipper of her dress, but Spencer stopped her.

"Wait. Can I?"

She nodded, turning around.

"Stand up for me," he told her.

Y/N got off the bed and felt Spencer behind her, his hands brushing her hair out of the way and slowly zipping her dress down, pressing kisses down each inch of skin that exposed in its wake, all the way to her lower back. His hands slid up her back and pushed the straps off her shoulders, then tugged the dress down to watch it fall on the floor, leaving her completely bare.

He kissed her neck and ran his hands up and down her body, eventually reaching around to cup her breasts. She sighed at his touch, leaning back against him as he rolled her nipples in between his fingers. Her hands reached back to wrap around his back and pull him flush against her, the unmistakable feeling of his hardening dick through his pants pressing against her bare ass.

"I love how soft your skin is, pretty girl," he murmured into her neck, sliding his lips down to her shoulder and biting down. She sucked in a breath, her hands removing themselves from his back and placing themselves over his own, feeling the veins strain as they kneaded her breasts. His tongue traced over where he bit down before he kissed the same spot, then he worked his mouth back up her neck and reached her jawline. She turned her head, meeting his lips and pressing herself further into him, whining at every single sensation coursing through her veins.

Eventually she'd had enough and turned fully around, breaking apart from him just to come back. She faced him and wrapped her arms around his neck once more. He leaned in to kiss her again, but she stopped him, pulling her head back and using one of her hands to grip the hair at the nape of his neck. "Tonight's your lucky night, you know..."

At her teasing tone, Spencer laughed, his eyes searching hers before giving in. "Why's that?"

She used the hand that wasn't in his hair to slide over his shoulder and down his chest, drawing patterns across the bare skin he'd left exposed after undoing the first few buttons of his shirt. Then she smiled, bringing herself closer and gripping the collar. "Because I'm on birth control now..." She leaned forward and lightly brushed her lips against his, feeling them just barely as she whispered, recalling what he'd told her a few weeks ago. "You still wanna fill up this slutty little pussy? Make me yours?"

He didn't give a second thought. Before she was aware of what was happening, Spencer had his lips crashed against hers and his arms wrapped around her back, pulling her forward so that the tent in his pants pressed right up into her bare crotch. She gasped against his mouth and reached down to take the rest of his shirt all the way off, and he let her.

Her hands fumbled with the buttons, severely close to just giving up and ripping the shirt apart but she got there in the end, sliding the fabric off his shoulders and tossing it God-knows-where as his tongue slipped into her mouth. She trailed her hands softly down his chest and stomach, making him shiver, and she relished in the feeling of his lean figure tensing under her touch. She scratched her nails along the lower part of his stomach before touching his belt, and then he stopped her, grabbing her wrists.

"Sit on the edge of the bed," he commanded softly against her lips.

Y/N pulled away reluctantly, immediately missing his bodily warmth before doing as she was told and perching herself patiently at the edge of the bed.

Spencer got off his knees, climbed out of bed, and stood on the floor, coming over to her and placing himself between her legs once more. Only this time, he towered over her rather than kneeled. His hands unbuckled his belt while his eyes bore into hers, the anticipation of what was to come as high strung as it had ever been.

He pulled his pants and underwear down in one swift motion, and right a he kicked them to the side, Y/N reached out, grabbing his hips and pulling him closer. One of his hands gripped his hard cock while the other found purchase in her hair, brushing it behind her shoulders and resting at the base of her neck as he leaned down and pushed her back onto the bed. She scooted back just far enough for Spencer to kneel on the edge of the bed, her legs instinctually wrapping around his waist once more as he kissed her.

Her hands brushed the hair from his face and stayed weaved there, whimpering with anticipation as he ran the tip of his cock along her pussy, just as slowly as he'd done everything else so far. He broke their kiss apart and pushed the tip in, not going any farther than that. "I told you, pretty girl, I'm taking my time with you tonight. I want this to last."

As his forehead rested against hers, she barely caught a glimpse of his eyes before he pushed all the way in and squeezed his eyes shut. Y/N sighed and massaged his scalp, completely aware of every inch of him as he held himself inside her. He pressed just about the sweetest kiss to her lips before setting a slow pace that gradually became faster with every passing minute. She was still a little sensitive from when he'd eaten her out, but that only added to the feeling.

"Fuck, you're perfect," Spencer breathed, pulling his head just far enough away from her so he could look her in the eyes. "You're so goddamn perfect, Y/N..."

She slid her hands down his back as he picked up his pace inside her, gasping when he hit her g-spot. "Speak for yourself," she breathed.

When she started to feel herself getting closer, Spencer seemed to notice, because he slowed his pace again and ran sloppy, passionate kisses along her jaw and neck, and she reveled in the feeling. He was all around her, consuming every fiber of her being, and she could bask in it forever if he'd let her.

"Spencer," she breathed, her hands reaching down to grip his ass as he hit inside her deeper. "Fuck... You're so good to me..."

In turn he cradled her face and kissed her deeply, moving his tongue against hers in tandem with his hips' ministrations. Her fingernails bore deeper into his skin, and it wasn't long before she started to feel an orgasm surfacing. He rested his forehead against hers again, biting her bottom lip softly as he pulled away to speak. "Almost there, pretty girl. "

Y/N removed her hands from him and brought them up to bring her face to hers again, sighing into his mouth when they reconnected. And then he grabbed her wrists softly, pinning them above her head and sliding his hands up her forearms until his fingers laced together with hers, squeezing and pushing them both closer to the edge.

"Cum for me, baby," he mumbled against her lips, and within a matter of seconds, she did. Her legs tightened around him and her ankles hooked round his waist, just above the top of his ass to keep him tightly inside her while he found his own release. "Fuck," he sighed, giving three more hard thrusts forward. He held himself inside her while he came, the warmth spreading through her being just about the best thing she'd ever felt. It was the cherry on top, the last puzzle piece falling into place, and she kissed him once more while he finished, feeling him groan in her mouth.

The two of them stayed like that, their hands still laced together and legs still tangled, and even when their lips pulled apart, their foreheads rested together while their breathing slowed.

"Have I already told you how perfect you are?" Spencer breathed, nuzzling his nose against hers.

Y/N laughed a little, nuzzling him right back. "You may have mentioned it."

"Well, it's true. Everything about you is just so..."

"Perfect?" she offered.

He laughed, kissing her once more on the lips before slowly pulling out of her and unlacing their fingers. "Yes. Perfect... But as much as I love laying here with you, UTIs are not perfect, so I'm gonna get you cleaned up. Come on."

She sat up with a grunt, not wanting to get up so soon but she knew he was right. So she let him lead her to the bathroom as quickly as they can, his cum slowly sliding down her thighs when they got there. Spencer turned on the light and closed the bathroom door, a small smile on his face as he got on his knees to help.

"I can grab some toilet pa— holy shit..." Y/N was cut off when he dragged his tongue up the inside of her leg, scooping up his mess and making his way to her pussy where he cleaned out the rest of it. She was still sensitive, so he went as gently as he could, making soft, gentle swipes of his tongue until it was mostly gone, at least not dripping down her legs anymore.

When he stood up to meet her face, she felt stunned, absolutely enraptured by everything about the man in front of her. "So, does that mean I'm officially yours now?" she asked with small laugh.

He gave her that bashful smile again, and it made her feel even better, basking in the familiarity of his boldness of sexual acts followed by instant shy demeanor. "Only if you'll have me."

Y/N grabbed his face and kissed him before looking him dead in the eye and saying, "I hope I'll always have you, G-man."

#spencer reid smut #spencer reid x reader #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds smut #criminal minds fluff #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid

[stylesluxx]

change your ticket – h.styles

[warnings: none]

summary: in which harry doesn’t want y/n to leave him – inspired by change your ticket by one direction

word count: 1,168

masterlist

"H, I have work tomorrow," You giggled and tried to pull yourself out of his arms.

"Just call out," He whined and gripped your waist tighter.

"My flight is in five hours. I need to go," You shook your head and looked down at him as you straddled his waist.

"Please stay with me. I'm gonna be bored if you leave. I'll even take you out to dinner."

You sighed and thought about it for a second. Boston wasn't known for paparazzi so you knew you'd be able to walk the streets freely. You could picture it now, you and Harry walking hand in hand, maybe one security guard walking ahead of you both, but other than that, it was just the two of you.

"Dinner without being harassed by paparazzi sounds like a literal dream."

"Exactly, so stay."

"Okay, okay," You sighed happily and leaned down to peck his lips.

He began kissing all over your face, making you giggle. He rolled the two of you over so you were now lying side by side.

"Are we gonna coordinate our outfits or what?"

—

"You look very handsome, H," You giggled once he walked out the bathroom wearing a sweater vest decorated with sheep.

"Thank you, Buggy," He smiled and leaned down to kiss your lips. "But look at you. I'm blown away. Wow."

You felt your face heat up and the butterflies flutter in your stomach.

You were wearing a baby blue silk dress with spaghetti straps that went down your ankles but had a slit up the left leg.

"H," You whined and covered your face.

"Stop it, let me see your pretty face," He said and moved your hands from your face. "Perfect."

"Alright, alright, let's go," You said and grabbed your purse from off the bed.

You latched onto his hand and he led you through the hotel and to the car where his security was waiting for you guys, just in case.

It was nice to walk around, holding Harry's hand for intimacy. Usually, you were holding it so he could help you get through the crowds of cameras, not just because you wanted to. It felt good, though, and you were so happy that once you got in the back seat of the Escalade, you brought his hand to your mouth and kissed it.

"Love you, H," You mumbled and leaned your head on his shoulder.

"Love you more, Bug."

Once you got to the restaurant, you were seated toward the back in an area where no one could see you.

You both ordered glasses of wine and pasta to go with it. You held hands on top of the table the whole time, just overjoyed to be in each other's presence.

The night was full of compliments, blushing, and smiling. It was always like this with Harry but the fact that you were both worry-free heightened the experience.

"Do you ever just want me to run away from it all? Just disappear into thin air so we could live normal lives?"

The question took you by surprise, but it was something that you had thought about maybe once or twice. But you never spoke on it because if worded wrong, it could be taken wrong.

You took a minute and sipped at your wine before answering.

"I've thought about a life where you're able to make music and be successful, just without the invasion of privacy part. I've never wanted you to give up music or touring, or the fans, but I just wish you had some privacy. And it's not the fans. It's the blogs and the paparazzi. I just..." You were beginning to ramble and Harry squeezed your hand to encourage you to keep going. "We can't share our lives without being exploited on the blogs. I just wish it was us and the fans. No blogs, no paparazzi."

You shrugged your shoulders once you finished and tore your eyes from your boyfriend's green ones.

"I love you, and I love the way you include my fans. Wow, you're perfect," He sighed dreamily, making you shake your head and giggle.

"Such a dork, H."

"Your dork."

"My dork," You nodded with a small grin on your face.

You two wrapped up dinner, giggling the whole time and enjoying each other's company. The whole ride back to the hotel, you sang along to the music that played on the radio, gripping his hand in your lap.

When you arrived at the hotel, you noticed a group of people standing outside. You were nervous, hoping it wasn't paparazzi getting ready to ruin your night, but once you got a closer look, you realized it was a group of fans, phones out, and Fine Line CDs in their hand.

"Oh baby, some fans are outside," You told Harry and turned to face him. "You in a good mood for pictures?"

"Of course," He nodded, giving you a big smile that made you giggle. You both got out of the truck after thanking the driver, and you immediately greeted the group.

"Hi, guys!" You smiled and waved at them.

They politely smiled and waved back, asking for pictures and autographs from Harry.

While Harry entertained them, you stayed back with an older woman, assuming she was their chaperone. The group contained about three teenagers and two little kids, so you were happy there was an adult to look after them.

"Thank you so much for stopping and talking to them. They love Harry," She said, arms over her chest as she watched the kids take pictures with their idol.

"Oh, it's no problem. We're just so happy that the paparazzi aren't here. They're not known to be the nicest to fans or even Harry. They make things a lot more difficult," You explained. "It was a quiet night without them around."

"That must be frustrating, never having any privacy," She frowned, turning to you.

You tore your eyes from Harry and looked at the woman. You shrugged before thinking about what you were going to say.

"It's frustrating we can't choose what we want to share with the fans and when we do, it gets blown out of proportion ninety percent of the time. But Harry loves the fans, I do too, and the good outweighs the bad."

Harry finished taking pictures and signing autographs and held out a hand for you to take. You walked over to him and grabbed it while leaning on his arm.

You bid the fans goodbye before walking into the hotel, squeezing your boyfriend's hand as he pecked the top of your head.

"See, now imagine you went back home? We had a great night," Harry smiled, pushing the up button for the elevator.

"Yeah, you were right, but I'm leaving tomorrow no matter how much you beg," You warned, pointing a finger at him.

"Is it a crime that I want my bug here with me?"

"No, but if I get fired, I'm blaming you."

#stylesluxx #Harry Styles #harry styles oneshot #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles fluff #harry styles blurb

[laurenairay]

5 Times Erik Johnson Surprised You & 1 Time You Surprised Him - E.Johnson

Word Count: 5.7k

Warnings: Some bad language. Some sexual moments. 

Summary: What it says on the tin, 5 times that Erik Johnson surprises you and 1 time you surprise him - a journey through a relationship!

A/N: This is the longest piece I’ve written in a very long time, and I’ve spent days going over every little detail - I’ve really enjoyed putting it together so I hope you enjoy it too!

~~~

1

“So did you think about it?”

You jumped at the sound of your friend’s voice, shrieking slightly as you spun around to face her.

“Gah, you should wear a bell!” you gasped, clutching your chest.

Mel just laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. How she looked so put together after an hour of vinyasa yoga was beyond you. That’s how the two of you had become friends nearly 2 years ago; you’d met in this same yoga class on a Saturday morning, Mel having asked one week to borrow a hair tie when hers had snapped. You’d chatted in passing from that day on, which graduated into getting smoothies together after class, and then to having coffee, lunch, Sunday brunches, and even wine nights. She was genuinely one of the sweetest people you’d ever met, and was a godsend when you needed girl time.

But for the past couple of weeks, she’d been bugging you with a question.

“Come on Y/N, you promised me you’d think about it!” she pouted.

You rolled your eyes slightly, unable to help but smile at her as you slipped into your jacket.

“I know, I know. I just…”

You bit your bottom lip, hesitating a little.

And why were you hesitating? Because she was trying to set you up on a blind date with one of her husband’s friends. Specifically, one of his teammates. And you did not look like the typical WAG, at least according to the internet.

“Y/N, babe, I’ve told Erik all about you. He’s interested, I promise,” Mel said, smiling even wider, trying to encourage you.

You groaned a little, hanging your head back, making Mel laugh.

“I just don’t get why! I’m not exactly the usual hockey player’s type and you know it,” you frowned, gesturing between the two of you.

And you were right. Where Mel’s hair was blonde and artfully plaited, yours was an absolute mess. Where she was tall, toned and tanned, you were...not. And where she was about to head back to her Saturday of leisure with her husband, you were heading back to your small apartment to finish off more work and do laundry for one. As always.

“Oh my god, Y/N, stop it. You’re a sexy smart accountant with an ass to die for, the kindest heart and you don’t take any shit. Erik is interested, trust me,” Mel insisted, nudging you with her arm as you gathered your gym bags.

You sighed, trying to ignore the warmth that filled you from her words. She really was so sweet.

“Alright, alright, you win. I’ll go on a date with Erik,” you said, smiling at her.

Mel grinned back. “You won’t regret this, I promise!”

“I’ll hold you to that,” you said dryly, earning another laugh.

Nearly a week later, Friday night, you were approaching the Italian restaurant that Mel told you to meet Erik at. She’d arranged everything for you, wanting you to have a ‘true blind date’, so all you had to do was show up. And here you were.

“Hi, uh, I’m here for a reservation under Erik Johnson?” you said nervously.

“Ah yes, the other member of your party is already here. Please follow me,”

You let out a shaky breath, smoothing your hands over your navy velvet tea-dress, before walking over to the table you were directed to. Here goes nothing. At least you could potentially get some pasta out of this night, if nothing else. Oh wow. Oh wow. Mel had said Erik was handsome…but damn.

“Hey, you must be Y/N! I’m Erik,”

He stood up and pulled your chair out for you, and you couldn’t help but to blush.

Oh wow. Tall, blonde, broad shoulders, gorgeous and a gentleman? So far, Mel had nailed this.

“Hi,” you murmured back, smiling shyly up at him as he pushed your chair in for you, sitting down as gracefully as you could.

Erik beamed back at you, making your breath catch in your throat. Oh yeah. Mel had definitely nailed this.

A couple of hours later, after great pasta, fantastic wine, and an even better flow of conversation, Erik was walking you to your door. You honestly couldn’t believe how easily the two of you had clicked. As soon as you’d ordered, Erik has started talking, and from there you hadn’t stopped. He was attentive, genuinely seeming to be interested in what you were saying, and he made you laugh as well as making you blush with compliments. It had been…perfect. So much better than you had expected. To be honest, you couldn’t remember the last time you’d had a date that went this well. Wow.

“What?” Erik asked, smiling down at you.

“Nothing…well, I’m just…surprised,”

“Surprised?” he asked, confused.

You blushed a little. “I haven’t been on a date in a while, let alone a blind date, so I didn’t have very high hopes. But you surprised me,”

Erik smiled widely, making your breath catch in your throat again. Oh wow.

“A good surprise then. I’ll take that,” he said smoothly, winking at you.

You laughed, nudging him with your shoulder, earning a nudge back. All too soon, you reached your front door, but you paused outside, looking up at him. It was only early October, so the weather wasn’t too cold, and you were more than happy to linger outside if it meant a few more moments with him.

“I guess this is it then,” you murmured, biting your bottom lip slightly.

Erik smiled at you, but his eyes were serious. “I’m glad Mel set us up – I had a really great evening,”

He had a great evening. He was glad Mel set you up. Even just those simple confessions lit you up inside. Wow.

“Me too. I’m glad I took this chance,” you said softly.

“Do you mind if I take a chance?” Erik said, just as softly.

What?

You stayed silent in confusion, until his hand rose to your cheek, his thumb lightly stroking your cheekbone.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked, voice now as serious as his eyes.

It was all you could to breathe “yes,”

He smiled slightly, leaning his head down and pressing his lips lightly to yours. Oh wow. The kiss stayed soft, and sweet, and slow, but your body rushed with warmth, your hands rising to clutch at his jacket. Erik kissed you again and again and again, each kiss as syrupy sweet as the last, until he pulled away, hand sliding down to clasp yours.

“Wow,” he said, sounding dazed.

“My thoughts exactly,” you blurted.

Oh you absolute dork.

But Erik just smiled, laughing softly. “Can I see you again?”

And you smiled back.

“Yeah, I would like that,”

Mel was getting a bouquet of flowers first thing tomorrow, that was for sure.

~~~~~

2

6 weeks later, and you were still going on dates with Erik. He was honestly the nicest guy you’d ever dated. You weren’t official yet, but over the past six weeks, you’d been on over a dozen dates, fitting lunches and dinners and even fitted a hike in around his roadtrips. You had to admit that it was a bit strange to work around his athlete’s schedule – having the guy you were seeing being away for work for a week at a time wasn’t what you were used to – but it was worth it. It was so worth it.

You’d even mentioned him to your mom, letting her know how lucky you felt to have him in your life, regardless of how early on it was.

Erik was everything you could’ve hoped for. He called you every night he was on the road, just asking about your day, and told you funny stories about his teammates in return. He’d sent you flowers to work after your third date, earning you a lot of compliments and impressed whispers. He’d held your hand, opened doors for you, leant you a sweater when it was cold…he was a complete gentleman. Sure, he had a filthy mouth that made you blush at inopportune moments. Sure, his snoring took some getting used to. And sure, the first time he stayed over and left his fake teeth in your bathroom, it made you jump out of your skin.

You were besotted, not dumb. Nobody was perfect, but Erik sure came close.

And no, the two of you hadn’t been intimate yet, just slept in each other’s arms with a lot of making out. But damn you knew it was going to be good when you did – the chemistry between you was too good not to be. There was no rush though, you knew that the right moment would happen when it happened. And you knew Erik felt the same way, at least if the fire in his eyes was anything to go by.

Today you were meant to be going out for brunch, a rare Sunday off – but you’d woken up with a completely blocked nose, pounding head and a nasty cough. You knew when you couldn’t even keep down a slice of plain toast that you needed to cancel your date, as much as you didn’t want to miss seeing Erik. But there was no way you could see him like this.

 To: Erik

I’m sorry but I’m going to have to cancel.

I think I’ve got the flu.

Sorry x

 It was all you could do to roll over and bury your head under the covers.

In what felt like seconds later, you were woken up by someone knocking on your door. No, pounding on your door. What the hell? You groaned, forcing yourself upright, bracing yourself a little as your head swam with dizziness. But the knocking was still happening and it was so loud and you just wanted it to stop.

“Alright, ‘nuff! ‘m coming,” you yelled, your voice cracking and rasping.

You shuffled over to the door, duvet draped around your shoulders like a pathetic cape, and you wrenched open the door with a glare…only to see Erik.

What the hell?

“What are you doing here?” you mumbled, leaning against the door to keep yourself upright.

Erik’s eyes widened at your appearance and your voice.

“Damn, Y/N, you really do have the flu. Get back to bed!” he said, shocked, herding you back inside your own apartment.

“Told you I did. And I was in bed before you knocked. Why are you here?” you groaned, pulling the duvet tighter around you.

You had not wanted him to see you like this.

“You’re sick, I want to take care of you,” he shrugged, smiling.

That was…sweet. But you couldn’t allow it.

“Erik, I’m not getting you sick too. You need to leave,” you murmured, shaking your head.

But Erik just grinned.

“I’m not going anywhere. If seeing you means I need to take care of you when you’re sick, then that’s what we’re doing today. I want to look after you, Y/N,” he said simply.

How were you supposed to argue with that?

“Erik…”

You trailed off, hesitating.

“Go and take a shower. I’ll put some clean pyjamas outside the bathroom door and when you’re dressed come out and sit on the sofa with me. We’re going to have a lazy movie day and you won’t have to worry about a thing,” Erik announced, hands squeezing your shoulders.

Wow. Just wow.

Erik took in the stunned look on your face and laughed softly, giving you a gentle nudge.

“Go, I’ll be out here when you’re ready,” Erik promised.

Well, no-one was perfect, but you weren’t expecting this. You really were so lucky.

~~~~~

3

There. That was it. That was the dress. You were out shopping on your lunch break; you’d met with Mel quickly ahead of Gabe’s birthday bar crawl tonight, when you realised that you really had nothing that you wanted to wear. In came Mel, suggesting a last-minute shopping trip, and here you were now, in a little boutique not too far from your office.

The dress you were wearing was high-necked, long-sleeved, and knee-length…but it was completely fitted, clinging to you. A beautiful shimmery champagne-coloured bodycon dress. It was nothing that you usually would wear, but there was just something about it that had caught your eye. And you were right. It highlighted everything you loved about your body while still feeling classy, and you just felt amazing in it.

“Mel, I think this is the one!” you called out.

“Come out and show me then!” Mel called back.

So you took a deep breath and opened the dressing room curtain. Mel’s jaw dropped a little, before a big grin lit up her face.

“Oh yes. That’s it, you have to buy it!” Mel squealed, clasping her hands together.

You just bit your lip, glancing over your shoulder into the mirror. It really was a beautiful dress.

“My legs do look pretty great…” you said softly, twisting back and forth.

“And your boobs. And your ass. And your everything. Oh you have to get it Y/N, Erik will just die,” Mel said, laughing.

You couldn’t help but laugh as well. That was true.

“Alright, sold,” you giggled.

If nothing else, Erik would enjoy you trying something different!

You ended up getting ready over at Mel’s, some of the other WAGs joining you too, while Gabe, Erik and the rest of the team went out to a bar first. A glass or two or prosecco, a lot of singing, and one lipstick emergency later, your group of glamourous women was heading into the guys’ second bar to meet them, arriving to a chorus of cheers.

“Oh wow, looks like we need to catch up,” Mel laughed, noticing their tipsy states.

You just laughed at Erik’s flushed cheeks, unbuttoning your jacket as you walked towards him. But when you took it off, you were met with stunned silence from your boyfriend. Oh…did he not like the dress? Maybe you’d been wrong about it after all.

“Holy shit Y/N,” Nate blurted.

Then Sam wolf-whistled, breaking Erik out of his frozen state to punch him in the shoulder, making everyone roar with laughter. Erik stumbled towards you, eyes still wide in disbelief, making you bite your lip nervously.

“Wow. My god, wow. You look amazing” Erik stammered, hands going straight to your waist.

Oh. Good. You let out a breath you didn’t realise you were holding, and smiled up at him.

“Yeah? You like it?”

“Fucking love it. Wow,” Erik grinned.

You just laughed, leaning up to press your lips firmly to his, earning jeers and catcalls as Erik tugged you against his body. You may have been dating for over 12 months now, but his kiss still lit up your body every time. Damn.

“Get a room!” Gabe crowed.

Erik flipped him off, before breaking the kiss, resting his forehead against yours.

“Drink?” he murmured, gazing down at you.

You nodded, smiling. “Drink,”

A couple of hours later, more than a few drinks down, and you were up at the bar, waiting to get a new round of drinks for the people still at the table who weren’t on the dance floor. Erik had barely left your side all night, his hands seeming to not want to leave your body – not that you were complaining. But now you were standing by yourself, having volunteered your turn.

“Hi there,”

You turned your head in confusion, to see a guy standing next to you, smiling.

“Uh, hi,” you replied, smiling politely.

Were you in the way of his drinks at the bar?

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?” the stranger drawled.

Oh jeez. Really?

“I’m out with my boyfriend for a birthday,” you shrugged, being brutally honest.

“Your boyfriend doesn’t let you make friends?”

You couldn’t stop yourself from rolling your eyes. Really?

“Friends? That’s what you’re going with?” you asked dryly, raising your eyebrow.

The guy laughed, grinning.

“Can you blame me?” he said, grin turning to a smirk as he looked you up and down.

Oh, no. That’s just not happening.

But as you squared your shoulders and narrowed your eyes to give him a piece of your mind, you felt a body step up behind you, a warm hand sliding around your waist. You knew these arms anywhere. Erik.

“Thought I’d come up and help you with the drinks, babe. Everything okay?” Erik asked almost-coldly, squeezing your hip a little.

Erik just towered over the guy that had been flirting with you, and you could tell he was balking at your boyfriend’s size. Hah. Serves him right.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just waiting to be served still,” you shrugged, struggling not to laugh.

“Then I’ll wait with you,” Erik shrugged, leaning against the bar, making you fall into his side even more, “So you can leave now, bud,”

Holy shit. The flirty stranger open and closed his mouth, before just walking away.

Erik nodded sharply, as if to say ‘good’.

“Erik!” you giggled, hand coming up to cover your mouth.

“What?” he said, mouth in a surly twist.

Why was he acting like such a caveman?

That’s when it hit you. Erik was jealous. That was…unexpected. He’d never shown any insecurity to you before, not when it came to your relationship. Over the last 12 months, you’d been to plenty of bars and events with him and his friends, and not once had he ever reacted like this to anyone who approached you. What had changed?

“You’re jealous,” you blurted, stunned.

Erik scowled slightly, making you laugh. You turned to face him fully and rested your hand on his chest, looking up at him with a smile, making his scowl soften slightly. He slumped his shoulders a little in shame, a slight flush on his cheeks as he placed both of his hands on your waist again.

“Okay, I’m a little jealous. You look so hot tonight. You look always so hot, but this dress…”

He trailed off, biting his lip. Huh. The dress did it?

Erik noticed the look on your face and pulled you closer towards him.

“Not just the dress. You’re just…glowing tonight, babe. You look incredible and it shows that you feel incredible and…he was looking. He wanted you,” Erik muttered

You just shook your head, smiling slightly.

“Hey, Erik, I don’t care if he was looking or what he wanted. I bought this dress because I like how it looks on me, and I thought you would too. Just you. You’re the guy I’ve been dating for a year. You’re the one whose arms I want around me. You’re the one I’m going home with,” you mused.

Erik smirked, making you roll your eyes.

“Damn right you’re going home with me,” he purred, sliding his hands round your body to rest on your ass.

You blushed as you heard the hooting of his teammates back at your table behind you, batting at his chest as he squeezed his hands cheekily.

“Behave yourself, Johnson” you warned, unable to stop a small smile spreading across your lips.

“Make me, Y/L/N,” he winked.

Challenge accepted.

~~~~~

4

Sunlight streamed through the curtains as you slowly opened your eyes, blinking yourself out of sleep. You stretched your arms out wide to catch the kinks in your back, only to realise that the other side of Erik’s bed was empty. And the sheets were completely cold. What the hell?

You pushed yourself up onto your elbow, trying to puzzle out your confusion. Today was your 2 year anniversary, that’s why you’d stayed over. So where the hell was your boyfriend? It was only after a few moments that you realised you could hear noise coming from downstairs. It wasn’t like Erik to be awake before you, especially not on a Sunday morning when he had a day off. So you crept over to the door, cracking it open silently.

All you could hear was a bit of shuffling, some clinking and some murmuring voices. Kitchen, maybe? And something smelled amazing. Maybe he ordered in breakfast! How thoughtful! Then the voices stopped and you heard footsteps, so you walked back over to Erik’s bed, sitting upright with the pillows behind you. No point pretending you were asleep for whatever he was planning.

And you were right – less than a minute later, Erik pushed open the door, holding a tray in his hands. Whatever was on it had the same amazing smell as downstairs. Erik’s eyes lit up as he realised you were awake, making you smile.

“Happy 2 year anniversary, Y/N,” Erik said softly, smiling back at you.

“Happy anniversary!” you said breathily.

Oh wow.

The tray he laid on the bed had a plate with three huge pancakes on, covered with a mix of berries and syrup. This looked amazing! But did he…

“Did you cook this all yourself?” you asked in disbelief.

Not that Erik couldn’t cook, but he’d never made a sweet breakfast from scratch like this before. As if in admission, he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“I might have called my mom for guidance? Like, she was on facetime with me while I made them. But I did make them all myself other than that,” Erik promised.

Holy shit. That was cute and impressive.

“Thank you, Erik. This looks amazing,” you said happily.

What a hell of a surprise.

“I may have eaten as I was going along. Taste testing, you know,” he confessed, making you giggle as his shame-face, “so this is all for you,”

Well then.

To be honest, the breakfast was incredible. The pancakes were fluffy and delicate, and the berries were perfectly sweet, bursting with flavour in your mouth. You did make Erik eat alongside you, feeling awkward just eating by yourself, but he insisted you eat the last blueberry.

“Damn, Erik, that was so good!” you groaned, flopping on your back onto the pillows, “you should cook breakfast more often!”

Erik just laughed, placing the tray on the floor and pushing it back out of the way. You turned your head to face him as he rolled onto his side, propping his head up his hand. Hmm bicep flex. Nice. Erik grinned as your hand reached out to stroke his arm, unable to help yourself, but there was something strange in his expression…

“You could have this all the time if you moved in with me,” Erik said faux-casually, the hope in his eyes betraying him.

Your breath caught in your throat, your hand involuntarily squeezing down on his bicep in shock. Erik smiled down at you for your reaction, but you could see that the smile was nervous. That was a big step. But a good step. And a step you so desperately wanted to take. But…

“You think we’re ready after only two years of dating?” you asked, hesitant.

Erik nodded so vigorously he reminded you of a bobblehead figure, and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Fuck, yeah, move in with me Y/N. I’ve been trying to figure out how to ask you to move in here smoothly but fuck it – I want you to be the first thing I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night. I want to come back from roadtrips and know that you’ll be waiting here for me. I want to make this a home with you,” Erik said seriously.

Oh god. This man was so sweet. How did you get so lucky?

Tears filled your eyes, and Erik froze, until a smile spread across your face.

“Yeah, babe, I’ll move in,” you said happily.

Erik whooped, punching a fist in the air, making you laugh loudly. He rolled on top of you, pressing kisses into your neck, and you shrieked as his stubble scraped across your skin, only fuelling him on further. The quick kisses turned slower, wetter, until he was kissing down your body, only pausing briefly to whip your strap top over your head. His thumbs briefly brushed against your nipples, causing you to whimper, which Erik only smirked at before his kisses continued their path down.

“Happy anniversary to me,” Erik growled, tugging your pyjamas shorts down your legs, helping you kick them off.

You just inhaled sharply as he roughly pushed your legs up to your chest, moving to press kisses from your knee down your inner thigh, until he…

“Erik!”

~~~~~

5

Normandale Lake Park had quickly become one of your favourite places in Bloomington, MN. The first time Erik had taken you there, during the first time he’d introduced you to his parents, you’d fallen in love with the peace and tranquillity of it. So every year now when the two of you visited in the summer, you’d made an effort to spend some time there with him as a tradition of sorts.

And this year was no different.

The two of you had gotten up fairly early, Erik having wanted to have brunch in a little spot by the river that he liked, and had insisted that all you needed to do was get yourself ready. Not that you were complaining. It wasn’t like you were going to say no to Erik spoiling you with breakfast.

Soon enough the two of you were walking towards where Erik wanted to set up the blanket, his mom having sent you out of the door with a thermos of coffee and a huge hug, the biggest smile on her face. You knew she loved how much Erik adored you, especially since you made no effort to hide how much you adored him in return. How could you not? The man you loved was single-handedly setting up a picnic blanket and picnic basket to spend a quiet morning with you. What could get cuter than that?

“I prepared a few things today, I hope that’s okay?” Erik said, a little awkward.

Strange man.

“Of course it is – why would I complain?” you laughed.

Erik snorted. “I know carbs are always a winner with you, but I put together a few other bits too,”

Well now you were intrigued.

You watched as your boyfriend pulled out box after box from the basket, everything from croissants to strawberries to bacon sandwiches, finishing with a bottle of prosecco. What the hell?

“Damn, Erik. What is all this?” you said, slightly shocked.

Not that you didn’t appreciate this incredible spread of food, but it really wasn’t what you and Erik normally did…

“I just…I wanted to do something special. For you. For us,” Erik mumbled.

You just smiled, getting the feeling that he wasn’t quite finished. Erik sighed, laughing softly.

“You always know how to read my mind, don’t you? You know me better than I know myself sometimes. Even from the moment I met you, I knew you were special. And I was right,”

Your breath caught in your throat as Erik trailed off, reaching out to hold your hand, and your heart started beating even faster. Was he really…

“I know that I’m not perfect, and I know that I have flaws. But you make me want to be the best version of myself, be the best that I can be in every aspect of my life. And with you in my world, I feel I can take on any challenge, I feel I can handle any situation. My heart is yours 100% and I don’t want to even think about living a moment without you by my side. I love you so so much. Will you marry me?”

Tears filled your eyes as Erik moved to kneel on one knee, pulling a ring out of his pocket. This was everything you’d ever hoped for, and with the man of your dreams – there was only one answer.

“Yes, of course I’ll marry you!” you gasped.

The biggest smile you’d ever seen spread across Erik’s lips, and as he slid the ring onto your finger, tears ran down your cheeks. Oh wow. Oh wow. The ring was perfect – a simple square diamond on a study platinum band, delicate but classy, and it fit just right. Holy shit you were a lucky woman.

“I love you, Erik,” you whimpered, pulling him down to kiss you, strawberries be damned.

Erik laughed shakily into your mouth, kissing you over and over and over again, until the two of you were laughing and crying too hard to continue. So you sat upright, wiping your cheeks dry and leaning into his chest as he sat behind you, admiring the ring on your left hand with a smile. Wow.

“Your mom knew, huh,” you murmured, thinking back to the smile she’d sent you off with this morning.

“Yeah, she knew I was going to attempt a proposal today at least,” he laughed.

“Anyone else?”

Erik nodded. “My dad. Gabe too, he went shopping with me. Maybe Mel? Also your mom and dad,”

“My parents?” you asked, shocked, twisting to look up at him.

He just smiled. “Yeah, I asked your dad’s permission. Had to do things right,”

How could you not kiss him for that?

~~~~~

+1

The box in your hands looked pretty simple, a small plain square, but it was going to change your life. In it was the gift you had prepared to welcome your husband home, with some news that you had been hoping for since you’d gotten married last year.

You’d felt off for weeks, but you’d initially put it down to a bad hangover from NYE (you were over 30 now, these things happened), and then to some bad sushi that Cale’s girlfriend had suggested (never again!). But then it became something you couldn’t ignore, and all of your instincts had been correct.

And you’d found out for certain while Erik was away with the team for the first road trip of the New Year. You’d enlisted Mel’s help to come up with a fun way to tell him, swearing her to secrecy of course, and she’d been more than happy to help.

And now here you were, waiting on the sofa for Erik to arrive home.

As soon as you heard the key turning in the lock, you slid the box under the sofa, jumping to your feet to greet him properly.

“Hey, babe,” you grinned, throwing your arms around him.

“Hey,” Erik mumbled, sighing as he hugged you back.

Ouch. It hadn’t been a great trip, you had to admit, 2 losses and one OT win that was a hard fight, but Erik had played his ass off and you were proud of him.

“I missed you,” you said softly, raising your head for a kiss.

Erik managed a smile, kissing you as you’d silently requested. The kiss stayed slow and soft, only a little light tongue, but it still sent shivers down your spine. Eventually you broke away, and Erik was smiling a bit more genuinely now. Good.

“Sofa?” you suggested.

Erik just shrugged, following behind you. Hopefully the news you had for him would cheer him up. Hopefully. As you sat down, Erik pulled you tightly against his side, kissing you a bit more firmly, and you couldn’t help but melt into his arms, sliding your hands around his neck. I love you I love you I love you. You didn’t know how long you stayed kissing for, the embrace going from slow to fast and intense to slow again, but when you broke away for air your body was tingling. Damn.

“Hey, I have something for you,” you said suddenly, breaking the moment. You wanted to tell him before you broke your nerve.

Erik huffed a laugh, slumping back into the sofa cushions next to you.

“Sure, go for it,” he nodded.

You bit your bottom lip at his indifference. Hopefully you’d get more of a response than that. So you pulled the small box out from under the sofa where you’d hidden it, passing it to Erik silently. He raised an eyebrow at you, but you just shrugged, smiling at him. Erik smiled softly back at you, pulling off the lid.

But then he just looked down at the contents with a frown, clearly confused.

“You got me…my own jersey?” he asked, looking back at you.

You just laughed, shaking your head. You had folded it purposefully to only show his number, but you hadn’t thought he would just stop there.

“Pull it out babe,” you prompted, not saying anything further.

Erik pouted but turned back to the box, and did so. But then he froze at the tiny jersey in his hands.

“Daddy?” he murmured, his voice cracking as he read the name.

Then he whipped his head towards you, eyes desperate, and you grinned.

“I’m…daddy?”

You just burst out laughing, making him blush. But the hope in his eyes hadn’t dimmed at all.

“Yeah Erik, you’re daddy,” you nodded, laying a hand on your stomach where the smallest of bumps was forming.

Your eyes widened as Erik choked out a noise that sounded like a sob, but shrieked with laughter as he launched himself forward, his hands cupping your cheeks as he pressed kisses all over your face.

“Erik!” you giggled, batting at his hands half-heartedly.

Erik just pressed a firm kiss to your lips, making you sigh and melt into his grasp. When he pulled away, he had tears in his eyes, making you tear up as well.

“You’re pregnant? How far along?” he murmured, eyes glancing down to your stomach.

You smiled, moving one of his hands to press where he was looking, knowing that was what he wanted.

“About two months. Would’ve been early November, the doctor said,” you admitted.

Erik huffed out a breath, eyes still full of tears, making you laugh.

“Happy tears?” you asked hopefully.

“So happy,” he nodded quickly, “happy tears, happy news, happy surprise,”

You couldn’t help but to smile, leaning up to kiss him again, Erik kissing you back desperately. Whatever surprises the future would hold, you knew you could handle anything thrown at you, as long as you had him by your side.

#fic rec #erik johnson #erik johnson fic #erik johnson imagine #hockey fic #hockey imagine #i hope you like this! #5+1 #5+1 fic

[sagamemes]

critrole sentences  —  thursday by night, part one.   here and below the cut, there’s 160+ lines of dialogue from with the first installment of the two-part show. themes in these sentences are supernatural, survival situations, danger and murder.some more casual things dropped in there to spice things up... but mostly it’s about weird or bad things happening. go wild with horror and supernatural and zombie aus. change names, pronouns, diction, anything to your liking.  tw:  death, violence, uh... consumption of humans, gore mentions.

❝  i'd say you're dead to me, but, you know. you're dead to everybody.  ❞

❝  he's wearing my jacket. if you get blood on my jacket, i'm gonna be very upset.  ❞

❝  they like disney films. cheese. amazon gift cards.  ❞

❝  maybe they have some leftover chinese.  ❞

❝  finish it. finish it, i dare you.  ❞

❝  are you gonna suck [name]'s blood?!  ❞

❝  if we break the magic, everything comes back to normal, that's how these things work.  ❞

❝  it's probably just sean. he works so late.  ❞

❝  we're gonna get the fuck out of here, and we're gonna take you with us.  ❞

❝  look at my teeth!  ❞

❝  come and sit down, have some tea, it's just what you need.  ❞

❝  don't fucking jump out and scare me, i'm gonna fucking attack—  ❞

❝  i never get this kind of positive feedback, i'm actually liking this.  ❞

❝  he's your [petname/friend/brother], man. make sure he's gonna...  ❞

❝  you're actually the person i'm most concerned about.  ❞

❝  it doesn't look like you're in a lot of pain, i can't tell?  ❞

❝  yeah, you guys are fucked.  ❞

❝  it's the only door the keycard won't open. /i don't know why./  ❞

❝  don't think i don't have plans.  ❞

❝  we would be doing so well if [name] was with us right now. he would know what to do.  ❞

❝  this looks like a really crazy game that you're playing.  ❞

❝  we don't tell [name].  ❞

❝  you're nothing without us!  ❞

❝  i found a bunch of pencils.  ❞

❝  somehow, he looks less creepy.  ❞

❝  you're here to keep everybody safe.  ❞

❝  i just kicked someone in the face and they laughed!  ❞

❝  you wanna switch?  i take the dagger, you take the giant sword?  ❞

❝  whoever comes out, it's not gonna go well for that person.  ❞

❝  i am not going to kill you.  ❞

❝  /i/ am not going to kill you.  ❞

❝  you really need to keep me safe so i can get us out of here.  ❞

❝  i'm gonna be honest with you. not all of this was the plan.  ❞

❝  how do i end?  ❞

❝  do you usually touch things that look like they're gonna explode?  ❞

❝  what did we learn about drinking the tea?  ❞

❝  there are, for some strange reason, lucky charms in the cabinet.  ❞

❝  those might also be worth some money.  ❞

❝  you guys have your own language.  ❞

❝  you and i will just get out of here.  ❞

❝  i wanna eat [food/"food"] again. it was really good.  ❞

❝  if you're really squeamish, it's gonna get a little weird.  ❞

❝  how well and intimately do you know [name]? ...could you recognise him by just—parts?  ❞

❝  you could've lied and i wouldn't have known that!  ❞

❝  knock... seven times when the coast is clear. no one knocks seven times, that's ridiculous.  ❞

❝  i gotta get to the office.  ❞

❝  dad's coming back any second now.  ❞

❝  evil people don't pinky-swear!  evil people middle-finger-swear!  ❞

❝  is anything safe?  i mean, come on.  ❞

❝  can i take my shirt off—?  ❞

❝  what's the matter? you love lucky charms!  ❞

❝  we're really thankful that you're here, but...  ❞

❝  oh man, this is intense. i'm not even sure this feeling is a high, i don't know what this is.  ❞

❝  i've been busy all week.  ❞

❝  that's a very good keycard.  ❞

❝  the wedding is probably not happening.  ❞

❝  welcome to terrible decisions in my life.  ❞

❝  she'll freak out.  ❞

❝  i convinced [name] that i'm on her side.  ❞

❝  i really like [name] but i kinda feel like we should kill her.  ❞

❝  half the people you've talked about i've never heard of.  ❞

❝  you stay close to me.  ❞

❝  [name]'s a goner.  ❞

❝  mushrooms have never sat well with me.  ❞

❝  life needs things to live.  ❞

❝  how cute is the rat?  ❞

❝  there's still time. things can still get weird.  ❞

❝  it's gonna get a little weird and i'm so sorry.  ❞

❝  will it explode if i touch it?  ❞

❝  do we get a refund on the wedding gift?  ❞

❝  they're saying that if things go pear-shaped, they're gonna fuck us and take care of each other.  ❞

❝  i could ask upstairs.  ❞

❝  we're all kids when we're in the jaws of a werewolf.  ❞

❝  i mean, if you're gonna be a big girl about it.  ❞

❝  okay, if shit goes down, i'll help you.  ❞

❝  this is not a riddle, i don't have time for that shit.  ❞

❝  i feel funny. i'm really hungry.  ❞

❝  i'm glad you asked though, it's very polite.  ❞

❝  you don't wanna go upstairs.  ❞

❝  only i know.  ❞

❝  we can't tell [name], they were about to get married!  ❞

❝  this doesn't make any sense, but so much sense, at the same time.  ❞

❝  you have some weird people working here, you know that?  ❞

❝  [softly] jazz hands.  ❞

❝  i didn't seem like it was possible to win.  ❞

❝  if things go pear-shaped, i got you.  ❞

❝  can i just quickly admit that i don't know the layout of the building at all?  ❞

❝  pick up the ashes!  ❞

❝  have some tea. we'll explain everything.  ❞

❝  something is wrong.  ❞

❝  quick note:  we could get out of here and leave everybody else.  ❞

❝  oh my god, i killed someone?  ❞

❝  something is wrong, including the giant sign on the wall painted in blood that says  ‘ something is wrong ’.  ❞

❝  this place is even more trashed than normal.  ❞

❝  wow. you /love/ me.  ❞

❝  is this one of those magician tricks where you're telling me to pull a certain card and i don't realise it?  ❞

❝  i've been wanting to get you in one of my games for a while.  ❞

❝  i love the impulse for violence.  ❞

❝  evil people don't pinky-swear!  ❞

❝  we are in a survival situation!  ❞

❝  i ate a rat, baby!  ❞

❝  don't burn the company down [when/while] i'm dead.  ❞

❝  could somebody get me out of wherever the fuck it is that i am?  ❞

❝  i know you're not supposed to be in this meeting.  ❞

❝  how much you overestimate me.  ❞

❝  you are super cute and all but could you get me out?  ❞

❝  [name], this is messed up! [other person] and [other person] are dead!  ❞

❝  [name]... [i/you] don't drink tea.  ❞

❝  hey, that was a tough night, but i'm sorry, are you okay?  ❞

❝  you're huge! you can like, deadlift a house, you can't bust down a door?  ❞

❝  what the fuck happened to you?!  ❞

❝  i feel like you haven't /earned/ that kind of information yet.  ❞

❝  it doesn't taste right.  ❞

❝  i hate to rush into anything too hastily.  ❞

❝  oh, yeah, right, you're married.  ❞

❝  i'm having fun in the most terrifying way possible.  ❞

❝  now we all know how you feel about us.  ❞

❝  i'm just terrified i'll still have a deadline if i ever get out of here.  ❞

❝  stop sticking your fingers in your mouth!  ❞

❝  i never know what you're talking about.  ❞

❝  maybe there's a way to undo it.  ❞

❝  i feel like this is real life.  ❞

❝  [it/she] thinks you're the nicest, sweetest, most wonderful person.  ❞

❝  we're gonna find a phone.  ❞

❝  there's a lot of work to be done.  ❞

❝  i'm judging you hard. real hard.  ❞

❝  i don't know what any of these buttons do.  ❞

❝  i don't see his head.  ❞

❝  i think we're all fucked up.  ❞

❝  we keep the lights on at this place.  ❞

❝  we've never fucking drank tea.  ❞

❝  you know me:  this is not a riddle.  ❞

❝  it was like breakfast pizza and... gyros.  ❞

❝  i'm gonna club her in the back of the head, and then we're gonna run off like bandits.  ❞

❝  don't judge.  ❞

❝  sorry about the stabbing.  ❞

❝  well, ask me no more questions and i'll tell you no more lies!  ❞

❝  man, you're nervous!  ❞

❝  the fuck are you talking about?!  ❞

❝  it's not safe out there, shut the—!  ❞

❝  [name], show me your hands!  ❞

❝  you think this is magic?  ❞

❝  i was born in a box.  ❞

❝  this is like jumping out of an aeroplane without a parachute but knowing it's foam underneath.  ❞

❝  we said that we would look after each other.  ❞

❝  everybody's a kid when you're a vampire.  ❞

❝  everyone here, i don't know why, kinda likes me. i'm an idiot, but they do.  ❞

❝  [name] must be so worried.  ❞

❝  i'm sorry i told you you look like shit right after everything happened. i didn't think about it.  ❞

❝  i just punched through the floor.  ❞

❝  it's not that cute.  ❞

❝  you know, you should never meet your heroes.  ❞

❝  they're kind of refreshing. don't judge, man.  ❞

❝  you're my best friend. /they're/ my best friends, but they're /married/, they have to help each other. so you and me—...  ❞

❝  everybody likes me here.  ❞

❝  you keep me alive—we all live.  ❞

❝  i ate a /man/.  ❞

❝  of course! of course, i know what's going on;  that's my job. i know what's going on.  ❞

❝  i have a good mind for these things and you know what?  my intuition is saying i go first.  ❞

❝  i think that's a compliment.  ❞

#what do you mean it's not october yet #* meme. #* sentences. #sentence starters #sentence meme #rp sentence starters #rp sentence meme

[shoutaaizawas]

↳ bakugou katsuki x reader → crush

summary: you’re super popular at UA with all the boys but no one knows who you like, that is until the 1A girls have a sleepover and start talking about crushes. wouldn’t it be a shame if said crush was listening in? (requested by @fantasynalu tysm!! <3) tags/warnings: fluff, confessions word count: a/n: this was really fun to write! 

It was a pretty common occurrence for the girls of 1A to get together for a sleepover from time to time. There would be movies and snacks, board games, and lots of girl talk. This night brought something quite unexpected.

You were sitting in the blanket fort that you had all accomplished making with teamwork. It was quite the sight, blankets spread over various furniture that had been pulled from every corner of the common room. The nicest touch was the string lights hanging from the ceiling of the fort giving the space a nice glow.

All the 1A girls were very close so it wasn’t surprising to be talking about deeper subjects. What had been talking about your first crushes quickly turned into current crushes.

“What about you?” Mina asked looking directly at you. You had been thinking about how you could get out of this conversation. You did have a crush but you didn’t really want to admit it, you knew there was no way that he liked you back and it would just be embarrassing for everyone to know.

“Yeah, it seems like every boy at UA is after you sometimes.” Uraraka chimed in.  “I think one day I saw at least three different guys ask you out and you turned down every one of them.”

“There’s got to be someone you like!” Tsu added.

You were nervous talking about it but everyone else had been honest, you didn’t want to be the only person who wasn’t truthful.

» Bakugou

Bakugou was not happy. He had been getting ready to go to bed when Kaminari and Kirishima dragged him out of his room. They wanted to play a prank on the girls that were currently in the common room having a sleepover and they wanted him to tag along in case they got caught. They didn’t want to face the girl's fury alone.

He was tired and wanted no part of it yet he tagged along, was it because he hoped he might catch a glimpse of you? If it was he wouldn’t admit it even to himself.

Their plans didn’t get far once Kaminari heard them talking about their crushes. Instead of going for the harmless prank, they were crouched on the outside of the blanket fort hoping to listen in. 

Kirishima was currently blushing redder than his hair after hearing his name mentioned. Bakugou was over it, he wanted to leave, especially before you admitted your crush. He knew that every guy was after you so it wasn’t like it’d be hard for you to get a date with whoever you liked. 

“I mean I really don’t think every guy likes me.” He heard your bashful tone. Bakugou stood up, walking towards the exit of the room. He didn’t want to hear this. “I do have a crush but honestly, I don’t think he’d ever like me back.

He stopped at that turning back for a moment, who in the world wouldn’t like you? You were funny and charming and you worked so hard in your training and studies. Not to mention how beautiful you were.

“I doubt that, c’mon tell us who it is.” Mina urged.

“It’s B-Bakugou.”

It felt like everything stopped, Bakugou’s mind was frozen. Had he heard wrong?

He was pulled from his stunned state by Kaminari turning to look at Bakugou with a shocked expression. Except this didn’t go as smoothly as he intended considering he managed to knock down the whole blanket fort.

Screams erupted from inside before a few heads poked through the collapsed pile of blankets. Angry glares directed at Kaminari and Kirishima.

Bakugou fled the scene trying to get out before he could be seen by anyone. 

﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋﹋ The girls had managed to rebuild the fort after the incident but only after they had chased off Kirishima and Kaminari. For a moment you had been terrified that Bakugou had been there too but you didn’t see him. It made sense, no doubt he was already tucked away into bed and fast asleep.

Everyone was asleep but you couldn’t fall asleep. Finally, you decided to get up and make a cup of tea hoping that would help you calm down. It was all too easy to get caught up in your thoughts. You really did like Bakugou, it wasn’t a small crush. You cared about him a lot, you admired all of his qualities even the ones that others didn’t.

What you weren’t expecting was to find Bakugou in the kitchen heating up water. You stopped at the doorway standing silently. Maybe you should just turn around?

“What are you doing up?” He asked. Guess you couldn’t run away now.

“Oh, I couldn’t sleep.” You answered, your heartbeat picked up in your chest.

“Want some tea?” The soft offer surprised you. Bakugou wasn’t always angry but he was usually bristly at best. He seemed different at the moment. There was a soft quality you hadn’t seen before.

“Yeah, I actually came here to make some. You beat me to it.” You said in a slightly teasing tone. Bakugou nodded and you sat down on a stool waiting for him to finish.

Eventually, he handed you a warm mug, the smell of chamomile wafting up.

“Follow me.” He said. That took you off guard. Where did he want to take you?

He led you to the balcony, before sitting down on the bench there. It was a pretty sight, the plants that accented the space there, the sky full of stars.

You sat down together, keeping your hands on the mug of tea for warmth. You had on sweat pants and a shirt but it was pretty chilly. Not that you cared at the moment, you were much more concerned about what Bakugou wanted.

The moment of silence felt like forever.

“I heard you tonight.” He said. His timing was bad, you had been taking a sip of tea when he said that. You choked on said tea, coughing to get the liquid out of your lungs.

Bakugou stared at you with a concerned expression, he hesitantly reached out patting your back. You waved your hand trying to signal you were fine. As you recovered you wondered what you could possibly say.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to hear it.” You started. “I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable. I know that you don’t feel the same way.”

“Why do you think I don’t feel the same way?” He asked. You were glad you didn’t have another sip of tea to choke on.

“I-I-” You stuttered out. “I just don’t know what you would see in me. You’re so amazing, you’re pretty much the best student in UA.”

Maybe if there was more light out you could see the light blush on Bakugou’s cheeks.

“I do feel the same way.” He said you could tell he was pushing a confident tone but was still nervous. “I’ve liked you for a while now. Don’t sell yourself short, you’re pretty amazing too.” The compliment came out muttered but it still sent you heart soaring.

“Wow, I never thought you could like me.” You said quietly. You paused a moment taking it all in.

“Will you go on a date with me?” Bakugou broke the silence.

“Of course!” You said a little too excited. A smirk met his lips.

You smiled up at him, amazed at the night's events. This was the last thing you had expected when agreeing to a sleepover. A cold wind blew past and you couldn’t stop yourself from shivering.

Before you knew it Bakugou was pulling his hoodie off before handing it to you bashfully. You were taken aback by the offer but certainly weren’t going to say no.

Pulling the hoodie over you appreciated how it smelled like him, you resisted taking a noticeable breath.

You spent a while talking to Bakugou, asking each other questions, and laughing about dumb stuff. Including how Kaminari had knocked the blanket fort down. It was so peaceful. Sitting beside Bakugou, chatting, and enjoying each other’s presence. You saw a side of him you knew few if any ever saw. You would cherish that privilege.

“You should get some sleep,” Bakugou said standing up. You followed him. Before he went back inside you caught him by the sleeve of his long sleeve shirt pulling him back towards you.

You leaned up pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“I’m looking forward to our date.” You said with a soft smile. Bakugou just nodded flustered before walking inside with you.

Sleep found you quickly after you returned to your spot in the blanket fort. Your last conscious thought was trying to figure out how you would explain why you were wearing Bakugou’s hoodie to the girls.

#bakugou x reader #katsuki x reader #bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugo x reader #bakugo katsuki x reader #bnha #bnha x reader #mha #mha x reader #bakugou katsuki #bakugou #bakugo katsuki #my writing

[allsassnoclass]

unmute: 2011

Hello friends here is chapter 1 of unmute, aka the off-screen prequel!

Fic tumblr masterpost

Read on AO3

warnings for this chapter: there is one mention of alcohol and there is one slight instance of homophobia (a microaggression)

thank you to bella @clumsyclifford for reading this over for me

Luke first meets Ashton on a normal Friday afternoon.  They’re in Luke’s garage to give Michael’s granny flat a break, the door open to let the spring breeze in to occasionally ruffle their fringes.  They’re messing around with a blink-182 song just for the heck of it when a bike skids to a stop on the sidewalk.  Luke doesn’t even notice at first, too caught up in positioning his fingers correctly on the fretboard and getting the words right, but once they finish singing someone outside starts clapping and Luke startles bad enough that his cheeks immediately feel like they’re on fire.

“Wow, you guys are really good!” the cutest boy that Luke has ever seen says.  Even from this distance, Luke thinks he can make out dimples at the corner of his smile.

“Thanks, mate!” Calum says.  The cute boy gives a thumbs up and pedals away, and Luke tries to trade the embarrassment of being caught singing with the boys unexpectedly for the pleasant burning of the compliment instead.

It happens again the next week.  The boy comes to a stop on his bike at the end of Luke’s driveway, and Luke notices him right away this time.  He sends a small smile as he finishes the chorus and the boy beams, bopping his head along.  When the final chord fades away, he claps, compliments them again, and then is off.

“Huh,” Michael says as the boy bikes away.

“What?” Luke asks.

“I’m pretty sure we’re Facebook friends.  We met at a party.  His name’s Ashton.”

“Invite him in next time, then,” Luke says.  It ends up being futile, because Michael’s parents let them back in the granny flat after that and there’s no more practicing in Luke’s garage following school.

-/-

He runs into the cute boy again unexpectedly at the movie theater.

It’s embarrassing, because Luke had just been minding his own business waiting for popcorn and hoping that he doesn’t see anyone he knows when a few boys from his school spot him.  Normally this would be fine, but Luke just got a haircut that he hates and he’s wearing his really dorky glasses, and these boys aren’t exactly bullies but they’re also not the nicest.

“Hey, Hemmings, how are you going to be a rockstar with those glasses?” one of them says, and the rest snicker, and Luke can feel himself closing in on himself instead of putting on his thick skin and acting like that doesn’t bother him.

“Maybe he’s trying to be a trendsetter,” one of the others says, glancing at him quickly.  The boys scoff and Luke knows that he should say something, but he’s desperately hoping that Jack appears from where he ran off to the bathroom instead.

“Popcorn for the guy in the awesome green glasses,” someone says, voice strong and melodic, and when Luke turns it’s not Jack that’s come to his rescue but the cute boy, fringe sweeping across bright eyes and tan skin, wearing the uniform of the movie theater and holding out a tub of popcorn across the counter.

“Thanks,” he says, stepping forward to take it, and the boy smiles widely at him.

Luke had been right.  He does have dimples.  And straight teeth.  And his eyes are hazel.  His name tag says Ashton, so Michael wasn’t lying about having met him before.  Luke wonders what he was doing when this party took place.

“Don’t listen to them,” Ashton says.  “With a voice like yours, they’ll be eating their words soon.”

“I hope so,” Luke says, and then, because Michael says they have to advertise the band better, “I’m in a band.  We’re called 5 Seconds of Summer, if you ever want to look us up.”

“I’ll do that,” Ashton says.  “I’ll admit I’ve been disappointed when I bike by that house and you guys aren’t practicing.”

Luke’s heart does an excited little twirl at that, because Ashton seems genuine.  Luke knows that the band is okay, otherwise he wouldn’t have put anything out on YouTube or let Michael and Calum invade his channel, but it’s nice to hear it from someone who isn’t an immediate family member.

“We’re practicing at Michael’s now,” Luke says.  “Maybe--”

He stops, because that’s a silly idea.

“What?” Ashton asks, tiling his head slightly.

“Well, we haven’t done any official gigs yet so I can’t invite you to those, but it might be good to play for someone else who’s not related to us, if you wanted to sit in on a practice or something.  But you don’t have to!  It’d probably be weird and I don’t know if Michael and Calum would be okay with it, although neither of them minded you watching from the driveway…” he trails off, chewing his lip.

“I’d love that!” Ashton says enthusiastically, startling Luke out of the unfortunate swirl of thoughts centering around how awful it is that he’s still so awkward.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Ashton says.  “If your bandmates are okay with it, of course, but I’d like that a lot.”

“Oh.  Cool.”

Luke is trying to figure out if he should give Ashton his number, or ask for his, or how to go about coordinating this when the popcorn is snatched from his hands.

“Come on, Luke,” Jack says.  “Movie’s starting.”

He doesn’t wait for him, just sets off for the theater, and Luke scrambles to orient himself and follow.

“I’ll have Michael message you on Facebook!” he calls over his shoulder, throwing out a wave.  Ashton calls back a confirmation and returns the wave and then goes right back to smiling at the next customer and preparing concessions.

“Who was that?” Jack asks once they take their seats, thankfully before the previews have started.

“His name’s Ashton.  He likes the band.”

“Wow, a fan,” Jack says without the proper amount of enthusiasm Luke thinks being in a band that has real fans out in the world should warrant.  Luke elbows him and snatches the popcorn bucket, but not before Jack grabs a handful to stuff in his mouth.

Luke rolls his eyes and settles in for the movie.  When they leave afterwards he looks for Ashton, but doesn’t see him behind the concession counter.

-/-

Their next rehearsal dissolves pretty quickly into Michael and Calum playing video games while Luke pretends to do his homework instead of watch them.  He has a few assignments that need to get turned in to keep his grades up to his mum’s standard, but Michael and Calum are loud and vibrant and very, very distracting.  Luke is laying on the floor to avoid any stray elbows that get thrown, but he can’t let his guard down just in case.  As such, he’s done exactly half of a math problem.

When there’s a quiet moment he clears his throat and says “Hey, you guys remember Ashton?”

“The guy who was watching from the driveway?” Calum asks.

“Ashton from the party?” Michael adds.

“Yeah,” Luke says.  “I ran into him at the movie theater.  I think we should invite him to sit in on some practices.”

“Why?” Michael frowns.  Luke shrugs.

“It’ll be good to play in front of an audience, even if it’s just one person.  He seems cool and he likes the band.”

“Are we ready for that?” Calum asks.  Luke shrugs again.

“We already put out stuff on YouTube.  How much different can it be?”

“Yeah, but we mess up a lot before we upload the videos,” Michael says.  He looks at Luke critically, squinting in a way that makes Luke want to retreat like a turtle, except he can’t even effectively do that because it’s spring and he’s in a t-shirt.  Then Michael grins, wide and teasing.  “Does he really like the band, or do you just have a crush on him?”

Luke feels a blush flare up on his face, the type that stings.  

“Fuck you, I’m not gay!” he says, and a voice inside his head screams liar!  He stamps it down viciously.

He isn’t gay.  He might be bi, but that’s not relevant right now and he’s not going to make it relevant for a while, not when he doesn’t have to.  All of the boys at their school are tools, so it’s not like he’s going to have the chance to explore that side of himself here, anyway.

Maybe if the band actually goes somewhere he will.  But then again, maybe having a bi member would hurt them.  Maybe he’ll end up keeping this between him and the poster of All Time Low in his room forever.

Either way, it’s not relevant right now.  Luke likes flirting with girls and holding their hands and the few dry kisses he’s had, so he’s just going to focus on that.

“Aw, you do have a crush,” Michael says, catapulting him back to the real world, and his tone is teasing but it still makes Luke panic.  It’s not even true, because Ashton is super cute and he seems nice but that’s not-- Luke’s not trying to get to know him because of that.

“Are you jealous?” Luke asks, switching tactics because the more he fights against them the more Michael and Calum will clamp down on this line of teasing like dogs sinking their teeth into a particularly good bone.  Michael wrinkles his nose and recoils.

“Ew.”

And yeah, that stings a little, too.

Calum gets a look on his face that typically means he’s up to no good.

“I think I need to meet this Ashton guy,” he says.  “See if he’s any good for our little Lukey.”  He reaches over to ruffle his hair and Luke swats his hand away, which leads to a small tussle that ends in half of the pages of Luke’s textbook getting folded over.

“Fuck you guys,” Luke says once he has Calum in something resembling a headlock, a little out of breath but triumphant.  “He just seems cool.  I don’t have any cool friends and thought it’d be nice.”

“Hey,” Calum complains, then jabs him with his elbow and escapes.

“He says he’s free on Saturday,” Michael says, looking at his phone.  “I don’t want him at our practices until I know he’s okay, so we’re going bowling.”

“No one who goes bowling is cool,” Calum says.

“Shut up, Calum,” Michael says, then begins the next round of their game with no warning, leaving Calum scrambling to get ready.  Luke huffs a laugh and tries to get his textbook back to rights, even though he knows he won’t be getting any more homework done today.

-/-

On Saturday, Luke feels inexplicably nervous.

He shouldn’t, because Ashton isn’t special.  He’s just a guy that they met and now are going to hang out with a little.  Luke has already botched one conversation with him and survived, and he’ll have Michael and Calum with him this time for backup.  Besides, if it turns out that Ashton is awful they simply won’t ever invite him over.  If it turns out that he’s not, Luke could have a new friend.

He has friends.  He’s not an outcast at school or anything, and Michael and Calum are amazing most of the time, so it’s not like he’s hurting for friends.  Still, another one would be nice, and he really does think it could be good to get an outside perspective on their music.

His mum drops him off in front of the bowling alley where Michael is already waiting, running a hand through his fringe in a way that makes Luke think he might be a little nervous, too, which is unfortunate because Michael is typically the most boisterous out of them and Luke was counting on him to drag him through this if it starts to go sour.  When necessary, Michael is really good at muscling through uncomfortable situations for the sake of Luke or Calum.

“Call me when you’re done,” his mum says.  “Have fun.”

“Thanks,” he says distractedly, already partially out of the car.  Michael immediately brightens when he sees him.

“Hi,” he says.  Luke waves and jogs over.  “Cal’s going to be a little late and I have no fucking clue when Ashton’s going to show up.”

Oh no.  What if Ashton doesn’t want to come in general?  What if he changed his mind and doesn’t think the band or Luke are hot shit? Then not only will Luke be sad, but Michael and Calum will never let him live it down.

“Mate, you look like you’re going to be sick,” Michael frowns.  “Don’t barf on me.  Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” Luke says.  “Maybe this was a bad idea.”

“It was your idea,” Michael says slowly.

“Yeah.  Maybe it was bad.”

“Luke, he’s just some guy.  It’s not like we’re proposing marriage.  It’s not like he might join the band or anything.  Relax.”  He knocks their shoulders together, throwing Luke off-balance and then catching him with a hand on his arm when he doesn’t bounce back right away.  Luke shrugs him off.

“I know that,” he says.

“So why are you being weird?”

He’s about to try to muster up an answer when someone calls their names.  Luke whips around fast enough that Micheal has to steady him again, but Ashton either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, because he continues steadily walking towards them and his smile doesn’t waver.  Luke waves and hopes that that negates the fact that he just almost tripped over his own feet.

“Hey,” Michael says when he’s close enough.  “How’s it going?”

“Good, good,” Ashton says.  He rocks on his heels when he comes to a stop, and Luke feels inexplicably nervous again.  It’s different from seeing him with a driveway or movie theater counter between them.  Here there’s no distance or buffer, just Luke and Michael and Ashton.

At least his shirt is a pretty ugly purple.  No one can be too intimidating when wearing a shirt like that.

They exchange pleasantries until Michael suggests they go inside and get themselves sorted while they wait for Calum to show up.  They step into the air-conditioning and Luke immediately feels more at ease.  He loves bowling alleys.  He loves the gaudy carpet and the loud music and the weird lights and the funny shoes and the stacks of neon bowling balls by the lanes.  He especially loves this particular alley because he can pinpoint the carpet stain where he spilled his coke while here with his family then didn’t tell anyone so it had time to set before it got cleaned, or the lane they used when Calum broke one of the bumpers because he doesn’t like bowling without them but threw the ball too hard.

“Can I tell you something?” Ashton asks while Michael is paying for the lane rental and getting shoes, leaning close to be heard over the music and crash of pins being knocked down in the background.  He’s got his hands shoved in his pockets and a little smile on his face, and Luke is instantly convinced that he’d probably let Ashton say whatever he wants and hang off his every word.

“Sure,” Luke says.

“I’m shit at bowling.  I don’t remember the last time I actually played.”

“It’s okay.  Calum is, too,” Luke says.  “That’ll make him like you.  We’re not using the bumpers, though.”

Ashton frowns.

“Do you usually?”

Luke gets called up to the shoe rental before he can respond.  While he’s kicking off his sneakers Calum arrives, prompting another flurry of greetings and introductions and small talk, then they finally all head to their lane and can begin the game.

Ashton is not nearly as bad at bowling as he had implied.  He’s not great, and Luke is glad that the only real competition he has to worry about is Michael, but Calum still decidedly comes in last for their first round.  He vows to take Ashton down for the second, which isn’t likely, but Luke likes the teasing it prompts between them.

Conversation flows naturally with none of the awkward pauses or weird adjustments that Luke had been preparing himself for.  Honestly, it’s extremely easy to get along with Ashton.  He fits into their little group seamlessly, cracking jokes and asking questions and keeping up with their topic changes like he’s been doing it for years.  Luke’s not sure if he’s stopped smiling the entire time they’re bowling, and his smile is great.  It takes over his entire face, wide and infectious, and Luke has to remind himself to stop staring multiple times.

It’s still not a crush, but Ashton is cute, okay?  It’s an objective fact.  Luke is allowed to notice cute people without having a crush on them.

After their time at their lane is up, Luke’s stomach grumbles and convinces them all to stop by the Macca’s next door before they have to call their parents.  Luke wants to order one of everything on the menu, but he settles for some chicken nuggets and hot chips.  All of them get a large fry, so Luke is pretty sure he’s going to get to eat Calum’s leftovers since he won’t have to fight Michael for them, anyway.

“So Ashton,” Michael says once they’re sitting.  “Luke says you’re a fan of the band.”

“Yeah, you guys are pretty good,” he says, then pops some chips in his mouth.

“Do you play drums?” Calum asks around his own mouthful of burger.  “‘Cause that’d be convenient.”

“No, I wish,” Ashton says ruefully.  “I’m not very musical.  My forte is visual art.”

“Really?” Luke asks.  “Like, drawing and painting and stuff?”

“Yeah,” Ashton says, straightening up.  “I want to study it after school.  I actually really want to go to college in America for it.  I’ve been looking at places with scholarships for international students.  They don’t start their school years until September, so I could work full time for most of the year to save up since I graduate in December.”

“Wow,” Michael says.

“That’s cool,” Luke says, because yeah, wow.  Luke can’t imagine leaving behind everyone he knows to go to a different hemisphere, but Ashton seems excited for it, eyes shining.  He must really love art.

“If you guys ever make it to America, hit me up,” he says.  “I’ll be in the front row at your show.”

“When,” Michael corrects.  Ashton grins at him.

They manage to almost finish their meal before Ashton gets a text from his mum requesting him home.  As soon as he’s gone Michael turns to the other two, fast enough that Luke’s a little worried he’ll get whiplash.

“That shirt is fucking ugly.”

Luke and Calum dissolve into laughter.

“What?  Am I wrong?” Michael asks.

“No, it’s ugly,” Calum says around giggles.  Luke nods around his own laughter and Michael leans back in his chair, satisfied.

“Besides that I like him, though,” he says.  Luke feels warmth blossom inexplicably inside him, pleased on Ashton’s behalf.

“Me too,” Calum says.

“Yeah, me three,” Luke says.  Michael nods decisively and Luke’s heart starts beating a little bit faster in anticipation of their next band practice.

-/-

When Ashton arrives for the next band practice, Michael, Calum, and Luke are all playing Fifa in the granny flat.  Michael’s mum must let him in, because one moment Luke is in the zone and the next there’s a prickle of awareness giving him goosebumps and Ashton is there, existing in his periphery.

“Hey Ashton,” he says, not breaking eye contact with the screen.  Michael and Calum ganged up on him for this round and Luke is determined not to lose.

"Hey," Ashton says.  "What're you guys doing?"

"Fifa!" Michael says in his best sports-announcer voice.  Calum scores a goal and crows right before the game ends, throwing his hands up.  Luke considers throwing his controller but settles for a very loud groan and scrubbing his hands over his face instead before taking his first good look at Ashton of the day.

He's not wearing the ugly purple shirt, but rather a green v-neck that hugs the tops of his arms and ensures Luke can see his collarbones.  Luke tries not to make it obvious that he's looking at Ashton's muscles, following the line of his arms down to bracelets knotted around his wrists and a black book in his hands.

"You can join Luke's team," Calum says.  "He sucks though, fair warning."

"Hey!  I do not!"  He tries to smack Calum, but he has to reach over Michael to do it, which means both of them shove him away and he almost topples over.

"I don't play Fifa," Ashton says.

"What," Michael squawks.  Luke stares incredulously, but Ashton just shrugs and adjusts his fringe before flopping down on the ottoman.

"I don't really like Fifa.  I'm not big on video games in general, but Fifa isn't one of the ones I play."

"We can't be friends anymore," Michael sighs dramatically, falling backwards with an arm over his eyes like a fainting maiden.  Luke pokes his stomach to make him jolt.  "How can you not like Fifa?"

Ashton shrugs again.

"I just don't."

"You're lucky you're not actually in the band," Calum says, brandishing his controller.  "This would be grounds to kick you out."

"It's true," Luke says.  "The only band rule is that everyone must like Fifa.  That's why we haven't replaced Michael yet."

"Hey!  There wouldn't be a band without me!"

Michael tackles Luke to the ground, knocking the wind out of him with an oof.  He flails, but Michael digs his fingers into his side, making him shriek.

"Ashton!  Calum!  Help!"

Ashton sighs, then turns to Calum, who shrugs.

"I'm not getting involved in that."

"Betrayal!" Luke calls between giggles, uselessly kicking at Michael but unable to make satisfying contact.  Michael finally relents once Luke feels like his lungs are about to burst from the lack of a good inhale.  He pants on the floor for a few more moments, then heaves himself to sitting and runs his fingers through his hair to set it back to rights.  Ashton gives him a wry smile.  Luke ducks his head, cheeks still flushed from the tickling.

"Is this how band practice usually starts?" Ashton asks.

"Only when Luke's being annoying," Michael huffs.  Luke flips him off.

"Well, we do usually start with Fifa, yeah," Calum says.  "Sometimes we just hang out instead of practicing, which is probably why we're still kinda shit."

"Hey," Luke says.

"Yeah, hey," Michael frowns.  "Don't shit-talk the band."

"You guys do it all the time!"

"Not in front of a guest," Michael says, gesturing at Ashton.  "Besides, we're never going to make it out of Sydney if you keep believing we're bad."

"I didn't say we were bad, I said we're kinda shit.  You can be a good band and still be kinda shit."

Luke frowns, but Michael launches into a quick rebuttal before he can and Luke decides to stop following.  He glances at Ashton and shrugs.  Ashton smiles, pressing his lips together in a way that Luke hopes means he's holding back a laugh instead of being uncomfortable.  His eyes are dancing too much for it to be a bad thing, though, so Luke returns his smile full force.

It's nice to have someone else here for when Michael and Calum go off on their tangents.  Luke never feels left out or anything, but sometimes it's obvious that they have their own language and dynamic bred from years of history that Luke is still catching up on.  They all understand each other in different little, intricate ways, but it's nice to have someone to share his own secret smiles with when the others are in their own world instead of him staring off into space and waiting for them to jump to a conversation he can be involved in.

Ashton drums his fingers against the black notebook in his lap, drawing Luke's full attention to it while the others squabble in the background.

"Hey, what's that?" he asks.

"This?" Ashton asks, holding it up.  It's a hardcover, with thick black loops binding it together.  Luke nods.  "It's my sketchbook.  I figured it'd be better to have something to do than just stare at you guys while you practice."

"Can I see?" Luke asks eagerly.  Ashton pulls the book closer to his chest, a small subconscious movement, smile cracking with nervousness at the edges.

"Not yet.  I'll show you when I have something good, though."

Luke deflates, but nods.

"They're unfinished," Ashton explains.  "They're messy.  I don't try very hard with my sketches, and I want your first impression of my art to be a good one.  Sorry."

"It's okay," Luke says.  "I get it."

Luke doesn't point out that showing him the sketchbook would probably be like Ashton sitting in on a practice, because maybe Ashton’s not there with him yet.  He wants to reach that level, though.  He wants to sit on Ashton's bed and leaf through his art with him, letting Ashton explain what he wants and drawing his own ideas from moments of silence.

"Hey," Michael says, clapping his hands a few times.  "Are we going to practice or what?"

Luke rolls his eyes, because he wasn't the one arguing with Calum about whether their band is bad or shitty, but goes to get his guitar anyway.  He takes him time tuning it, waiting for the others to get ready as well, and Ashton gets comfortable, lounging back.  They bicker a bit about what song they want to do, but not as much as usual because Luke made them all talk about it at lunch so they don't look like fools in front of Ashton, although it's probably much too late for that, and the first play-through is always a little rough, but it's fine.  Ashton's gaze is a gentle weight on his shoulders, and Luke smiles while he sings.

-/-

Luke waits anxiously by the door, glancing out the window every so often to see if he can spot Ashton making his way up the block to Michael's house on his bike.  He's coming straight from work, and they delayed practice a bit today so that he could be there for it.  They've started factoring Ashton's schedule into their practices a bit more, and Luke likes it.  It's maybe not as productive, but band practices feel better when all four of them are there.  Having Ashton sitting in the corner bent over his sketchbook or, in more dire cases, doing homework and revising for exams puts Luke more at ease, and even though he claims not to be musical he has good suggestions for dividing up parts of songs and is willing to tell them when they can do better.

He always phrases it that way, too.  Not "that wasn't good," but "you guys can do better."  Luke likes that he has standards for them.  He likes how sure he is that the band is worth something.

"Luke, sit down," Michael says, picking up another piece of pizza and trying not to lose all of his toppings on the way to his mouth.  "Waiting for him isn't going to make him appear faster."

"I'm too excited to sit," he says, snagging another piece of pizza for himself.  They're supposed to leave some for Ashton, just to be polite, but at the rate they're going that won't happen unless Ashton pulls up right now.

"I still can't believe it," Calum says, awestruck.

"Me neither," he says.

"I can't believe they said yes," Michael confesses.  "I hoped they would, obviously, but I wasn't sure if they would like the YouTube videos."

"This is big," Luke says.  "Like, this could be life-changing."

"Yeah, you said that earlier," Calum says.

"Because it's true."

The doorbell rings and Luke scrambles to standing, basically sprinting to the door to answer before anyone else and effectively cutting off the rest of the conversation.  He throws the door open wide, greeting Ashton with an exuberant smile that he tiredly returns.  He's always a little tired after a shift, shoulders slumped and everything worn at the edges, but Luke's glad that he still comes over when invited.  Luke likes to think that they rejuvenate him a little.

"Hi," he beams.

"Hey," Ashton says.  "You're in a good mood."

"Hey Ashton!" Calum calls from inside.  "There's one piece of pizza for you if you want it before Luke or Michael take it!"

"Oh," Ashton says, perking up.  Luke steps aside to let him in and follows him to the main room.

"Pizza?" Ashton asks, sinking to the floor and taking the offered piece while Luke takes a spot next to him.  "What's the occasion?"

Michael, Calum, and Luke exchange giddy looks, excitement palpable in the air until Luke can't take it anymore and blurts, "We have a gig!"

Ashton freezes, looking at all three of them before one of his signature grins splits his face.

"No fucking way!" he exclaims.  "Seriously?  Where?  When?  Holy shit, congrats!"

"December third at the Annandale Hotel," Michael says.  He's practically vibrating.  Luke thinks the three of them are probably holding enough energy to power a small city right now.

"A real gig," Ashton breathes.  "I'll be there, obviously."

"Obviously," Luke repeats.  "We can't do our first official gig without our biggest fan."  Ashton gives Luke a smile, the type that makes something warm blossom in Luke's stomach.

"Do you know what you're going to play yet?" Ashton asks.

"No, we just found out today," Calum says.  "We were going to try to make the setlist tonight."

"And we still need to find a drummer," Michael says.  Ashton hums.

"Do you have anyone in mind?"

They all shake their heads.  The Drummer Issue, as it has been officially dubbed by the band, is becoming a bigger and bigger thorn in their sides.  They feel good as a three-piece, but you can't play a gig without a drummer.  Michael fills in on percussion sometimes when they really need it, but he likes guitar much better and it's a little late to make him learn how to be a proper drummer when they don't even have a kit to use.

"I might be able to help," Ashton says.  "One of my friends plays drums.  He's not looking to join a band or anything, but he's a quick learner and could probably play at the Annandale at least if you don't have someone more permanent by then."

"Who is he?" Michael asks, reaching for the laptop they upload all of their covers on.  "Pull up his Facebook."

He elbows his way between Luke and Ashton so he can lean over Ashton’s shoulder and Luke scoots over to Calum instead, content to munch on his pizza and leave them to do whatever internet-stalking Michael deems appropriate.  Michael's approval is the hardest one to get in the band, so if he thinks the guy looks good they'll probably end up using him, and Ashton's recommendation carries a lot of weight.

"A real gig," Calum says reverently, staring at his pizza like it's the greatest gift in the world.  Luke knocks their shoulders together and continues leaning against him while the other two talk.

A real gig.  Luke has always put a lot of weight into being in a band, but there's something more official about it now.  They're a real band, not just a band to themselves and a handful of people on YouTube, but to people who will see their name on the marquee and everyone who enters through the doors that night.  5 Seconds of Summer is going to get a chance to play in front of a real crowd, not just Ashton.  This is the start of something huge, he can feel it.

If he had to pick anyone in the world to share this moment with, he’d pick the three people in this room right now.  Luke leans his head against Calum’s shoulder and lets himself imagine the possibilities.

-/-

The night before they're meant to perform at the Annandale, Luke can't sleep.  He tosses and turns, trying to find a comfortable position and failing, flipping his pillow over to the cool side and readjusting his covers and still staring uselessly at the ceiling.  The clock on his side table reads 3:43, red letters blinking mockingly at him as every second ticks by.  He sighs, turning back to look at his ceiling.

He could try to text Michael or Calum, but he doesn’t want them to know how anxious he is, stomach already tied in knots with over twelve hours before the performance.  They might be dealing with their own nerves and he doesn’t need to add to them, or they might be fine and think he’s being stupid.  He could keep laying here, but the longer he does that the more he starts thinking about how everything could go wrong.

What if he forgets the words?  What if his voice cracks?  What if he doesn’t tune his guitar properly and everyone cringes at the first strum?  What if he loses all of his picks?  What if a string breaks?  What if no one even shows up and it’s just the three of them and Ashton’s mellow drummer friend playing to an empty room and then no one lets them do a gig ever again?

He could try texting Ashton.  He might not even be awake, but if he does reply he’d probably say something reassuring that would have Luke’s shoulders unclenching and quiet his racing mind.  Ashton is good at stuff like that, but he doesn’t say things unless he means them.  If he tells Luke that things are going to be alright, things are probably going to be alright.

He grabs his phone from the nightstand, squinting at the brightness.

Luke: U up?

He cringes when he realizes how much that sounds like a come-on.  Whatever, it’s not like Ashton expects him to be doing that, so hopefully he’ll brush it off.

He’s about to try willing himself to sleep again when his phone lights up.

Ashton: yeah whats up

Luke: nothn whats up w u

Ashton: nothing lol. u excited 4 tmrw?

This is his chance.  Ashton has given him a clear opening and all Luke has to do is tell him that the thought of going out onstage is giving him a stomach ache and he’s going to die if he doesn’t get to sleep soon.  Ashton might think he’s silly and dramatic and a baby, but if Luke works himself up any more over this he’s not going to be able to look at his guitar tomorrow, let alone pick it up, and he needs to be able to do that.  He can’t let the band down.

Luke: scared

Ashton: y? u guys r going to kill it!

Luke: what if i suck

Ashton: u dont ur a rockstar! i have gd taste in bands u deserve this opportunity& will be awesome

Luke: what if im not

Ashton: its ur first gig youll only get better frm here uv put in 2 much work 2 b scared u will be amazing

Luke: what if no 1 shows up

Ashton: ill b there! u can play 2 me ppl will come

Luke takes a deep breath.  Ashton’s probably right.  This is their first gig, and he seems convinced that there will be others.  Even if they bomb tomorrow or it’s only Ashton in the crowd, they can bounce back.  They’ve put a lot of work into the band, and he can’t let one shitty performance define them, especially when he doesn’t even know if it’s going to be shitty yet.  Ashton seems to think they’ll be alright, and Ashton is usually trustworthy.

Luke: thx

Ashton: no prob :)

Luke looks at his clock again and wonders if this will be enough to let him sleep, but something niggles at his mind.

Luke: y r u awake rn?

Outside, one lone car drives down the street.  Luke tries to imagine himself in the center of some big city like New York or Los Angeles instead of a suburb outside of Sydney.  He tries to imagine Ashton at a college town in the United States, living in a dormitory with all his friends and staying out late regardless of if he has classes in the morning.

Ashton: cant sleep sketching instead

He sends a picture with it and Luke waits patiently for the image to load.  When it finally does, he's greeted with a horizontal photo of Ashton's sketchbook, yellow light from a lamp barely illuminating the page.  It must be the scene outside Ashton's window, an empty street with houses lining the pavement and a rough sketch of a streetlight at the end of the block.  It's just graphite against creamy white paper, but Luke wishes he were seeing it in person so he could trace his finger over the lines.  They're rushed, but confident and bold.  Ashton has shaded most of the page to give the illusion of nighttime, and Luke imagines him sitting at his window, glancing up every-so-often for reference as he recreates what he can see on paper.

Luke: wow ur really good!

Ashton: <3 ty

Luke bites his lip, trying to figure out something else to say.  After a few minutes of silence, Ashton texts first.

Ashton: get some sleep luke. see u tmrw

His stomach sinks, but it’s probably for the best.  He’d keep talking to Ashton all night if he could, but he needs to sleep.  He has a gig tomorrow.

Luke: gn

He puts his phone down and lays back in bed, taking a deep breath.  To avoid thinking more about tomorrow, he tries to imagine what other creations could be in Ashton's sketchbook, black lines drawing themselves on the blank canvas of his mind until he finally falls asleep.

-/-

Luke paces anxiously as well as he can in the cramped “backstage” space.  They're about to begin the set, and it's just as nerve-wracking as he thought it was going to be.  Ashton's drummer friend is a picture of calm, twirling his sticks with a bored frown, but Michael and Calum are both jittery, too.  Calum is picking nervously at the bass he's holding, about to make his official debut as a bass player, and Michael keeps tapping his foot restlessly.

There's a few people here.  A group of girls is huddled by the stage waiting for them to start and Luke is supremely grateful that they showed up, but it brings up a new set of anxieties.  They're playing original songs for the first time, and it's one thing to be able to sing a cover, but it's another to present people with new material and ask them to like it.  They can't let these fans down, no matter how tiny the crowd might be.

His phone vibrates in his pocket and Luke digs it out.

Ashton: break a leg rockstar :)

Luke doesn't have time to reply before the lights are dimming, the crowd is cheering, and he's following Michael onstage.

The show is amazing.

Like, objectively it's probably not, but Luke has the time of his life anyway.  He's shaky and nervous for the first minute, then he actually looks up and sees Ashton standing off to the side with a camera in hand, million-watt smile on his face, and suddenly things are easy.  They mess up and they're awkward and they give it everything they've got.  The crowd is small but mighty, the music is messy but sincere, and Luke starts to figure out how to be a rockstar on a tiny stage in a hotel in Sydney, Michael and Calum blossoming into their own stars next to him.

He tears up a little during "Everything I Want," which should probably be super embarrassing, but mostly he's just happy.  He can't believe people came.  He can't believe this is real and not a dream.  He can't believe he's lucky enough to do this with his two best friends.  It's only up from here, and Luke already feels like he's on top of the world.

When they take their bows and exit the stage, Luke is buzzing.  He pulls the other two into a hug, the kind that’s so fierce it feels like he’s suffocating, and they all laugh and cheer and maybe Luke cries a little bit again.  He tearily thanks their drummer, who looks marginally less bored now that the show has actually been played, and accepts hugs from his parents and pats on the back from his brothers.  He talks to a few of the fans that have lingered and even signs his first autograph, which is insane to think about.

When he finally has a spare moment, he finds Ashton and throws his arms around him.

"Hey!  Amazing job!" Ashton says in his ear, holding him just as securely.  Luke tucks his face in his shoulder and squeezes.

"I thought you wanted to be in the front row," Luke says once he makes himself let go.

"I figured I'd let the other fans get a chance.  I have a front row seat at every practice, so it only seemed fair.  I got some good pictures, though."

He holds up his camera and Luke brightens even more, if possible.  He feels like he's glowing brighter than the stage lights already.  He feels like he's probably glowing more than all of the stage lights in all of the big stadiums around the world combined.

"Can I see?" he asks.  Ashton doesn't get a chance to answer before Michael and Calum appear in an enthusiastic, all-encompassing storm, pulling both of them out of their corner because Karen promised to buy pizza in celebration and both of them were too nervous to eat before and are starving now.  Luke is, too, and he tugs Ashton to follow them out to the cars.

"Wait, shouldn't this just be band and family?" Ashton says, dragging his feet.

"Don't be stupid," Michael says, taking his other hand and helping Luke pull him forward.

"Yeah, you're basically part of the band," Calum says.  "As much as our temp drummer, anyway, and Mum invited him along."

Ashton's drummer friend declines, so it's just them and their families.  Ashton sits sandwiched between Luke and Calum and Luke's mum jokes about that side of the table needing four pizzas just for themselves.  When the adrenaline finally wears off part way through the meal, Luke slumps against Ashton's side and sighs contentedly.

He's pretty sure this is the best day of his life.

-/-

Ashton graduates in mid-December.  Luke texts him a quick congratulations, but they don't see each other until a few days after.  The band decided they need to celebrate (or maybe they just want the excuse to get ice cream along with the usual pizza), but Ashton spends a few days hanging out with friends from school and his family.  Luke thinks it's ridiculous that they have to wait almost an entire week to see him, but they decide to all stay over at Michael's when they do, so Luke can't pout too much.

They pick Ashton up instead of making him bike over, which they make a big deal out of as his graduation present.  They leave the passenger seat open for him, at least, so he doesn't have to squish into the back, and he graciously thanks them with a lofty voice, like a king talking to his royal subjects.  They make a big deal out of ordering Ashton's favorite pizza, too, which is just one of their usual orders, then grab some chips and pass around goon and put in Iron Man, because Ashton wants to watch the Marvel movies and Michael has all five of them.  The wine goes down easy in the way cheap wine usually does, and soon Luke has a pleasant buzz, enjoying the way the room fuzzes at the edges from his place squished between Michael and Calum on the sofa.  Ashton is alone in the arm chair, and Luke wishes he were squished in here with them, too.

Calum dozes off first, so after Iron Man 2 they set up blankets and sleeping bags.  Michael claims the couch because it's his house, so Luke watches Thor from the floor, propped against the front of the couch so he can see the TV better, Calum on one side and Ashton on the other.  Calum falls asleep again quickly, and near the end of the movie Michael starts breathing deeply, the kind of breathing that's close to a snore.  During the credits Luke blinks at Ashton and finds him already looking back.

"Hey," Ashton says.  "Want to watch Captain America?"

Luke nods.  Ashton carefully picks his way over to the TV, crouching to exchange the DVDs.  Backlit by the screen, Luke can see the way his hair is starting to get slightly wavy at the ends now, hours and hours since he last straightened it for the flat-iron fringe they all sport.  Luke wonders what his natural hair is like.  He likes that he's going to get to see it in the morning, but that also means that Ashton is going to see his bedhead, too.

"Hey," Luke says quietly when Ashton returns.  "The others are asleep."

Ashton glances at them, then grins.  "Do you have a marker?"

They give Calum a mustache, which is hard because the smell of the marker right under his nose keeps making him shift, then giggle their way through drawing a dick on Michael's cheek.  Ashton clamps a hand over Luke's mouth at one point when Michael hums and moves, and both of them hold their breath until he settles again, smacking his lips.

"Shhhh," Ashton says in his ear.  Luke shivers at the proximity, then nods.  Ashton moves his hand, so they continue to give Michael a few more doodle-tattoos before deeming themselves done and returning to their sleeping bags.

"They're going to hate us in the morning," Luke giggles.  Ashton snickers next to him, and they turn back to the movie.  It holds Luke's attention for the beginning, but now that he's aware of it, Ashton's presence as the only other one awake takes up the room.  Luke hears his huffs of laughter and every rustle of his sleeping bag hidden between the dialogue and backing soundtrack.  When he grins, it's still bright even though the TV is the only thing illuminating the room.  It creates weird shadows on his face, valleys of black amidst the blue-lighted highlights, but it doesn't make him look strange or unfamiliar.  If anything, it assures Luke that he'd be able to recognize Ashton in any context.  He’s not the artist out of the two of them, but he wonders if he’d be able to draw Ashton from memory.

"Are you going to miss us when you're in America?" Luke asks.

Ashton drags his attention away from the movie to look at him again.

"Yeah, of course.  You guys are some of my best friends."  Luke tries not to show how happy that makes him.  Sometimes he thinks that Ashton must thing that they're all stupid and immature kids.  Ashton has graduated and has plans for his life and takes care of his family.  Luke draws dicks on his friend's faces when they fall asleep.

"You're one of my best friends, too," he says.  "I'm really glad you talked to me at the movies."

"I'm glad you invited me to go bowling."

"It was technically Michael who did that," Luke says, ducking his head.

"No," Ashton says with a small smile.  "He sent the message, but I know you told him to."

Luke hums and settles deeper into his blanket.

"Are you going to miss me when your band makes it big and you're on tour all the time?" Ashton asks.

"Yeah.  I think I'm going to miss you a lot."

Luke can already feel the phantom pain deep in his chest where he's going to miss him.  He once again wishes there was some way for Ashton to stay with them without sacrificing his own dreams.  It's strange; he's so excited for the band to take off, but now that it's a real possibility that their dreams are coming true and they'll move on to bigger and better things, it hurts a little.

Well, it hurts to think of leaving his family, and it hurts to think of Ashton leaving him.

"Besides, you're the one who's getting out of here,” he says.  “5sos has still only played one gig."

"You're going to be huge," Ashton says.  He states it calmly, like an accepted fact.  It's in the same way he'd say that the sky is blue.  "You'll get out of here and get to see the whole world a thousand times over."

Luke nods, curling into his blanket a little more.  On screen, Steve asks Bucky if he's ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death.  Bucky says, Hell no.  That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight... I'm following him.

"Are you scared of leaving?" he asks quietly.  Ashton stays silent for a long time.  Luke watches him blink in the dim light, eyes toward the TV but too still to be watching it.

"I'm more scared of being stuck here forever," he confesses eventually.  "I love Australia, but... I don't want to turn into my mum, and I don't know how to prevent that unless I get out of here.  I love my family, I really do.  You know that, right?"  Luke nods.  "I love them, and I feel like I've always been taking care of them.  Even just wanting to leave is selfish, but filling out the applications for the schools was awful.  I felt so guilty, but... I don't know.  Australia has a great art scene that I probably should focus on instead, but I keep thinking about America.  If I don't go, I'm going to spend the rest of my life regretting it."

Ashton traces a thread on his blanket.  Luke wants to take his hand.

"I don't think it's selfish," Luke says.  "You can't let your entire life be determined by them.  They understand, right?"

"Mum does," Ashton says.  "I don't think Lauren and Harry get why I want to go so far away."

He sighs.  It feels heavy in the darkness.

"It doesn't matter yet, anyway.  It depends on if I even get into any of the schools I applied for and if we have the money.  I've been saving as much as I can, but it might not be enough.  America is so fucking expensive."

"You'll get there," Luke says.  "If our band is going somewhere, you definitely will, too."

Ashton shoots him a grateful smile.  Luke wants to tuck it in his pocket.  He's already saving pieces of Ashton in preparation of when they'll be halfway around the world from each other.

"Next year will be good for us," Ashton says.  "2012 is going to be a big breakthrough for us both."

"Yeah," Luke says.  "I believe you."

They watch the rest of the movie in silence.  When the credits roll, Luke realizes that Ashton fell asleep while he was distracted by the story, eyes closed peacefully next to him.  It’s strange to see him so relaxed and still, like some sort of marble statue.  He rarely stops moving when he’s awake, but here all of the stress lines he carries with him are smoothed out.  Luke didn’t know that they were there, but now the absence of them is obvious.

The movie menu screen reappears, loud music and bright colors startling him.  He grabs the remote and turns off the TV, plunging the room into darkness.  He tries to get comfortable, tossing and turning a bit on the floor and adjusting his blanket a few times, then closes his eyes.  Sleep doesn’t come easy, and he stays awake for a long time listening to Ashton, Calum, and Michael breathing.

#lashton #5sos fic #my writing #unmute #ahhhhhHHHHHHH #off screen #just lots of yelling lads #it's here!!! unmute is here!!!!

[tomboyneedshercoffee]

Oh So Oblivious || Newt x Reader

Summary: Newt has been trying to give signs about how he truly feels for Y/N but she is too oblivious. 

Word Count: 801

Warning: None

Author’s note: This was so cute to write also, I’m definitely not like this. I’m the type to overanalyze every little thing guys do to the point where I think random guys at the grocery store are in love with me. 

Newt watched as you looked through the rack of battered clothes that were left behind by whoever was here before the group. The abandoned building smelled stale and damp which added to the overall creepiness of the place. But Newt didn’t mind the scorch, anything was better than the glade.

“ Still no luck with Y/N?” Frypan asked softly which snapped Newt out of his lovey daze.

Newt sighed, shaking his head as he rummaged through a box of canned foods and broken utensils,” I’ve tried all I can Fry, you know how she is. She’s almost as oblivious as Thomas and that’s saying something.”

Ever since you two were in the glade, Newt had been planting seeds in almost every conversation to show that he was interested in you. He tried everything from obnoxiously laughing at almost every unfunny joke you’ve made to complimenting the same outfit you had worn for almost two years straight. He was going to tell you how he really felt but he was worried it would completely go over your head. It wasn’t that you were completely unaware, but your mind was a bit preoccupied with trying to stay alive.

“ Newt come over here. I found something for you,” you called out as you held up a dusty red scarf. 

Newt gave one last look to Frypan before coming over to you, his heart racing as you pulled him closer by his new jacket and wrapped the scarf around his neck. You brushed off the jacket a bit before smiling,” Heard you talking about me earlier. Is there a secret you’re keeping from me Newtie?” 

Newt’s throat almost closed up as his tongue felt like sandpaper,” Actually, there is something. You know, we’ve been through a lot...practically more than anyone else in the group. We’ve got a uh- pretty close connection and whatnot.”

While Newt was almost on the verge of having a heart attack, you felt as calm as ever. Even though you could tell Newt was as nervous as ever, it didn’t seem out of the ordinary whenever you two interacted in general. Whether it was him asking for a simple favor or him participating in friendly banter with you, there was always something in his voice that always made him seem nervous.

“ Yeah, we are pretty close huh? I feel really good knowing that I have someone like you by my side through it all,” you said as a matter of fact,” it’s like we were made for each other, right?”

“ Exactly! That’s my point. I’ve been wanting to tell you that I really care about you-more than myself even. When you almost died in the maze, I realized I wouldn’t be anything without you,” Newt took a big breath and looked into your eyes, which showed no panic at all,” so what I’m trying to say is...I love you Y/N.”

Newt held his breath as he watched your reaction, his fingers tapping against the side of his body impatiently. You felt your heart swell as you smiled from cheek to cheek, saying in a simple tone,” Aw, I love you too.”

When your eyes went back to the rack of clothes, Newt felt his knees almost buckled from underneath him. He was used to you being oblivious but to be denied like this? How much did he have to spell it out for you?

Newt stopped your hand from rummaging and gave you a confused lool. There was no one more patient than Newt but even he had enough of this,” That’s it? I just confessed my feelings for you, which was hard for me by the way, and you just say it back like that? I don’t love you like a chum, I love love you Y/N. Romantically. Not as friends.”

You couldn’t help but let your mouth hang open as your mind swarmed with thoughts you never would even picture. Yes, you loved Newt but you didn’t know he would even feel the same way.

“ I-I am in shock, wow, okay,” you let out a small laugh but covered it up with a cough,” Newt, I love love you too. But I’ll be honest, this feels like it came out of nowhere. I didn’t think you liked me I mean to be honest, I didn’t even know you liked girls!”

It was Newt’s turn to laugh which later turned into a sober expression,” Are you joking? I’ve been trying to tell you how I felt since that night at the bonfire. I mean this in the nicest way possible but you are pretty oblivious Y/N.”

“ Orrr maybe I just made it seem like it was and I just knew all along,” You said, even though you knew it was a complete lie,” so what now?”

#newt #newt x reader #newt tmr #newt tmr x reader #newt tmr imagine #newt the maze runner x reader #newt the maze runner #newt maze runner #newt maze runner x reader #newt maze runner imagine #the maze runner #the maze runner x reade #the maze runner imagine #maze runner #maze runner x reader #maze runner imagine #maze runner imagines #tmr #tdc #the death cure #death cure #the scorch trials #scorch trials #tst #minho x reader #thomas x reader #tmr thomas x reader #tmr minho x reader #thomas tmr #minho tmr

[companionjones]

Shy Equations

Requested by: @letter-from-the-refuge​

Request: Ooooh if you could write a Ray Palmer x reader bit, where the reader is really good at science as well and they bond over it, I’d be forever grateful

Fandoms: DC, Arrowverse, Legends of Tomorrow

Pairing: Ray Palmer x Reader

Warnings: None!

Please take some time to sign some BLM petitions! Remember not to give any money to change.org because the donation would go to the website, not the cause.

*******

    “Hi,” warmly greeted the only other person in the lab.

    Tucking some hair behind your ear, you awkwardly returned, “Hey.”

    Not seeming to notice, your meekness, the man continued. “I’m Ray Palmer. You must be our new team member...”

    It took you a second longer than any other person would to realize that Ray had paused for you to give your name. “Oh. My name’s Y/n. Y/n L/n.”

    Ray smiled, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Y/n L/n.”

    You nodded smally and shyly, exploring the lab.

    It was then that Ray finally said something about your demeanor. “Hey, are you okay?”

    “Huh? Oh, yes. I’m fine. The chance to travel with you guys is a dream. I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet. You’ve been so nice...Actually, you’ve been the nicest person here so far.”

    Ray chuckled, “So, it’s everyone else here. Sorry about them. They take some time to get used to new people, but they’ll get used to you sooner or later. Probably sooner, too, because you’re really nice.”

    “Thank you.” You suppressed a giggle from the compliment, then corrected, “That’s supposed to be 1 over pi...”

    The Atom didn’t noticed what you said at first. “And just wait until you meet Nate. He’s on a solo mission right now. He’s even nicer than I am--Wait, what?”

    “This equation. Here you have it equal to 32 over pi. You have to simplify it. May I?” You reached out your hand for an eraser that was in front of Ray.

    He jumped, “Oh. Yeah, sure,” and he handed you the eraser.

    While you fixed that specific equation, then picked up from where Ray had taken a break from earlier. Ray asked you, “So, you’re into all this stuff?”

    You laughed, “Yeah. I went to MIT and graduated top of my class. It’s the main reason why the Time Bureau Academy accepted me as early as they did.”

    Ray chuckled, “I’m guessing that’s why Ava chose you to be a Legend.”

    “Yeah, she needed someone responsible to look after you guys,” you joked.

    He laughed, “Finally, you’re making jokes. You’re funny too.”

    You chuckled, “Thanks.”

    Ray walked up beside you and noticed something in the equations. “Wow. Wait, look at this. If x is equal to the square root of 7 over 3, then we can use this to solve the blank spot in 1789.”

    “Exactly what I was going for,” you continued. “But before we even think about that, we should run an experiment on the likelihood that this won’t end up in devastation and flames.”

    He nodded, “I’ll start building a scale model now.. It should be ready by sundown.”

    “Sundown?” You wondered, “How can we tell when that’s happening on this ship?”

    Ray chuckled, “Oh. Sorry. We have clocks that keep a certain time that we follow on here. It’s how we know when it’s time to sleep here. Well, most of us. Mick usually sleeps 27/4.”

    You chuckled at that.

    Looking away from the board of equations to Ray, you caught him smiling at you. You got the feeling that it had more to do with you than the light atmosphere between you two. He ducked his head when he saw you noticed him. Ray, suddenly shy, related, “It’s really nice to have you aboard. I hope you stay for a while.”

    “Me too,” you smiled, “Especially since it looks like you’re going to need a lot of help running these equations.”

    Ray laughed, and half-sarcastically commented, “Very funny.”

*******

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading! Fill up that heart and reblog if you liked it! If you would like to read more, I have more fics on Marvel over on my page. You should go check it out. Have a nice day, night, or whatever time it is for you! <3 <3 <3

#dc #arrowverse #legends of tomorrow #arrow #ray palmer #ray palmer x reader #brandon routh #companion jones #ugh i just love ray

[tinydooms]

Hi. I just love your stories. They are very well written and I can actually imagine the characters doing that. Can you write a story on Evy coming back to library and arranging it after Imhotep's death and Rick helping her out with that. I always wondered about that but couldn't find anything written in it.

Thank you! I’m so glad you like my stories; that is the best compliment a writer can get! I’ve had a go at your prompt. It turned out rather longer than I’d anticipated. I hope you like it!

A Bit of a Mess in the Library

Cairo, November 1922

“Wow!”

“Oh, please don’t,” Evie said crossly, unpinning her hat and tossing it down on a table. “I told you it was bad.”

Rick stood in the doorway, eyes wide as he stared around the wreckage of the library. “You told me you made a ‘huge mess’. This is a lot more than a huge mess!”

Evie sighed. In her absence, Mohammed, Abdul, and Bob had at least righted the bookshelves, all eighteen of them, but the books and papers and periodicals themselves were still scattered willy-nilly around the room. In a way it was a blessing--any attempt by an untrained layperson would make even more a hash of the categories and alphabetization--but it was also a damned nuisance. Looking at it with fresh eyes, she could see why Dr. Bey had simply locked the doors in her absence and cursed her for breathing. 

It was Evie’s first day back at work after their misadventure at Hamunaptra. Rick had offered to walk her to work, ambling along beside her as they took the tram out of Zamalek into the center of Cairo and walked the last few streets to the Museum of Antiquities. He was looking quite dashing, if Evie thought so herself, in a suit of soft dark blue twill and a brown homburg and Evie was proud to have him on her arm. Still, she had felt a twinge of worry as she unlocked the library door. She had warned Rick about the mess, but seeing it now and seeing his wide eyes, shame flooded her and she turned away. 

“Hey,” Rick said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not broken beyond repair, right? We can fix it.”

“Yes,” Evie said forlornly. “But one does feel a real prat for causing this in the first place.”

“How did you do it?”

Evie pointed to the ladder on the floor under the books and narrated her attempts at shelving, her thoughtless accident. Rick listened, biting his lip, his face going through a series of extortions. When she finished, he gave a great shout of laughter and put his hands on her shoulders. 

“Evelyn Carnahan,” he said, grinning, “you are a firecracker.” 

He kissed her forehead and Evie relaxed, grinning sheepishly. 

“I suppose that’s one word for it. Anyway, you mustn’t tell Professor and Mrs. Emerson what happened.”

“Of course not.” Rick shrugged his jacket off and slung it over the back of a chair. “We’ll let them think the mob got to it.”

“Oh God, can you imagine?” Evie shuddered. She knew what happened to libraries when angry people got to them. 

“Yeah.” Rick shook his head, rolling up his sleeves. Really, he had wonderful forearms, and such lovely hands. Evie almost didn’t hear his next question. “Where should we begin?”

“Um.” She looked around. “The A’s, I suppose. Yes, the A’s. Let’s start by just putting the books on the shelves in their appropriate sections. If you see anything that looks bent or damaged, put it on the table.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They set to work, hefting books up into the shelves, working by author and subject. Really, it wasn’t difficult work, just time consuming and quite labor intensive. Evie watched Rick out of the corner of her eye as he slotted books back into the heavy oak shelves. He handled them gently, respectfully, occasionally pausing to read a title or look at the cover. It still amazed Evie that he was here at all, that he liked her--loved her--well enough to stay; that he was happy to take direction from her and content to work alongside her. The work went so much faster with two hands. 

“Were you going to do all of this yourself?” Rick asked after a while. 

Evie, halfway up the bookshelf on the step ladder, leaned down to take a couple of books from him. “Ideally I have assistants, but they’ve all swanned off to Luxor to see Howard Carter’s new find. I may ask Mrs. Emerson if she knows anyone willing to help. She knows everyone.”

“She’s the acting director’s wife, right?” That was the other thing about Rick that still amazed Evie: he listened to what she said and remembered it. 

“That’s right; Amelia P. Emerson. She’s very efficient; she’s the one who helped us the most after my parents--well. In any case, she’ll likely be able to rustle up some help.”

Rick smiled up at her. “Can she rustle up some sliding ladders that we can bolt to the shelves? It’s no wonder that everything fell over if you’re only using a sliding ladder to reach the high shelves. You should at least have an A-frame.”

“I’ll put it on my list,” Evie said, smiling. 

After a while they stopped for tea, made in the kettle in Evie’s tiny cupboard of an office. They had made good progress, finishing up the A’s and B’s, heading onto the C’s. Still, it would take at least a week to get everything off of the floor, and longer to reorganize and alphabetize. Rick leaned his elbows on the table as Evie spoke, scribbling notes on a pad of paper. 

“--and I’ll need to have a look at the card catalogue while I’m at it; it was due for an update even before all this,” she finished. She rubbed her brow between the eyes. “Oh dear, it’s all too much, isn't it? I can do it, but it will take forever.”

Rick spun the pad of paper around. “The way I see it, we need at least six other guys helping us, maybe eight. It took the two of us about an hour to re-shelve one side, right? So if we have five teams of two, including us, working to stick everything back into place, we could feasibly have everything put away by the end of the week. And then you get some actual librarians in, some assistants, and work your magic putting everything in order.”

Evie looked at the paper. Rick had drawn a small diagram of the bookshelves, and the teams at each. A little of her overwhelm subsided. His plan was very pragmatic. Then his words registered--including us--and she looked up at him. 

“Do you mean to say that you want to come every day and help me with this?” 

Surprise passed over Rick’s face. “Yeah, if you want me to. I’ve never worked in a library but I’m pretty good at cleaning up.”

“You darling!” Evie said. “May I kiss you?”

For a little while they were quiet, nuzzling each other, Evie’s arms around Rick’s neck. Really, he was the loveliest man, the most attentive, the nicest--

“Evelyn?” came a voice from the library proper, and they parted, reluctantly. 

“Here I am,” Evie called, straightening her collar as she went back out into the disheveled space. 

Mrs. Emerson stood in the doorway, looking about her with no small degree of amazement. In her seventies, she had thick grey hair and a permanent sun-tan, rewards of a life spent excavating alongside her husband. Evie had idolized her as a child; now, Mrs. Emerson’s respect and lifelong support were deeply cherished. 

“Good Gad, my dear, what happened in here? It looks as though someone knocked the whole thing down! I warned Dr. Bey that he needed different bookshelves and sturdier ladders.”

“Er,” said Evie, astonished. “I’m afraid that’s almost exactly what happened.”

Mrs. Emerson shook her head. “Curse it; we must order in some rolling ladders.”

“That’s what I said,” Rick said. 

The two women looked at him, standing there in the doorway to Evie’s office, his shirtsleeves rolled up, the very picture of manly beauty. Mrs. Emerson’s eyebrows rose; she darted a curious glance at Evie. 

“I don’t believe I know you, Mr…?”

“This is Rick O’Connell,” Evie hastened to introduce him. “He was our guide out to Hamunaptra and now he’s...now--” 

How did she describe Rick to someone like Mrs. Emerson, who was well-known to be both fiercely feminist and entirely devoted to her husband? Lover was not the right word for that proud Victorian, nor was it the correct term, yet boyfriend seemed so casual. 

“I’m Evelyn’s assistant,” Rick said. “Can I offer you some tea, Mrs. Emerson?”

Mrs. Emerson looked between the two of them, her gaze turning humorous. “Thank you, Mr. O’Connell. Their guide out to Hamunaptra, were you? And did you find anything?”

Evie and Rick glanced at each other. “Yes,” Evie said, “rather too much, I’m afraid.”

Mrs. Emerson looked them over again. “I will take that cup of tea, Mr. O’Connell. Evelyn, you both must come along to Emerson and tell us everything. I suspect there’s more of a story here than just a messy library.”

“It’s a hell of a story,” Rick said. 

“They usually are,” Mrs. Emerson said wryly. “I have some experience in that field, as Evelyn can tell you. Come along, now, both of you.”

In the end it took a month to clean up the library, even with the assistants that Evie brought on to help. Rick turned out to be a marvelous assistant, helping wherever he was needed, never complaining, always making some kind of conversation to make Evie laugh even if they stayed long past museum hours writing new cards for the catalogue. And if he proposed marriage one evening over cups of tea and ginger biscuits, well, the reader knows what Evie’s answer was. 

#asks #prompts #The Mummy #Rick and Evie #Amelia Peabody #my fanfics

[snatchedkpopfan]

NCT 127 Reaction to Their S/O Not Being Able to Fit Their Clothes

Taeyong: 

Taeyong’s reaction would be based on your reaction

If you’re upset then he’s upset 

he’d be really comforting though 

you’d be sleeping over at the dorms and forget to bring clothes 

so he’ll offer you some of his clothes 

you guys would go through basically all of the clothes in his closet

and in his dresser 

but you couldn’t find anything that you could fit 

which would make you kinda sad and in your feelings 

which would make Taeyong sad too 

He’d be really comforting and say something like “It’s okay that you don’t fit any of my clothes.”

Which wouldn’t make you that much happier 

so he will try even harder 

“You’re perfect and i’m not. That’s why you can’t fit any of my clothes. i’m a literal string bean, most of the members can’t even fit my clothes” 

That will make you giggle at his choice of words 

which would make him smile

because he made you smile

which is always his goal

Taeil:

We all know that Taeil is a smaller person 

and even though you knew this, you still were disappointed when his shirt hugged your arms way too tight 

and made your pudge stick out a little more than normal 

which would make you a little self-conscience 

you knew you weren’t the prettiest or the skinniest 

especially not compared to all of the beautiful idol girls that your boyfriend was around a lot of the time 

but none of the superficial stuff never really appealed to Taeil 

so when he saw you looking sad of one of shirts that you couldn’t fit 

he didn’t hesitate to go up to you and make sure you knew why he loves you 

he’d say “You are the most perfect person on this planet and I could never imagine a world without you in it” 

he’d go on to list off all of the things that he absolutely adored about you 

and you could tell by sincere look on his face that his words were genuine

which would make you start to forget about your insecurities 

and appreciate your great and supportive boyfriend 

Johnny: 

Johnny wouldn’t even give you a chance to even be sad about the fact that you can’t fit his clothes 

we all know that Johnny is the nicest person to walk the planet 

so when he even thought that you were getting sad about the fact that your thighs were a little too wide to fit into a pair of his sweatpants, he would turn into the biggest hype man of the century 

compliments everywhere 

“Wow, you’re so freaking beautiful” 

“I can’t believe that I got lucky enough to get a s/o as beautiful as you” 

would probably go on some rant about how thick thighs save lives

and how he wouldn’t wanna date someone who had pretzel sticks for legs 

which would make you laugh at his dorkieness 

because he was trying really hard to make you feel good about yourself 

which you really love him for 

he just wants you to see yourself the way that he sees you 

and if he has crack lots of jokes and go on endless rants about how great you are so that you realize that 

he will do it in a heartbeat 

he’s literally perfect. 

This world doesn’t deserve Johnny 

Yuta:

You being insecure about yourself? 

Not in Yuta’s christian household 

he will not, even for a second, let you dwell on the fact that you couldn’t fit one of his belts 

The pout playing on your lips made him feel bad 

so he immediately took the belt off of your waist and handed you another belt from his closet 

and it fit you way better 

“That belt looks way better on you. It wasn’t you it was the belt” 

He continues to place the belt around his own waist and sure enough it barely wraps around his waist

“Now stop pouting, you look too adorable” 

Doyoung

Doyoung seems like he would be unbothered by the fact that you couldn’t fit his clothes 

he wouldn’t fully understand why you were so upset when you couldn’t fit his clothes

Bc things like that don’t really matter to him 

but of course since you were upset about it, he would make sure to cheer you up 

he seems like the type to change the subject rather than talk about how is pants were way too tight on you 

he might even lecture you on why you shouldn’t wear his clothes without permission

would probably say something along the lines of “things like that don’t really matter anyways. Your clothes look good on you and that’s all that matters”

and if you’re still not satisfied after that, he’ll look through his closet and give you one of his oversized hoodies to wear 

which would definitely make you happy 

Jaehyun

You and Jaehyun were on the way to the dorms after a date when it started to pour down rain 

so by the time you two actually got to the dorms, you were both soaking wet

so naturally, being the sweet boyfriend that he is, Jaehyun offered you some of his clothes to wear 

without thinking, he pulled out the first shirt and pair of pants he saw in his drawer before pulling out some clothes for himself 

when you went to put on the clothes you found that the pants fit a little too loose, but it was still wearable 

the shirt, however, was a different story

It fit a little too tight around your arms and made your stomach bulge out a little too prominently for your liking 

you had to admit that your self-confidence took a blow at the fact you could’t fit one of your boyfriend’s shirts

so with a dejected huff, you took off the small article of clothing

and before you could even ask for another shirt, Jaehyun was giving you the shirt that he had picked out for himself 

which was actually a little too big on you 

Jaehyun would definitely spend the rest of your night together telling you how beautiful you are to him

bc he never wants you to doubt yourself

Jungwoo

You and Jungwoo had just come back from an event where you had to be all dressed up 

and the dress you were wearing was cute and all but you weren’t very fond of wearing dresses 

so you were very eager to change 

but since you were at the dorms and not at your own apartment, you didn’t have any other clothes to change into

so ofc Jungwoo let you borrow some of his clothes bc he’s an amazing boyfriend

He handed you some clothes and headed to the bathroom to change out of his own uncomfortable outfit 

you found that the lounge pants that he handed to you accentuated the size of your thighs a little more than you were comfortable with 

and although they sorta fit, you couldn’t help but feel the urge to change back into your dress 

bc anything was better than wearing these pants 

when jungwoo walked back into the room and saw you about to put back on your dress he was a little confused 

when you explained it was bc of how tight the pants were, he would just laugh before handing you a new pair that were a little bigger 

he wouldn’t understand why your first thought would be to put your dress back on, but he left it alone bc you seemed to not care too much 

He would be sure to tell you how beautiful you are just in case you were really bothered by it 

“you know your’re the most gorgeous person on this planet, right?”

Mark

You and mark would be in the dorms attempting to cook breakfast and failing miserably 

you were almost done with everything and although it wasn’t perfect, it was edible 

all that was left was the eggs which Mark had decided was going to be his job

he got out the eggs and a bowl and started to scramble the eggs 

when he finished, he turned around a little too fast and eggs splashed out of the bowl 

you happened to be in the splash zone and egg yolk was all over your shirt 

so ofc you made Mark lend you one of his

he stayed in the kitchen to clean up his mess and told you to go wear whichever one of his shirts you wanted 

so you went to his room and picked up the first shirt you saw, put it on, and went back into the kitchen 

when Mark saw you, he couldn’t hold back his laughter 

“what?” you would question with a small pout 

he would just shake his head slightly taking in your appearance 

the shirt was definitely on the bigger side and Mark couldn’t help but think you looked adorable in it 

he would just look at you with a wide smile and say something like “you know you look really adorable rn, right?”

Haechan 

We all know that Haechan is the king of sass

So when he saw you walk out of his room wearing one of his hoodies, he didn’t hold back

“uh, who told you that you could walk into my room and take my clothes without my permission?” 

you responded to this with “If you didn’t own so many comfortable clothes, then I wouldn’t be tempted to wear them.” before you took your seat next to him on the couch 

He would keep making comments as time went by

which would make you start to take it off when you got fed up 

but he wouldn’t let you 

saying “even though you didn’t ask, you still look adorable so don’t even think about taking it off” 

#kpop reactions #NCT #nct127 #nct taeil #nct reactions #mark lee #johnny seo #dontcomeformefornotincludingwinwinplease #nct taeyong #nct127 reactions #nct yuta #nct doyoung #nct scenarios #nct imagines #nct jaehyun #nct mark #nct jungwoo

[atc74]

Warrior

Square(s) Filled: Where there’s a will, there’s a way for @as-the-saying-goes-bingo​; Free Space for @spngenrebingo​

Warnings: mental health discussion, age gap, fluff, encouragement, TW: mentions of attempted suicide

Summary: Y/N is a young new actress that has landed a guest role on Supernatural. One of the main stars is a hero to her and she let’s him know, inspiring him even further. 

Pairing: Jared x Reader

Word Count: 1121

Written for: @as-the-saying-goes-bingo​, and for anonymous who sent the following prompt for my 1k notes celebration:  hello!! can i get a sam or jared (surprise me) with the "You look good in my sweater" prompt? maybe the reader can be younger like in her 20's? or not haha tysm! ~D

Beta’d by: @amanda-teaches​

A/N: I hope you like the direction I took this. It kind of just happened. The power of this fandom can do amazing things.

As a reminder, this is a work of fiction and should be regarded as such. No harm is intended toward the actor(s) or their families.

Immerse yourself in Jared’s scent and buy it here from @scentsfromthebunker!

“Hey, you’re Y/N, right?” a deep voice asked. Y/N spun around in the wardrobe trailer to find the two stars of the show standing right in front of her. She couldn’t believe her luck when she landed a guest star spot on the show. She may have only been 23, but Y/N had been acting long enough to know that this role could really help her career, and it didn’t hurt that she was a fan. Keep it together, Y/N, she thought to herself. 

“Yes. And, you’re Jared and Jensen. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” She extended her hand, giving them each a firm shake. 

‘We’ll let you get back to it. We just wanted to drop in and introduce ourselves before the first scene,” Jensen said. 

“See you later, Y/N!” Jared waved and they both left the trailer. 

~*~

“You were really great in that scene, Y/N,” Jensen complimented her as they walked toward the trailers a few days later. “You knocked it out of the park.” Jared nodded his agreement. 

Y/N couldn’t believe the fun she was having. Supernatural was by far the best set she had ever worked on, and she realized how terribly sad she was going to be when her guest spot wrapped. 

“Thanks, Jensen. That means a lot coming from you guys.” Y/N looked up, smiling shyly at them. She wrapped her arms around herself in an effort to warm up. The week started off warm enough, but a cold front had dropped the temperature significantly. 

“You cold?” Jared asked, concern lacing his voice as they approached his trailer. 

“Um, yeah. It’s crazy cold here!” she admitted. “You guys must be used to it by now, especially with the infinite layers of Winchester flannel!”

“Yeah that helps, but you don’t really get used to it. We just go back to Texas to thaw out!” Jensen laughed. “Go. I’m going to call my wife and kids. I’ll see you in a bit to finish running those lines.” 

“Come inside, let’s get you out of the cold,” Jared urged, opening his door and waving Jensen off. He ran to the back and came back with a sweatshirt, handing it to Y/N. 

“Thank you,” she acknowledged as she shrugged it over her head. It was about three sizes too big, but it was warm and smelled like Jared, making her smile. “I have the same one at home, in a slightly smaller size.”

Jared stood admiring her. It wasn’t the first time in their few days together that he had taken notice of her. Even Jensen had noticed how taken his friend was with the younger actress. 

“Oh yeah. Well, then, I should be the one thanking you for your support,” he smiled shyly, his eyes never leaving her. 

“What? Do I have something on my face from lunch?” she gasped, quickly wiping her chin in embarrassment. 

“What? No, no, nothing like that. I was just thinking you look really good in my sweater,” Jared blushed as he looked away. “I’m sorry. That was, I, uh, fuck, I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Jared, it’s okay. You’re not making me uncomfortable. If anything, I’m flattered. You’re Jared Padalecki. You’re Sam Fucking Winchester, and just being in your presence this week has been an honor in itself. I’m not just a fan of the show, and I don’t have one of these just to show my support.” Her eyes cast down as she pushed up the sleeves on the sweater he had loaned her. 

Jared was speechless. He had met dozens upon dozens of fans at conventions that had shared their stories of struggle and stories of triumph with him, but he had never encountered anyone else in the business that shared something like this with him. He moved closer, taking her hands, his thumbs gently rubbing over the jagged scars. “You’re a warrior.” 

“Because of you, Jared,” she whispered. “You and your campaign made a difference and are the reason I didn’t give up, that I keep fighting every single day. You gave me the will to get up and keep going, keep fighting.”

“Wow, I am even more impressed with you now than I was before. You’re smart, talented, beautiful, and a fighter, just like me,” he murmured. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

“I still have some bad days, but they’re fewer and far between. I’m in a good place now. And, hey, I landed a guest spot on my favorite show and got to meet you. The path may be dark and twisted, but it led me to the light,” she said. “It led me to you, Jared.” 

“Go to dinner with me tonight?” Jared blurted out. “I mean, if you want. I’d love to hear more of your story, if you’re willing to share, that is. No pressure, I promise.” 

“I’d like that. I know the fans often tell you of their own stories and struggles, and it must weigh on you. Let me be there for you. After all, you’ve done so much for the rest of us, let me do something for you,” Y/N countered. 

“That sounds really great, actually,” Jared sighed, feeling lighter. Just as he opened his mouth, the door of his trailer swung open.

 “Okay, I’m back! You ready?” Jensen asked, rushing through the door, only to stop when he saw his best friend and Y/N holding hands. “What the fuck did I miss?”

“Nothing,” Y/N said.

“She’s a warrior, Jen,” Jared whispered. 

“I told you she was perfect for you. When are you going to stop doubting me and realize that I am always right?” Jensen smirked, patting his buddy on the back. “Well, like ninety-eight percent of the time!”

~*~

Jared and Y/N had taken it slow and laid a solid foundation over the last six months, making their relationship more stable than even they could have anticipated. When he asked for her opinion on the new campaign, she immediately knew it wasn’t just a new campaign, but a gift for her. A gift of his appreciation, admiration, and support for sharing her story with him and the fandom at a recent convention.

Jared filmed the live stream from set with Jensen, Misha, and Y/N at his side, all donned in one of the new shirts. “Whether you are struggling with mental health yourself, or know someone who is, always keep fighting.” Jared turned to Jensen. 

“Because you are not alone,” Jensen added. ““Love yourself first.” 

“Because you are enough,” Misha contributed. “And, family always has your back.” 

“Always keep fighting,” Y/N smiled warmly into the camera. “Because you are a warrior.”

Did you like it? The nicest thing you can do for a writer is reblog their work and tell them, and others, how much you like it!

The Whole Enchilada: @iwantthedean​ @dolphincliffs​ @mrswhozeewhatsis​ @meganwinchester1999​ @cherrycokegirls1​ @closetspngirl​  @roxyspearing​ @flamencodiva​ @blacktithe7​ @sis-tafics​ @just-another-busyfangirl​ @evansrogerskitten​ @amanda-teaches​ @hannahindie​ @wotinspntarnation​ @winchesterprincessbride​ @winecatsandpizza​ @kickingitwithkirk​  @wi-deangirl77​ @hobby27​ @mogaruke​ @gh0stgurl​ @alleiradayne​ @idreamofplaid​ @seenashwrite​ @manawhaat​ @crashdevlin​ @thoughtslikeaminefield​ @emoryhemsworth​

The Sam Sin-dicate / Jared’s Menagerie: @supernatural-jackles​ 

#asthesayinggoesbingo #spngenrebingo #Jared Padalecki #jared padalecki x reader #jared angst #jared fluff #Supernatural fanfic #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural rpf #akf #yana

[sonicrainicorn]

Patton is Berry Done

Part of the Berry Done AU

Words: 4092 Desc.: Logan gets drunk for the first time in his life, and Patton realizes it’s not as fun to be on the other end. TW: Alcohol, cursing, a lot of throwing up (it’s only ever mentioned tho bc ew)

The idea came to me when I was working on the one-shot that was actually supposed to be published. whoops. Hope you like drunk Logan, anyway.

///

One Friday night, Damien invited Patton and Logan over to hang out. Patton, who was very much well aware of what his brother meant by ‘hang out’, asked Thomas if he was willing to babysit. Well -- he asked Logan if he could ask Thomas. Patton was sure that asking Thomas for anything would end in his funeral. Which he understood completely. Though, if you told him last month that Thomas would genuinely threaten to break every bone in his body, he would have thought you were joking. Thomas was the nicest person he knew.

Either way, he agreed and Patton and Logan thanked him again before leaving. When they got there, Damien had already started drinking.

“Rough day at work, then?” Patton asked with a raised brow.

Damien glared at him and let them in the house. Emile and Remy were sitting on the floor, using the coffee table to play a card game. By the looks of it, Emile was winning. And by a lot. A random TV show was on that no one paid attention to. Background noise, then.

“Hi, guys,” Emile chirped. “I win again, by the way.” He flipped the dealer’s -- also known as Damien’s -- card over, nonchalantly taking a sip of wine.

In a great feat of theatrics, Remy fell back and let out a short yell. “How the hell do you win every time?”

“I told you not to play blackjack with him, but you insisted.” Damien rolled his eyes and gathered all the cards. “You should probably stop before he wins everything you own.”

“Damn bastard already has everything I own,” Remy grumbled under their breath.

Emile smiled sweetly at them.

Damien tossed the card pack at Patton, who almost didn’t catch it. “Work did suck if you must know. And I need someone to get drunk with. Remy can’t do it because they work tomorrow and Em doesn’t like to get drunk so...” He looked at Patton like it was obvious. “You definitely weren’t my first option.”

Seems someone was still a little mad. “Why don’t you just go to a bar?” Patton sat next to Emile.

“Because I want to wallow in self-pity in the comfort of my own home.” He crossed his arms. “Will you do it or not?”

“No thanks.” He started shuffling the cards.

Damien groaned dramatically. “You never give me what I want.” A buzzed middle child who was in a Mood didn’t make for good conversation, as it turned out. He turned to Logan. “What about you?”

Patton expected the answer to be the same, he had no reason to doubt otherwise, but then Logan -- Logan who took one shot on his twenty-first birthday and then never drank again, said, “Yeah, I don’t see why not”

“Oh God, yes. Finally.” Damien rushed to the kitchen with a large grin.

Patton stopped shuffling to stare at Logan with what he assumed could be translated as what the actual fuck all over his face.

It seemed to catch Logan’s attention. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You don’t drink.”

“Well, out of the two of us, I’m not the one known for doing regrettable things so I think we’re safe.”

Ooh, yikes. Yeah, that was a hundred percent called for. Patton shifted in his spot and diverted his attention back to the cards. Turns out he didn’t have any more to say.

Emile glanced between them, a small thoughtful frown on his face. He erased it with a shake of his head. “So what are we playing?”

“Poker.”

Remy sat up. “Great. I actually have a chance at this.”

“Did you want to join us, Logan?” Emile sent him a small smile.

“With the way D’s going to drink tonight?”  A sly grin slid across Remy’s face. “ I think he’ll have his hands full already.”

Right on time, Damien came charging back into the room. In his arms were various supplies such as shot glasses, vodka, tequila, and a few different chasers. He set them all on the table. “Wanna match me shot for shot?” He held up the bottle of vodka with an inviting grin.

“No.” Patton snatched it out of his hand.

He made an offended noise akin to a child getting their toy taken away. “Why not?”

“Because I know how many shots you can take and I don’t want you giving my husband alcohol poisoning.”

“Ugh, fine.” He took the bottle back. “For every shot you take, I’ll take a double.”

Patton’s, “That’s not what I meant.” versus Emile's, “You’re already tipsy.” did nothing in comparison to Remy’s much louder, “Do it bitch, you won’t.”

“Alright, bet.” He sat at the unoccupied side of the table.

Emile hit Remy’s shoulder and gave them an ‘are you kidding me?’ look. They simply shrugged in response.

“C’mon, Logan, let’s see how fast we can regret this tomorrow.” He started pouring out the first shots and chasers, eager to get started. The only time Damien was eager to do something was if it caused damage -- be it to property or livers.

Logan sighed, shrugged to himself, and sat next to Damien. Patton watched wearily as he took his first shot. His face screwed up as it burned its way down. Patton could feel the phantom burns in his own throat. Straight vodka wasn’t his favorite, but it was always common at college parties. He knew the motions well. Take the shot, let it burn -- but don’t act like it burns, then sip a chaser if there happens to be one. (Though, if there was one, it was always alcoholic.) Logan didn’t know the ‘etiquette’ of drinking well enough. He reached for the chaser of cranberry juice almost as soon as it went down.

It didn’t matter though. How you took a shot was just style points. At a party surrounded by onlooking strangers? You’re going to need maximum style points for that. At a bar with some friends? Depending on the friends, style points were still important. At home just trying to get drunk? Style wasn’t the point. Besides, Logan wasn’t a drinker so his reaction to straight shots was bound to be expected.

“Oh, yeah, this is gonna suck.” Damien took a sip of his own chaser. “Ready for another round?”

Sometime after the second shot, Logan started getting a little more touchy. He placed hands on Damien’s shoulders, his arm, Patton was sure there was even a thigh at some point. And Damien was all grins and flirty compliments. Patton knew Damien’s drunken states pretty well. He flirted with anyone that wasn’t a brother of his and generally had his charisma cranked up to ten. On the flip side, he also acted like moody a sixteen-year-old. So, really, drunk Damien was just sober Damien with even less of a filter. Logan’s drunk states, on the other hand, were new territories.

By the third shot, Logan was mostly giggles. He and Damien tried to have their usual debates (also known as a normal conversation for them), but they dissolved into Logan laughing over something vaguely related and Damien testing out a pick-up line based on the topic. On the fourth, Logan kissed Patton and called him “the most beautiful man in the world”. Damien got comically offended and insisted that Logan was breaking his heart. Logan laughed, cradled Damien’s face, and called him beautiful too. As soon as the fifth went down, Logan was completely plastered. He put all his weight against Patton with a loose hand around Damien’s wrist. He started talking about how great everyone was, though he struggled to find more than three adjectives and slurred all his words.

“Nope, that’s enough.” Patton tried to take the bottle out of Damien’s hands when he went to pour another shot, but he couldn’t move with Logan at his side.

Remy took the initiative. “Unfortunately, I have to agree. Logan can’t handle anymore.”

Damien pouted and put his head in his hand. “Boo.”

“That actually took a bit longer than I expected,” Emile admitted softly.

“Yeah -- damn, Logan.” Remy put the cap back on the bottle. “For someone who doesn’t drink you sure held out for a while.”

Logan held up a peace sign.

“Okay, I think we better get going.” Patton lifted Logan to his feet. It was a bit harder than it sounded due to Logan’s apparent lack of bone structure. He refused, or maybe simply couldn’t, move or stand on his own. He kept all his weight on Patton the whole time.

“I think that’s a good idea.” Emile wrangled another bottle out of Damien’s hands. “Stop. Any more and you’ll be asking Logan to marry you.”

Damien snorted. A lazy grin slithered on his face. “I wouldn’t mind that.”

Patton frowned, holding Logan a little closer to his side.

Emile sighed -- an annoyed, almost aggressive sound. “Yeah, okay. Come on. We’re done for tonight.” He dragged Damien into the kitchen, ignoring how he almost face planted.

“Ignore him.” Remy shook their head like a disappointed parent. They gave Patton a small smile. Not a grin or a smirk -- a gentle, genuine smile. “Anyway, want some help? Seems like you could use it.”

“That would be nice, actually.”

Logan clung to Remy like a koala to a tree almost as soon as all his weight was transferred over. Right away he started saying all the great things he thought about them and the good things they did. Remy just nodded and agreed while gently coercing him into a better walking position. Patton silently apologized and opened the front door.

On the short walk to the car, everything Logan said was followed by a soft, “I know, Logan.” or an, “Uh-huh.” much like someone would do when they’re half-listening to a child while focusing on another task. Patton would argue that the comparison was more than apt since most of the stuff Logan said seemed to be the first draft.

Patton opened the passenger side door and Remy helped Logan in. They went to close the door, but stopped when Logan said, “I love you.”

They laughed, borderline composed giggles, and responded, “Love you too, pal.” They shut the door. Logan waved at them through the window, and they gave him a little wave back. “Wow, he is fucking trashed.” They turned to Patton with a wide grin. “I’m surprised he’s still conscious.”

“Guess we’ll see how long that lasts.” He looked at Logan, who gave him a bright beam. “I should go before his body realizes he hasn’t thrown up yet.”

“Oh, yeah. Drive safe.”

“Will do.”

Almost as soon as Patton got in the car, Logan blurted out, “If you could drive straight up at sixty miles an hour, it would take an hour to get to space.”

Patton didn’t even have the door closed yet. “W... what?”

He repeated it a little slower, though that seemed to leave a lot more room for errors and slurring. “If you could drive your car up-ards it would take an hour to getta space.”

He blinked. “That’s, uh, that’s really interesting, bumblebee.” He shut the door. “Could you maybe put on your seat belt before telling me more facts? Unless you need some help.”

“M’not five.” Despite his statement, Logan struggled with the necessary coordination for an absurd amount of time. After failing to get the buckle in the right spot (following an embarrassing number of attempts), he gave up with a small pout. “I can’t do it.”

Patton smiled a bit. He looked like a grumpy toddler. “Let me help, hon.” He buckled him in.

Once they started driving, Logan did not stop talking. He told Patton he loved him five different times, asked nonsense questions followed by silly answers, and pointed out whatever he saw looking out the window. He also insisted on having a hand near Patton at all times despite Patton saying he needed to focus on driving. He was so much more open and bubbly and touchy -- very touchy. A near 180 of sober Logan.

They only had to stop for him to throw up on the side of the road once, which was a lot more impressive than the first time Patton ever got drunk. At least from what friends told him. He didn’t remember anything about that night, but he was told that he threw up several times before ever reaching his apartment. To be fair, he was eighteen at the time and trying to impress someone cute. He didn’t remember if it worked or not.

After his little vomit issue, Logan was a bit less energetic. Understandably so. Throwing up always sucked. But throwing up after a night of drinking was even worse. It didn’t stop him from saying how much he loved Patton, though.

When Patton pulled in the driveway, he cursed under his breath. He forgot about Thomas. With Logan drunk out of his mind and extremely pliable, there was no doubt Thomas’s protective older brother instincts would take over. Patton tried to figure out what to say that wouldn’t result in his head on a pike.

“Come on, hon.” He helped Logan out of the car. Once again, all of his weight was against Patton. “Your brother’s gonna kill me for this, isn’t he?”

There seemed to be a magic word in there that caused Logan’s energy to return tenfold. A large grin split across his face and Patton could have sworn there were stars in his eyes. “Thomas is here.”

Okay, Logan getting excited to see Thomas was actually pretty cute. Patton smiled. “Yeah, baby, Thomas is here. Did you wanna see him?”

Logan nodded, almost cartoonish in nature.

“Let’s get inside, then.” While Patton wasn’t at all prepared to see Thomas, he couldn’t deny Logan what he wanted. That would just be cruel.

He struggled to open the door with Logan hanging off of his arm, but he managed. Thomas was laying on the couch watching Parks and Rec on a low volume. His attention diverted from that rather quickly. Almost right away, he was on his feet to reach Patton and Logan. Patton didn’t know why he was surprised. He had to admit that it was a little obvious Logan wasn’t his top-notch self.

Logan detached himself from Patton and all but collapsed into Thomas’s arms before anyone had a chance to say anything. “Thomas,” he said, a little too loud, “you’re amazing. You’re the best -- best brother I could ever ask for. And I... I love you so much.” He squished Thomas’s face with his hands. “I apre... pre-shate all you ever done. You’re so ‘mazing. I owe you so much. You a’ways make me ‘appy a-and you stick by me no matter what. You’re -- you’re just really great.” He gave him a tight hug.

Thomas stared at Patton, dumbfounded. “What... did you do to him?”

Patton held his hands up in defense faster than he could blink. “This was his own doing. I played no part in it.”

“Damien and I took shots,” Logan answered, partially muffled by Thomas’s shoulder.

“You did what?” Thomas pulled him away to look at his face. “How many did you take?”

“Five,” Patton answered. He knew full well Logan lost track.

“Five?” Thomas struggled to keep his voice down. He cradled Logan’s face. “Logan, you don’t drink. What are you doing taking five shots? Shots of what?”

“Mostly vodka.”

If Thomas’s eyes could get wider, they would have. “Vodka? Straight? Dude, how the hell are you still standing?” He checked over Logan as if the answer would be there somehow. “Why would you do something like that?”

Logan shrugged. “Damien wanted’ta get drunk.”

Princess Leia wandered into the living room, shaking herself out of her sleepiness. Her tail wagged as soon as she saw that her other owners were home.

Logan gasped loudly. “There’s my baby.” He fell to his knees to give her attention. “You’re such a good girl. Yes, you are.” He continued to coo and give her pets and scratches.

“I’m... I’m gonna scream. I’m going to actually scream.” Thomas ran his hands down his face. “There’s no way I’m leaving.”

“Leia, no. Go back to the boys.” Patton pried Logan away from her. “Go. Now.” He pointed out the doorway.

She obeyed after visible hesitation.

Patton worked on lifting Logan to his feet. “Look, I’m going to keep an eye on him. You’re free to stay if you want, but I promise I’m going to make sure he’s okay.” He kept him at his side. “I won’t let anything happen to him. He’ll be fine if you leave.”

Thomas crossed his arms. Patton recognized the face he made almost immediately. It was the same one Logan made when he weighed all possible options. That hard, calculating gaze was something they shared well. “Fine. But I’m calling first thing in the morning.”

Holy shit. He actually agreed? This was the greatest achievement of Patton’s life.

“If I find out anything happened, I’m pushing you down a flight of stairs.”

“If anything happens, I’ll fall down the stairs myself.”

Thomas smirked a little. “I’ll hold you to it.” He patted his pockets to see if he had everything. “Alright. The twins were lovely, as usual, and I look forward to the next time I get to see them. Goodnight -- keep my brother safe,” he pointed at Patton, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Wait, you’re leaving?” Logan sounded like a sad little boy who was told he couldn’t get the one toy he wanted for Christmas.

Thomas sent him a small smile. “I’m afraid so, bear. Patton’s going to be looking after you, okay?” He brushed Logan’s bangs to the side and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “I’ll see you later.”

Logan watched him go with the most disappointment Patton had ever seen on his face. He half expected Thomas to change his mind because of it.

“Okay, sweetheart, we’re going to get you some water then you’re going straight to bed.” He led them to the kitchen.

Unfortunately, Logan had to throw up one more time. Or a few times, rather. That seemed to be the end of the fun alcohol adventure. Patton made sure he was finished before giving him more water. On their way to the bedroom, Patton was stopped by a sleepy voice.

“Dad?” Roman called. He sounded half-asleep. “S’everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he whispered. “Your daddy’s just a little sick. Go back to sleep.” He made sure there wouldn’t be any more questions before continuing. He closed the door to the bedroom so Leia wouldn’t get in. As much as Logan loved to have her in here, she wouldn’t be very helpful.

He helped Logan into a clean shirt and guided him to bed. “I’ll be next door if you need something, okay, dear?” He slipped off his glasses. “Get some sleep.”

“Don’t.” Logan caught his wrist before he could leave. “Can’t you stay?” He looked at Patton with such vulnerability it sort of hurt to see.

“Only if you want me to.”

“Please.”

God, Patton couldn’t say no to that face. He slipped into his side of the bed for the first time in way too long. Of course the one night he’s allowed back is the one night Logan isn’t fully cognizant of his actions. In a way, it was almost poetic.

Logan buried his face into Patton’s chest almost immediately. He sighed in contentment, one arm thrown over Patton’s waist for good measure.

Patton hesitated before bringing him closer. The anxious part of his brain insisted that Logan would somehow snap out of this and scream at Patton to get away from him. After all, Logan didn’t invite him back sooner for a reason. But that didn’t happen. Logan seemed more than happy to be so close.

“You know,” he began, already sounding sleepy, “I love you a lot. Maybe too much. You could hurt me all you want and I’d still take you back. If you say sorry. And maybe that’s bad, but I think that’s what I would do. I love you too much to let you go.”

Oh, no. Oh, Logan. Patton kissed the top of his head and tried not to break down into tears. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear at all. He hoped, maybe, it was some sort of drunken nonsense, but he had a sickening feeling it wasn’t. He hated knowing this. He hated knowing that the crap he pulled -- that stupid, idiotic mistake that broke Logan’s heart -- wouldn’t have been the nail in the coffin of their relationship. As angry as Logan was, as upset as he was, he always planned to give Patton a second chance. It wasn’t comforting to know that.

If Patton was a lesser man than he already was, he would have used that to his advantage. He would have screwed Logan over, again and again, knowing he would be able to come back if he acted sorry enough. But someone already did that before, didn’t they?

Patton didn’t want to be anything like that person. He wanted to be as far away from them as he could get because Logan deserved someone so much better than that. Maybe the person he deserved wasn’t even Patton at all, but Patton was the person he chose. The least he could do was be a good husband. Logan deserved that and a million more things. He deserved to think more highly of himself, for one. One problem at a time, though, the most immediate problem would be the hangover tomorrow.

Patton woke up with a start. 

For a moment, he didn’t believe he was in his bedroom, but then he recalled the night before. He didn’t remember falling asleep. He still had his clothes and glasses on. Then he noticed he was alone. Before he could come up with a possible scenario, he heard throwing up in the bathroom. Uh oh. It wasn’t even morning yet.

He hurried down the hall. “Are you okay, bumblebee?” He asked from the doorway.

Logan glared at him from his hunched-over position. That answered that, then.

“Is Daddy okay?”

Patton turned to see Virgil, asleep on his feet. “What are you doing up?”

“I lost rock paper scissors.” He yawned.

“Daddy isn’t feeling well tonight. He’ll be fine --” he caught himself before he said ‘tomorrow’. There was no way in hell Logan would be functional tomorrow -- “later. Now go back to sleep. I have it handled.”

Virgil didn’t need to be told twice.

Patton sat with Logan until he finished throwing up. He knew from experience what a miserable time this was, but that also meant he knew how to make it more manageable. He gave Logan things to settle his stomach then practically carried him back to bed. They both fell asleep in no time at all.

When morning came, Patton called out of work. He also called Thomas to take the twins and Princess Leia. There was no way he was leaving Logan’s side today. Judging from the late-night vomiting, and heavy sleeping, this would be a rough first hangover. He decided to sit in bed and scroll through random apps until Logan decided to wake up.

“Oh my God,” Logan groaned. He rolled over so his face would be in his pillow.

Patton couldn’t help the smirk that played at his lips. “Well, good morning, sleeping beauty. How do you feel?”

“I think I’m dying.”

“I can assure you you’re not.” He put away his phone and laid back down. “It’s just a hangover. You’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

Logan groaned again. He moved his head to look at Patton. “How do you never feel like this after drinking?”

“Years of practice.”

“Oh, well, I’m definitely not getting that.” He flipped over and threw an arm over his eyes. “That’s the last time I drink anything ever.”

Patton smiled in amusement. “How much do you remember?”

“Honestly? I blacked out after the second shot.”

“That explains why you kept going.”

Logan shot up, eyes wide. “I kept going?” That clearly wasn’t the right move. He grimaced and curled in on himself, a wounded sound leaving his throat. “Why the hell didn’t you stop me?”

“Do you really think I’m in a position to stop you from doing anything?”

“Fair point.” Logan laid back down as slowly as possible. “God, this is the worst.” He bumped his fingers against Patton’s.

“Well,” Patton took his hand, “I’m here to help you through it.”

~~~

@actitus-hypoleucos

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