#their defiantly guys i made for this bit lol

[goatpaste]

stand users when they run into other stand users who named their stands the same as yours

#are these new jojo ocs? maybe who knows #their defiantly guys i made for this bit lol #what if your stand was named dreams after the cranberries #and you met a guy who named his stand dreams after fleetwood mac #and you wanna bash his head in with a rock #'this is embrassing one of has to go home and change' #jojo #jjba #jojo ocs #my ocs #ill tag them as such for now if i decide to keep them lol

[junhui-png]

puppy love ⌦ .｡.:*♡

mingyu x reader x scoups? (Still figuring it out LOL)

pt. 2

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summary: first year of college, you literally knew no one and you planned for it to stay that way but damn were you wrong

notes: part 2!!! I hope y’all like this, I read back on pt 1 and realized I made some grammar errors and it was lowkey just ass in general…So I hope part 2 is a lot more enjoyable as I put a little more thought into it ! 💕

genre: seventeen college au, love triangle between scoups and Mingyu, Mingyu being on a football team, financial major scoups, angst??, fluff, cute friend ships, Hoshi, Joshua, Seungkwan, Minghao, and Wonwoo r your besties, Also besties with Yunjin (Le Sserafim) and Minnie (G-IDLE), other seventeen members are mentioned?? Childhood friends, cursing, drinking

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"its been awhile" the man chuckles. Choi Seungcheol. You're first every friend. You had met him on the first day of 2nd grade and had stayed friends till middle school until he moved away. You tried looking up his name on insta but nothing every came up, So you just gave up in finding him. "This is crazy" you let out an airy laugh "its been like what, 10 years?" Seungcheol asks, taking a seat next to you "Yea maybe" you felt awkward but so relieved at the same time, it really was nice seeing him after so long "sooo how do you to know each other again? Soonyoung ask "Childhood friends" Seungcheol responds, taking a bite from one of appetizers that were brought up "Wahh~ what a coincidence" Seungkwan says in awe and you both nod "Are you folks ready to order?" the waitress comes around "Yeah I think so?" Wonwoo tells the waiter.

Everyone's food had arrived and we were all eating peacfully, talking about school drama and whatever. But you were defiantly talking to Seungcheol the most, I mean how couldn't you? You had just met your childhood best friend after 10 years. Your phone lights up on your lap and you see a text message from Joshua "Don't you think Mingyu's been awfully quiet" read the text from Joshua. You shot your head up from your phone to look up at Mingyu, who was across from you. He was in fact a lot quieter than he normally is and he even looked a little pissed? You look over at Joshua and he simply gives you a shrug "He looks mad, right?" you whisper to Joshua "He does..." Joshua whispers back. "Can i get these plates out of your way?" the waiter asks and Soonyoung and Wonwoo help collect the plates to hand them over to the waiter "I'll be back with the bill" the waiter smiles before vanishing into the swarm of people.

"That was good, right nini?" Seungcheol pats his stomach a bit and you giggle. Nini was a random nickname Seungcheol had given you when you were both about 7. The whole backstory behind it was that, Seungcheol could never get your name right, but he did remember you by one of you favorite snacks, called "NINI" and eventually, even after he learned and memorized your name, he still preferred calling you nini “Nicknames? Really?” Mingyu scoffs, stuffing in hands into the pockets of this jeans “What’s up with him today?” Seungcheol asks but no one has the answer “maybe he didn’t like his food” Soonyoung suggests. You all stop once you’ve reached the parking lot of the restaurant “We’ll go first, see you guys tomorrow” Soonyoung and Seungkwan both bid there goodbyes, then shortly after Wonwoo and Joshua also left for there dorms, leaving you, Seungcheol, and Mingyu by yourselves. “Do you have a ride nini?” Seungcheol asks you and you shake your head “There’s probably no Ubers around at this time, it’s like a 10 minute walk anyways” you state “I can-“ before Seungcheol can finish his sentence he’s interrupted by Mingyu “I can walk her back to her dorm, you can go home it’s late anyways” Mingyu finishes Seungcheol’s sentence. “Alright if you say so, I’ll text you later y/n” The man scoffs before turning his attention to you “get home safely” he waves goodbye and both you and Mingyu begin to walk towards your dorm.

“I didn’t know you were so close to coups” Mingyu says, so quietly you can barley hear him “I mean I guess we’re good friends” you shrug “ just good friends?” Mingyu says, he’s tone filled with sarcasm. “Yes, just good friends” you say, returning the sarcastic tone. There’s awkward silence but the silence doesn’t last very long “ let’s play 20 questions” Mingyu says suddenly, breaking the silence “So suddenly?” You chuckle but he ignores you “I’ll go first. Favorite artist right now?” He asks “Wave to Earth” “ok ok, now you go” “uhm I don’t know.. favoritee~ video game?” “Call of duty” “cool cool” “Why does coups call you nini?”. You were taken aback just a bit by his question, you thought it was just some stupid Q&A game Mingyu wanted to play to pass the time “he also had trouble memorizing my name, so he started calling me “Nini” because I was always eating those Nini snacks at school” you still answer his question. Mingyu nods but doesn’t seem very satisfied by your question “how long have you been playing football?” “5 years” “dam ok” “What do you like about coups?. Once again, Mingyu brings up Seungcheol and you just didn’t understand why, I mean you didn’t really mind but it was just werid. “Uhm he’s nice??? And he really thoughtful and pays attention when I talk and is just really sweet” you answer Mingyu’s werid question anyways and yet he still looks unsatisfied “Favorite class your taking?” “Photography.” “I didn’t expect that from you” you mumble and Mingyu nods “ a lot of people say that”. “Do you not think I’m nice?” Mingyu suddenly stops in his track and turns to you “what??” You turn and stop to face him “I mean you said you liked coups because he’s nice right?? So am I not nice??” You couldn’t tell if this kid was pulling at your leg or was being dead serious “I mean I barley know you” you stutter out “I mean you said you hadn’t seen him in 10 years! How do you know he hasn’t changed?” Mingyu lowers his head slightly, watching his feet as he kicks a few tiny pebbles lying on the floor “Mingyu. You realized YOU are the one that invited him, I think you would know if he wasn’t a good person” you continue walking up the side walk and Mingyu follows you “so what do you think of me?” Mingyu asks “not your turn, it’s my turn to ask questions” you correct him “why are you asking so many questions about Seungcheol?” You ask “I’m just curious” he shrugs “about what?” You try and ask but Mingyu stops you “Not your turn” he smirks and you just scoff at him. At this point you were both in front of your dorm building complex “Do you think I’m hot?” Oh my god this kid and his fucking questions were gonna be the end of you “I mean.. yeah” you simply state, slowly going up the stairs with Mingyu trailing behind you “Your skincare routine?” “Don’t got one” he shrugs. You give him a dirty look because you know dam well there ain’t not way his skin that clear without at least a cleanser. You know we’re standing in front of your door “go out with me.” Your mind went completely blank “what.” “You heard me”. You did in fact hear him but the words definitely were not processing “you said it yourself, you said I’m nice and hot so why don’t we go on a date?” You were trying your best to avoid eye contact but that man was making it basically impossible, staring right at you without even blinking “well I mean I don’t know” you try and push him away, realizing he was basically pining you up against the wall because of how close you two were “text me then.” He said, backing up just the slightest so you would breathe “ok. I’m going now. Goodnight get back safely” you quickly enter your apartment before even letting the poor boy respond “what the actual fuck..” you mumbled to yourself. “DING” you phone screen lights up and you see a text message from the one and only Mingyu “postist art museum, 3:30 tomorrow” reads the text he sent you with a wink emoji “this kid” you sigh. Though you though he was ridiculous you caught yourself smiling at his text message.

The blaring sound of you alarm pierced through the morning silence of your dorm. You let at a groan as you shifted around in your bed before grabbing your phone "2:01" read the time on your phone "SHIT" you immediately rise from your bed and rush towards the bathroom where you brush your teeth and wash your face. Even though your "Date" with Mingyu was at 3:30, you normally took 2 hours to get ready. As you rummaged through your closet, trying to settle on an outfit to wear, Minnie strolls in "You got a date?" Minnie smirks "Actually, yes I do" you dont bother to look up at Minnie but you have already pictured her shocked face "Damn really? Who?" Minnie leans on the door frame, getting comfortable as you begin to speak "Remember that guy that dropped me off when I was drunk?" You stop looking through your closet and take a seat on your bed "The super hot one?" Minnie asks and you nod "Well, last night he asked me out on a date and I dont even know what I was thinking but I said yes" You sigh, getting back up to continue looking for an outfit "When'd ya'll meet" Minnie asks "Soonyoung's party, so like almost a week ago?" You shrug "You just met this guy and your about to spend a whole day with him?" Minnie questions. I mean she was right, you'd only known this man for less than a week "He wouldn't hurt a fly, I think" You pull out a pair of washed jeans and throw them on the bed "Great! just dont let him kidnap you" Minnie says, sarcastically "Thanks for being such a protective roommate" You give her a fake smile before turning back to look for a top "When are you leaving?" Minnie asks picking up her phone "I wanna get out at 3:00 so id better hurry" you pull out a white square neckline top with a cute lace bow on the neckline "you got like 45 minutes you better hurry" Minnie taps at your door frame, signaling shes going back to her room "have funn!" she calls out "thanks!" You reply, wasting no time to quickly change, put your shoes on and run out of the house.

You do your makeup on the way there and you reach the art museum at exactly 3:30. As you walk off the bus, you almost immediately spotted Mingyu. He was sitting down on the staircase leading up to the museum with a small pink bouquet in his hands. He was wearing a button down loosely with a pair of grey washed jeans and a black leather jacket. You couldn't deny that man was fine, and looked even finer today, especially in that outfit. "Mingyu!" Mingyu shots his head up and looks around before finally locking eyes on your figure. He starts to stand up as you approach him "You look beautiful" He smiles, handing you the pink bouquet "Thank you, you looks nice as well" you take the flowers, examining them carefully "Just nice?" Mingyu cocks his eyebrow up and you scoff at his sarcasms "What did you want me to say?" you and Mingyu start to walk up the stairs, leading to the art museum "I dont know maybe, breath-taking? Ravishing? Stunning? Out of this world?" Mingyu shrugs, you roll your eyes in response "Thats too much" You chuckle.

You and Mingyu begin to walk around the art museum, admiring the art hanged along the walls. "You know, a lot of girls at campus would be jealous of you right now, Going on a date with Mr. Campus crush" Mingyu teases, his lips forming into a cheeky smirk "Dont let you ego get the best of you, Kim Mingyu" You teased back. As the two of you strolled through the museum, admiring the beautiful pieces of art on the wall, Mingyu unexpectedly shifted from his usual playful banter to a more serious note. With a curious glint in his eyes, he turned around to face you and asks "So, what exactly are you looking for in a guy?" The question catches you off guard in the mist of you admiring one of the paintings on the wall, and after a brief pause you begin to state some "Someone who's genuine, I guess? Who's nice, good sense of humor, respects himself and others, and can cook" Mingyu, with a sly smirk, retorted "So basically me?" His comment sent you into laughter, though you weren't necessarily laughing because you thought what he had said was funny, but to try and hide you face that had probably turned as bright as a tomato and heart that was going at 200 BPM. "Well," you replied, finally calming your heart beat down by the slightest bit "Maybe minus the cockiness" You chuckle.

As you and Mingyu continue to walk around, making small comments about some to the paintings on display, you had noticed that Mingyu's banter had changed once again to quite a tense one, almost like he was dying to ask you somthing "You and Coups. You two seem basically inseparable" He asks, his casual tone barely concealing an undercurrent of tension. Suprised by the sudden focus of you childhood friend once again, you nodded "Yeah, Seungcheol. We're close. Why?" Mingyu's gaze lingered on a painting, his questions become more pointed. "What makes him you like him so much? I mean, did you guys share secrets and stuff when you were little or was it just the usual camaraderie?" Mingyu's eyes glancing towards you but stay glued on the painting in front of the two of you "We had a crazy strong bond when we were little, shared a lot of memories. Why are you suddenly curious about him anyways? You were like this yesterday." Mingyu was the one who invited him, he probably knew Seungcheol better than you and longer than you, so you were confused at the mans sudden interrogation. Mingyu's respone was a vague shrug, which left you in an even more confused state "Wanna get out of here?" Mingyu slightly signals towards the door and you nod "Sure, I'm hungry anyways" You both start to walk towards the exit, Mingyu looking through his phone looking for a place to grab dinner at.

You guys walk down the street to a nearby Italian restaurant that Mingyu said he's been wanting to try "I'll trust you judgment" You laugh, walking into the restaurant. You two are seated and begin to pick up you conversation. As Mingyu took a sip from the glass of water left on the table for the two of you, he turns to you with a sudden hopeful gleam in his eyes, almost like a puppy. "You know, you should come to my football games. Its a blast, and I think I'd really love to have you there cheering for me." You chuckle, "Im not really a sports person. The only thing I'd cheer for is not spilling my popcorn all over the bleachers." He grinned, undeterred, "Come on, Its not about the game. Its about the experience. You might enjoy it, I mean who wouldnt if I'm playing in it" You raised an eyebrow "First of all, not everyone goes to watch you" "And second are you trying to recruit me for the team or something?" Mingyu grinned "Well, maybe. But mostly, I just think you'd enjoy it, Plus, you'd get to witness my incredible skill firsthand." Before you could come up with a comeback, the waitress arrived to take our orders, in which we gave and the waitress simply nodded before taking the menus from in front of us.

"Like i was saying" Mingyu begins but realizes your not fully paying attention, but the person to your left. You Ex. There he was sitting right across from you on his friend "Do you know him" Mingyu speaks up, knocking you out of your trances "Yeah, sorry what were you saying?" You tried to get back on track "Who is that?" Mingyu asks "My Ex." "Oh. sorry." "Its fine, it sure is a small world" You chuckle, trying to lighten the mood "We can go somewhere else if you want" Mingyu suggests but you turn the offer down "its fine, we already ordered, and he hasn't even noticed me anyways" Well he didnt notice you 10 seconds ago but he defiantly has now. "Y/N" The family voice sends chills down you spine. Mingyu watches you, waiting for your response but you dont move. Your ex-boyfriend, Jaemin, seized the opportunity while there was silence to approach your table. "Hey" he greeted, a unreadable look in his eyes "Its been a while. I've missed you" Before you could come up with a response, Mingyu, sensing the discomfort, stepped in "We're having a private dinner here. I think its best you leave us be," he states, a subtle intensity in his tone.

Jaemin, now growing upset "I just wanted to talk, catch up. Is that too much to ask?" You look up at him in disgust. How can you try and "catch up" after what he had done to you. he cheated. gaslight you. and now he wants to "talk?". Mingyu catches the look you gave him and returns to Jaemin, his gaze hardening. "Look, she's moved on. Maybe you should to instead of being a dick. Respect her boundaries" Mingyu spits and you can see Jaemin getting progressively angrier. The tension escalated quickly, creating an uncomfortable silence. You apperciated Mingyu stepping in, but it might have made the conflict worst. "Jaemin. Just go." You try and say sternly but you end up sounding like a 6 year old "Why? I know you miss me" you scoff "Me? Miss you? Never. Nobody wants you here so leave." You say sternly, keeping eye contact with him "Whatever, you're gonna come back crawling in a month anyways" Jaemin rushes out of the restaurant leaving you and Mingyu together once again "Sorry.." you mumble "Dont be. He's the one who should apologize for causing such a scene" Mingyu tsks, leaning back in his seat.

The waiter brings you your food, which you both enjoy while talking about all sorts of thinks, and at the end of the day you ended up agreeing to going to Mingyu's next football game "I'll save you the best seats, where you'll get to see the best view of me" Mingyu smirks "Thanks, want me to bring anything?" you walk up the stair of your dorm "Like?" Mingyu asks and you shrug "flowers? somthing to celebrate your win?" You suggest and Mingyu lets out a little laugh "What?" You turn to face him now that you've reached your door "You're so sure I'm gonna win, huh?" Mingyu teases and your face gets a little hot "What? are you not gonna win for me" You tease back "Oh trust me I'll make sure I win" You'd never truly noticed how amazing Mingyu was. Spending the whole day with him really changed how you saw him, he was caring, protective, defiantly a flirt, but you knew that even before you got to know each other, and funny. "Thanks for today, really" Mingyu smiles warmly "Me too, How about we plan something again sooner?" he asks "I'd like that" You smile up at him. "Get some sleep, i'll see you tomorrow" Mingyu backs away from the door and begins going down the stairs "Goodnight" you call out "goodnight, my love". You're left standing there, feeling all warm and fluffy on the inside because of this new nickname. You quietly enter your dorm, removing your shoes and going to get read for bed. Once you had changed into you pajama's you flopped onto the bed and opened your phone to see your lockscreen full of notifications from one person "Na Jaemin." The warmth Mingyu had left you with suddenly disappeared as you read the texts he had left you "Baby, I'm sorry I got mad." "How are you feeling? Do you want me to drop off some food for you?" "Who was that guy you were with?" "Baby??" "Honey?" "answer me" The text trail went on and on "I still have your stuff, you should come by and get it" "I miss you baby please dont be stubborn with me" This man had the audacity to text you such things and try and call you. You take a deep breath, now frustrated by the whole situation "I'll just deal with this tomorrow" You mumble, pushing away your problems like you normally do. You take one more deep sigh before turning off your lights and going to sleep. You thought you ex was just acting up. Kind of just stuck in his feels or whatever, but you had no idea the lengths this man would do to get you back.

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previous / next

next chapter coming out 2/3/24 or 2/4/24 😸😸

#seventeen ff #seventeen #seventeen au #mingyu #mingyu x reader #svt #svt x reader #hoshi #seungkwan #seungcheol #choi seungcheol #scoups x reader #minghao #seventeen smut #joshua #wonwoo #jeonghan #vernon #svt dino #jun #dk #woozi

[jujutsubaby]

Hiiii! I would like have a coffee at the Heaven and Earth cafe! If possible, could I get a mocha latte with soy milk and a kouign amann on the side? Pretty please and thank you 🙏

a/n: thank you for your ask and for participating 🥹 i appreciate it sooo much and i love your order! chocolate + buttery pastries are to die for 😇

✨ WELCOME TO CAFE HEAVEN & EARTH ! ✨

🤍 PAIRING. yuta

🤍 WORD COUNT. 1.4k (sorry anon i got too carried away with this lol)

ugh, you only had 15 minutes to quickly grab your drink and a bite to eat before your 8 AM stats lecture with the notoriously strict professor kusakabe. yeah, sure you could’ve probably avoided this if you had just slept at a normal time, but alas, you were hell bent on finishing one more episode of your favorite trashy real-estate focused reality tv show. but no worries, cafe heaven & earth is known for its efficiency and speed.

that’s what you thought to yourself 8 minutes ago, when you thought you would be out of there by now. instead, right after you gave your order, you noticed the long line of people waiting for their orders. you try your best to overhear their conversations so as to better understand what was happening

“i heard there’s a disturbance in the kitchen.” “who told you that?” “i dunno, some guy with white hair came out and said it?” crap. you don’t have time for this. you frantically look at your watch, as the aforementioned white haired man came out of the kitchen nonchalantly and made an announcement. “sorry folks, there’s gonna be a delay on everyone’s orders due to a disturbance in the kitchen.”

everyone murmurs but no one says anything, but you’ve had enough. “what’s the disturbance? how long will this take? i’m in a bit of a hurry, actually.” the white haired man takes a quick glance at you and says “there’s just a disturbance. thanks.”

dumbfounded, you’re not even sure how to respond to…his lack of response? you pinch the bridge of your nose, trying to figure out if it was worth just leaving right now and risking the entire class hearing your stomach rumble, or getting chewed out by professor kusakabe. your thoughts are interrupted by a soft voice from beside you.

“running late?” your head shoots up, and you find that the owner of the voice is a young man around your age wearing crisp black jeans and a high-necked white sweater. you’re slightly annoyed. you don’t really have the time to chit chat with a stranger right now. “uh, yeah, kinda.” you say curtly. you notice that he’s a little taller than you, with gentle features befitting his polite voice. his black hair falls in his large dark blue eyes in neat curtains. most notably, though, you see prominent shadows underneath his eyes. he must also be a student.

“what class?”

“stats”

“shit, stats 153? with kusakabe?” he grimaces none too subtly.

your stomach drops. great, so you are gonna get chewed out for being late. “yeah. how fucked am i if i show up late?” he pretends to think before saying “well, depends. do you like having to explain in excruciating detail to the entire hall exactly what you were doing last night that made you late for an 8am? since that’s what he made us do when i had him last year.” hell no. there’s no way in hell you’re gonna tell anyone you were up until 2am watching selling sunset.

the white-haired man re-emerges at that moment with an order that looks mercifully familiar. “soy mocha and kouign-amann for…” you approach the pickup counter in anticipation. the employee raises a doubtful eyebrow at you before reading a name off the receipt in his hand. “...yuta?” the stranger who was just speaking with you steps in front of you and grabs his order, flashing an awkward apologetic grin at you.

as if this day couldn’t get stranger. “uh, that’s my order…” you say, but you’re not so confident anymore. “sorry, i think it’s mine. been ordering this ever since this place opened.”

“i’ve been ordering that ever since this place opened,” you say defiantly. you’re not sure if this dude is playing some joke on you or what, but you definitely don’t have time for it. 

“that’s interesting, but my name’s yuta,” he continues patiently, “so unless we also have the exact same name, i’m pretty sure this is mine this time.”

a quick glance at your watch – 5 minutes left. okay, plan aborted – people are just gonna have to deal with your noisy tummy today. “okay, well…” you’re not sure how to really say goodbye to him. “forget it. i’m just gonna get outta here. i’m late as it is…” you leave without glancing behind you as you speed walk to your lecture hall and it’s not until a couple seconds later you hear someone shouting behind you.

you turn to see…yuta? from the cafe? what’s he doing following you? oh god, is he a creep?! it suddenly occurs to your sleep-deprived mind that he might want to fight after you accidentally tried to steal his order, and you speed up.

“hey, wait! stop walking faster, geez! i’m trying to help you!” confused, you slow your pace, willing to hear him out. “what do you want?” you ask, wishing it didn’t come out as harshly as it did. 

“well, i was just wondering…y’know, seeing as we apparently have the exact same order and are both about to be late to our respective classes…” yuta clears his throat. “wanna share while we walk?”

you're skeptical, but the kouign-amann was looking so delectable in his hands that you had to double check you weren’t drooling. it didn’t help that your stomach chose that exact time to elicit a god awful noise begging for food. you acquiesce. “yeah, i’d…i’d actually really like that.” you flash him a thankful smile as you both walk to class.

“so…how come you’re running late? you seem like the type who’d have it all together,” you ask, trying to break up the silence with some small talk. you look up again at his eye bags. “up late studying, i bet?”

“hardly,” yuta answers sheepishly. “this show i’m hopelessly hooked on just dropped its new season on netflix…

you burst out laughing at the image of the polite, perfect yuta falling victim to a netflix binge. “no way, me too! what show? no, let me guess. black mirror or something?”

yuta looks at his feet and mumbles something that sounds an awful lot like selling sunset. no way. feeling just a tiny bit of sadistic glee at his embarrassment, you ask him to repeat himself.

“all right, all right! it was selling sunset! i just can’t stay away…i need to know what those ladies get up to!”

maybe it’s the way he’s blushing or your sleep deprivation, but something possesses you to reach out and pat his arm comfortingly. “don’t be ashamed,” you reassure. “only the greatest of intellectual minds can handle christine’s character arc.”

yuta gapes at you, before his eyes crinkle into a soft laugh. oh…he’s kinda cute, isn’t he…

you pass the rest of the walk discussing the off-the-rails drama of the new season as you alternate taking bites of sugary-sweet pastry and sips of mocha, and you find that you’re having a good enough time that you’re not even thinking about the reaming you’re due for in stats lecture.

soon enough, you’re outside your lecture hall, and it’s time to part ways. you sigh, knowing you’re not prepared to go in 10 minutes late. “well, this is me. right before i get my ass handed to me…”

“don’t worry, he always makes the assignments way harder than the actual tests” yuta reassures you with a bright smile. damn, he’s not kinda cute. he is cute.

“yeah, but stats just isn’t my best subject,” you say dejectedly. “i’m only taking it because i need to for my major but at this point, i dunno how i’m gonna pass the class without some divine intervention or a tutor or somethin’.” you hope yuta takes the hint.

“oh, yeah, well, if you want, i can…i can help you. i quite liked the class when i took it last year,” he says bashfully.

“really?” your eyes beam at him. “here, gimme your phone, i’ll text you about a study session, if you’re down?”

“yeah, of course!” yuta is doing an awful job of hiding the blush in his cheeks as you put your contact in his phone. “i’ll definitely need help come midterms.” you hand his phone back to him. “by the way, didn’t you say you have class? shouldn’t you…” you gesture at another lecture hall nearby yours, and he nervously scoffs.

“oh, yeah, i do, but it’s the one near northside.” northside? like the-other-side-of-campus northside? you’re confused as to why he’s even here right now. “wait, what? you’re gonna be so late for class! why did you even come here?”

yuta fidgets with his fingers, doing an awful job of maintaining eye contact with you. “it’s well…i dunno, i just thought maybe being a couple minutes late so i could share my kouign-amann with a cute girl might be worth it.”

#100 #☕️ - coffee break #🪅 - pree's follower events #yuta okkotsu #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #yuta x reader

[blackbutlerfandomnerddomain]

Twst au where everyone of the nrc student bois are dating kalim

All of them. The whole (named) nrc cast

Headcanons?? 👀

Boo this was originally meant to be posted FOREVER AGO but this took me so long to finally find the words, find fanart, fics were discovered, prompts were randomly generated, and at long last the Kalim Harem Ship is here~!

First off, theme songs:

I can most defiantly picture him singing any of these to his partners, especially extra flirty or if he senses they're insecure.

I see him singing Perfect and Just the Way you Are to basically Jamil, Riddle, Azul, and Idia while he sings If I Had You in all his concerts or just goofy and flirty in the living room

Spoils his lover A LOT

Ruggie and Azul and Vil are loving it a bit too much lol

Nothing happened for a while and EVERYONE was collectively equally flustered and shy about the fact they love the same guy, some where holding back and giving up for others while others just didn't know how to act with these feelings

Meanwhile Kalim knew he liked them all just didn't see a issue of it until his family pressured him to think about the line of brides they picked out for him

He kept thinking back on everything and decided he was just gonna date someone from NRC to get them off his back

BUT HE COULDN'T PICK!

Ace's freckles were so cute

Deuce's sweetness and loyal soul melts his heart

Jack's muscles are a bonus but he adores his fluffy tail

Epel's attitude on rules and how you should act inspire him

He finds Sebek's eyes the prettiest gems in the world

Riddle's red hair is a beautiful red and his brave soul is a plus

Ruggie's humor is magic to his soul and his big heart doesn't help!

Azul's confidence and singing are a peaceful spell

Floyd's energy is amazing and his food is amazing

Jade's honesty is refreshing and his hobbies, though weird, are cute

And Jamil, what can he not name what he loves about Jamil???

Silver's eyes and quirky sleep habits drew that boy like a moth to a flame

Trey's baking and kind eyes and his loyalty wins his heart instantly

Cater's personality equals his own and his eyes and smile are the brightest star in the galaxy

Leona's chill attitude on royal stuff makes him calm and his purrs and loyalty to those who are "lesser" than him makes it better

Vil's beauty was a win sure but he was drawn first with those beautiful colors and singing voice but stayed due to his mind

Rook's view of beauty and his strong loyalty was impressive and hot lets be honest for him and the laughter they share is treasure

Idia's unique beauty and speech makes him curious, even more with how much he cares for his brother dearly

Malleus' curiously and fascination of everything and everyone was a selling point alongside his kind soft nature

And Lilia's humor, his style, his loyalty and bravery saves him from a sad day when no one else could help him

WHY WAS HE IN A SCHOOL FULL OF BEAUTIFUL AND PERECT MEN AND BABES!?!

It finally came to light when Kalim finally broke during school and hid in Scarabia for almost a week, not even Jamil could convince him to come out which was when alarms starting going off for the servant boy

Jamil finally informed the other dorm leaders and those who ask Kalim seems to not be feeling well and now everyone's worried for Kalim and all go to see him in Scarabia.

EVEN IDIA WENT OUT OF HIS HOME TO CHECK ON HIM!

Kalim's denying hard of the reason until Jamil, through push and shove, made him confess by ordering the truth with Ruggie's power's help keeping him still

Kalim tearfully confessed, crying harder as he vent outside Snake's Whisper and sobbed about his feelings for them all soon after

Everyone was like "You like him..? Wait me? Wait what-" at first until Jamil wiped Kalim's face with a tissue and soothed him and then Silver piped up he liked Kalim back

This soon started a string after Sebek got jealous and confessed too which made Ace jealous and yeah you get the picture everyone said they liked Kalim back and Kalim was growing more and more red

Everyone basically left alone for the rest of the week to decide what he wants to do

No one slept that week not even Silver as they contemplated what'll happen and fearing the friendship of Kalim and the others will be ruined

Riddle held a secret late night meeting, first time he broke a rule in a while, with Trey, Cater, Ace, and Deuce and they chatted a bit before Riddle confessed saying he's willing to abandoned his feelings if that means they are happy

Leona, Ruggie, and Jack were a bit tense but Jack sat them down and talked in which Leona said he wouldn't be shocked if Kalim preferred someone else

Ocavinelle were shocked to see the Leech Twins and Azul argue one night about the other being selfish and soon all exclaimed "Kalim wouldn't want a ugly octopus/crazy eel/forgotten one like me!" which shuts them up and even Floyd apologizes for fighting with them

Jamil did so much to not let the idea of Kalim loving others hurt him. He accepted since his first realization of his feelings won't be good but he can't help but be angry and sad about the idea Kalim was hurting

Epel was very open about voicing how he feels about the situation. Him, Rook, and Vil were really showing their ugly flaws during some nights when they fought over A) I deserve him more and B) You're a coward to give up

Idia just locked down most. He accepted he was no where near the top three picks for perfect boyfriend for Kalim but as those hours ticked he slowly felt sick as he couldn't stop seeing Kalim smiling at him

Draconia, similar to Savanaclaw, was tense for a while. But like Heartslabyul, they hosted a secret meeting to discuss the options before them when they kind of got emotional with jealous emotions than sadness about what they were being like and huddling close like they used to back in the days

Then one day Kalim returned to physical classes. He started helping with Jamil's chores to make it easier for him, and everyone else was very easing back and just being good friends and not pushing him to give a verdict yet

This soon led to Kalim asking them to meet in Scarabia for a party which once everyone else hit the hay/left he confessed properly to them all including the things I mentioned above and in the end mentioned he likes them all the same and can't decide so he requested they all date each other to see what happens

There was some objections (mostly Jamil 'cuz "what would your family think'') but pretty much everyone soon agreed to try it out and will accept Kalim's choice if he decides differently (please send me a ask on their dates PLEASE DAMN THE LIMIT!)

This happened with Riddle one karaoke date ay Scarabia for all with Kalim recording (I like to hc he had a great voice)

Kalim was heart broken when he was still forced to find a bride despite loving so many, he fell deep into depression and the next concert sang this

Neige and Chenya didn't join until MUCH later due to them finding Kalim pretty and Kalim in turn asked them out, things got used for them right away

Vil and Neige sang this after catching one of this girls sent by his family (Vil being Jade and Neige being Cat)

LOTS OF CUDDLES

Jamil was the hardest to accept this change but soon grew as he saw how much the others mattered to them, since they also helped him in so many ways

Kalim uses Oasis Maker a lot for his partners, especially Floyd and Jade

Chenya gets so much pets from Kalim and food for Jamil lol

I want to do a part 2 and art! I'm sorry it's not much there's a word limit apparently so PLEASE ASK THIS AGAIN SO I CAN WRITE MORE OR HAVE A EXCUSE TO MAKE THIS MORE FUN!!

#twisted wonderland #kalim al asim #kalim harem #kalim x jamil #jamil x kalim #kalim x riddle #kalim x ace #kalim x deuce #kalim x cater #kalim x trey #kalim x leona #kalim x ruggie #ruggie x kalim #kalim x jack #kalim x azul #floyd x kalim #kalim x jade #jade x kalim #kalim x vil #kalim x rook #kalim x epel #kalim x idia #kalim x malleus #kalim x lilia #kalim x silver #silver x kalim #kalim x sebek #kalim x neige #chenya x kalim

[annonniiiiieeeee]

I was just wondering, is usagi a good singer? (Or does usagi even sing) I feel like when leo is playing the violin that usagi would sing for the children. It seems like it's a really good combination between those two. And that like usagi would sing to his children to calm them down or maybe a family member. Idk it seems like usagi would be amazing at singing lol

Okay here’s the thing. Usagi can defiantly sing. He doesn’t sing. He doesn’t think he can sing and he’s embarrassed. Leo had never heard him sing.

Until.

Usagi was trying to put Jotaro to sleep. Leo was out late. The city was under attack and Usagi had stayed home with Jotaro. It was a minor attack only the turtles were needed but Usagi was still worried for his husband and brothers-in-law. It was also the first night that he was putting Jotaro down without Leo there to play a lullaby.

Jotaro was not having it. At five months old he was still fussy about how he was put to sleep. It didn’t help that he was in a daddy phase right now. The little guy always reached for Leo. Usagi wasn’t mad or jealous. How could he be. He loved his husband and son so much and was overjoyed when the three of them were together.

But Leo wasn’t here right now.

Leo want here and Jotaro wouldn’t sleep without his lullaby. Usagi was stuck.

He paced the room rocking Jotaro in his arms. He originally had his common link in his ear to listen to the progression of the mission but after an explosion had sounded with to long of a pause before the brothers started cheering he had to take it out. He was already worried enough he didn’t need the sounds of battle rattling his nerves even more.

He had never sat a big mission out. Granted this wasn’t a ‘big’ mission. Some of Draxum’s oozesquitoes were still flying around even after all these year and had apparently mutated a bear from the local zoo. Leo and his brothers were trying to get the now enlarged and over powered animal to calm down. It was pretty standard for them all. Yet it was still unfamiliar to have to be on the sidelines. He had become a samurai to protect people.

Jotaro started fussing in his arms and he quickly moved to comfort his child. Even now he was still protecting people. He was protecting one of the two most important people in the world. His son. He just wish his husband was also in his sight.

Jotaro was still crying and it was closing in on 2 am. Usagi was tired. He knew Leo would be exhausted from his mission when he got home. He had wanted to have Jotaro asleep before Leo came home. He wanted to treat any injuries his husband might have without having to worry about their son. But Jotaro was not going to sleep without his lullaby.

Usagi didn’t know what to do. He then started humming a tune he knew by heart by now. Leo played the lullaby so much Usagi could sing it half asleep. Wait sing it! Usagi had a terrible voice but it was worth a shot. Nothing else had worked.

He started humming the notes a bit louder before transitioning to sing the words of the lullaby. He knew he mess some up and just straight up made parts up. But it didn’t matter as long as the melody was there.

Jotaro had started calming down as soon as Usagi started to sing. His voice wasn’t as even as Leo’s playing. He had to pause for breaths here and there and he wasn’t experienced in the least but Jotaro didn’t care. The tune plus the rocking was doing as it always did. It put him to sleep. Usagi was thrilled as he made his way towards the crib. He gently laid his baby boy down, kissing his forehead.

He started to pull away from his baby singing the last note of the song when two arms wrapped around his waist. A kiss was placed on the back of his neck and a voice whispered in his ear.

“I never knew you could sing like that.” Leo said as he moved to nizzle the back of Usagi’s neck. Usagi leaned back into his husband’s arms, relaxing in the warm embrace.

“And I didn’t know you were home.” He whispered back placing his hands over his husbands. “When did you get back?”

“Just in time to hear you sing.” Leo said tightening his hold on his husband’s waist. “Why haven’t you sung for me before? You have a beautiful voice.” Leo said as he started walk himself and his husband backwards toward their bed.

Usagi snorted as he let himself be dragged along. “You don’t have to lie to me I know it sounded like crap.” Usagi felt them pause in their movement backwards. Only to have Leo spin him around.

“Don’t say that. Who told you that?” Usagi could tell his husband was upset. It was very reminiscent of their younger selves though instead of Usagi reassuring Leo when he had insecurities it was Leo coming to Usagi’s defense.

Usagi shook his head in a fond way. “No one, I just know I’m not that good that’s why I don’t sing.” Leo stared at him like he had grown a second head.

“Usagi-chan you have a better voice then I do.” Leo said it so seriously. “One of the best I’ve ever heard.” Usagi rolled his eye but Leo pulled him close. “I’m serious. You have to sing for me again.”

“Not tonight.” Usagi quickly denied him. They were both exhausted. “Tonight I’m looking you over for injuries and we are going straight to bed.” Leo pouted at him and Usagi knew he could never truly deny his husband something he truly wanted. “But maybe another day you can convince me to sing to you.” Leo smiled brightly before leaning in and kissing Usagi.

“Thank you Usa-chan.”

From then one Leo could occasionally talk Usagi into sing with him when he played for Jotaro or if he was really luck he could get Usagi to sing to him when it was just the two of them. He knew Usagi was embarrassed and not fully confident in his voice but he slowly grew in confidence.

When Leo get sick Usagi will sing quitely to him as he knows it brings his husband comfort.

But the time the twins come into the picture Usagi is comfortable sing in front of Leo and Jotaro so it’s easier to sing in front of the girls.

Usagi will only sing when they are safe with in their own walls and in need of comfort. He will only do this for his husband and children. His voice gets equates to warmth and safety to the point where if he is singing Leo and the children instantly know they are safe.

#a world of samurais and ninjas #asks #leosagi #rise leo #awosan miyamoto usagi #awosan ume #awosan sakura #awosan jotaro #oneshot

[writer-komaru]

Marriage please

I love this guy so much it hurts

.

….

……

Venting or smth? I dunno, maybe. Kinda personal and talks about being unloveable, so beware if that can trigger you.

I’ve realized that I may not be able to be in relationships like the poeple around me. It looks so easy to them. Yes, they may not last due to commen things like miss understandments, but still. There is something inside of me that… like, freaks out every time I try to get close to someone. It’s like a scared, hurt, traumatized cat that swats and bites everything that tries to get close. So when I try to get close to someone, I end up freaking out, thinking that what happened to me before is going to happen against. It hurts. The hearts I may have hurt because of how I react to the pain I feel. It hurts me. The thought I may be alone for a very long time until I am able to overcome my pain. It clouds my mind with fear and anxiety that I’ll be alone forever because no one what to love something that’s hurt.

But it feels different with fictional people. It’s like the pinning phase of a crush… perpetually. I can love someone as much as I want, to whatever extent of my very being I want, and I’ll still feel….. safe. I won’t feel like my boundaries are being crossed when I think of them. It helps me feel like I do, deep down, have the ability to be loved by others in a romantic and just over all deep way. It’s very comforting.

And I believe the person that helped me realize that was Nagito Komaeda.

It may sound crazy, “why would you ever fall in love with a psychotic, hope-crazed, murdering lunatic like him?” And… I don’t really have an answer for that question. I guess I kind of….. see myself in him? Deep on the inside, anyways. Due to all the reasons stated above, I feel like I’m a bit unloveable in a romantic sort of way, which he feels in all ways of his life. He feels like no one loves him, that he doesn’t even have the ability to be loved. I just….. feel connected to him, in more ways I can even say. I love him. I love him so much. Even when I’m alone and think that I’ll be alone forever, I know all it takes to feel even just a small bit better is to think of him. Even just imagining him being in love with me, being obsessed with me (even if it is unrealistic, but I’ll get to that later) makes me feel so, so, so much better about myself. That even if I may be unloveable in this reality, maybe I can be lovable in a different one. And I want to make him feel loved to. Watching the characters in sdra2 be so cruel to him made me feel so bad inside. They never even try to get through to him and instead just demonize him. That’s just so cruel.

And I know, he way do things that are, for lack of a better word, awful. He may just do whatever he wants and whoever he sees fit, even if it means putting people’s lives in danger for what he believes in, he may hate people just for not being the absolute best at something, he may talk weird, act weird, and just all around be weird, but I still love him. I know he may never, not just a may, but a defiantly, not ever love me back if he was real, but I can’t help the way I feel about him. I just…. Love him, so much. Every time I see him I get so happy on the inside, every singe time I read stuff about him I get happy, every single time I watch vids about him, I get happy, every singe time I hug and wear the jacket I have of him, I get so happy. He makes me feel less alone in a reality and existence where I constantly feel like I will always be alone. If that means loving someone who isn’t real, then I’m willing to do it, no questions asked.

Heheh, I don’t even know why I wrote this lol. Uhh, If you even read it this far, thank you so much for the support you all have been showing me. It really, really means a lot. Every single like, comment, reblog, and follow I see in my notifications makes me feel so happy and appreciated, like what I make is actually good. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart. You mean so much to me. <3

And don’t worry, this isn’t some sort of goodbye type of shit, I’m just feeling kinda sentimental lol. This is kinda like a drunk text you’ll get from your friend at like 4 am. Just…. Don’t remind me about this in the morning hehehe~

Currently listening to: monokuma’s theme samples

#Nagito #nagito komaeda #danagnronpa #dr #dr nagito #drv2 #drv2 nagito #drv2 goodbye despair #goodbye despair

[zee-has-commitment-issues]

just some guys pt 1 is defiantly a bit more goofy than pt 2 but i like it so much. sofia and engla seeing wille as a real person now is great lol, and marvin amazing cause he’s just so chill about everything, i kinda want to see him interact with his daughter

also i love the way simon and kristina interest in the fic - 💜

Part 1 is much much goofier than part 2. That wasn’t the original intention but that’s how it ended up. That’s also why I’m nervous about it lol. It’s like hoping people don’t hate it but not being sure if I accidentally made it really easily hate-able lmfao

I’m glad you still enjoyed part 2. It will probably be the last.

#ask #anon #just some guy pt 2 #Just some guy

[fr1d4y-wr1t1ng]

Suburban Audience <3

“Uhhh... Hi!” hello :D!! “I was wondering if you can do the boys from Eddsworld (Tord, Tom, Matt and Edd) who meets their S/o while rap battling gf and bf! S/o is best friends with bf and gf! Its okay if you don't end up doing this one or don't want to do this.”

This is sooo cute!! Of course I'd love to do this rq :D!!

Request: Yep!!

Genre: Romantic Fluffy Headcanons :D!!

CW: small death threat in Tord’s bit, but otherwise just swearing lol.

Characters in Post: Edd, Tom, Matt, Tord (romance) and BF, GF (platonic)!!

Description: Usually tagging along with BF and GF was pretty fun!! But there was one thing you were kind of envious of... their relationship. But, that seems to change after one particularly interesting rap battle between one average guy.

Edd:

When he first saw you three arrive, he defiantly took interest in you.

Not like in a weird way!! Its just that… he saw your 3rd wheeling and just… thought you were attractive.

After his rap-battle with Boyfriend, he felt a bit… well upset.

He rap-battled to impress you!! Now he just seems kinda lame :,(. But still!! He wanted to talk to you, so…

Of course he came up to you while BF and GF were packing up.

“uhh.. hey! Looks like you wheel-y wanna get out of here, huh?”

His dumb little pun made you chuckle a bit, which made him chuckle along with you. But, soon enough he introduces himself.

“I’m Edd, nice to meet you.”

He's able to make your acquaintance pretty easily though! His easy-going nature really contradicts Boyfriend’s out-going nature. It's just what you need!!

Before you can talk to Edd more though, you do have to leave. So, you give him your number and tell him to “text you”.

Once you were out of sight and ear-shot, Edd celebrated his tiny success. He was so happy!! Its not everyday you get a cute persons number right?

“LETS FREAKING GOOOOO-!!” Edd screamed in victory.

Matt:

When you three first arrived on scene Matt immediately took interest in you.

A cute person almost as cute as him?? Sitting on the stereo?? Its like a dream come true!!

Before the battle even starts, he approaches you with the intent to charm you. No matter what~!

“Hey, cutie~ whats your name~?”

“…y/n.” You were kind of off-put by the immediate flirty nature, but you found it kinda of funny how “charming” he was attempting to be.

You two started exchanging pickup lines, talking about you hobbies, etc. Until the battle was about to start. Matt looked like he didn’t want to leave you alone yet, so he made a small bet.

“If I win, I get to take you on a date!” “And what if you don’t win?” “Well, I’m going to!” “Yeah, okay, we’ll see.”

Once Matt finally gains his “win” (and by “win” you meant absolute failure.) you looked over at him, and saw that he was smiling… which was weird.

He just lost?? What??

He struts over to you, with the confidence of someone who just got an a on a test they’ve been studying for forever now.

“That was impressive, wasn’t it?” “You just lost.” “…I guess. But I had fun!”

His enthusiasm about his loss was… adorable. His attitude about life just made you wanna squeal.

“Shame that we can’t go in that date… would’ve been nice.” “Who said we couldn’t?”

Your small comment made him glow, he was so happy when you gave him your number. So much so that was the ONLY thing he talked about for the rest of the night.

Guess losing wasn’t so bad after all :).

Tom:

When you and your friends showed up, he was more than displeased to see them but... something about you caught his eye.

You were attractive, he could admit that. And the fact that you were also wearing checkered shoes, just like his intrigued him a bit.

So, he decided to actually try rap-battling... whoever the hell was in his frontyard.

...and lost. Sorely. Man, was that blue-haired nerd good.

Usually he'd just crawl back inside to Edd and complain but then he noticed you approaching.

He noticed you approaching- Oh fuck.

“Hey, I like your shoes.” “Oh? Uh... thanks.” “I’m y/n, by the way. We should talk and stuff.”

And that's how he ended up with your number. He was ultimately... confused?? Why would this attractive person approach him?? He's so?? Ugly??

He isn't complaining though, unless it's about losing to Boyfriend. Than he's talking your damn ear off.

Guess that went better than he thought.

Tord:

Like Tom, he was pissed that you and your stupid friends ended up in his front yard. Why are you here?? Just to mock him??

No, actually. It was to “rap-battle”. He wanted to decline but... there was just something about the way you sat on the stereo. The way you looked at him with a look of cockiness.

He had to wipe that smug look off your fucking face.

“Fine, I accept your ‘rap-battle’. In exchange for their number!” “WHAT?! Boyfriend, you can’t actually-” “Beep! (You’re on)!”

Luckily for your single self, that bastard had lost. Shamefully. You couldn't help but laugh at the fact he had not only destroyed part of his pride, but his own fucking robot. What kind of idiot-

Than you heard a pair of hand slam beside you. It was him, back for... “revenge”? Your number?

“Stop laughing you cocky shit!” “Woah, pump the hate-breaks Clifford, all I've done is sit here.” “BULLSHIT!! You doubted me from the start- I should kill you were you stand!” “Sit, but calm down. It's just a game.” “A GAME-! A GAME-?! I'll show you-” “Tord.”

You hear a voice come from behind the both of you, it's a man in a green hoodie who seems to be slightly upset. He grabbed onto the Red Hooded Douche’s ear and seemed to have dragged him inside. Coming back outside just to talk to you.

“Sorry about him, he can be a little...” “Excentric?” “If that's how you want to phrase it, yeah I guess.”

You chuckled softly and gave the green hooded guy your number. “Give that to him, will ya’?”

Once Tord has finally calmed down, and finds out you gave him your number, he's kind of shocked?

But hey, an opportunity is an opportunity, so of course he's going to take it. And after a bit of conversation.

...he guesses you aren't so bad.

omg I am dead after writing this all I know is pain /s. But yeah, I hope you lot enjoyed this and uh, if Ya want more, just hit my ask box up :).

#fanfic #imagines #eddsworld #eddsworld x reader #ew edd x reader #ew matt x reader #ew tom x reader #ew tord x reader #friday night funkin #friday night funkin x reader

[moneymasnn]

i'll come back to you.|chapter 1 |mason mount

A story depicting the accuracy of a quote millie once was told by her nan, "if its meant to be its meant to be. And if it really is meant to be then no matter how long it takes, 2 souls that's are soulmates end back together again."

millie and mason <3

hi really quickly, this took me ages lol. But I haven really proof read it so soz for any mistakes! This made me cry while writing, I would suggest putting some sad songs on while reading (lights are on by tom Rosenthal is a current fave atm!) but yeh this is just chapter one so enjoy!!!!!!! feedback is always welcome as long as its not too mean lol, I don't really handle hate comments very well. Also how do you guys feel that I have y/n a name, I mean I know some of you hate it but it’s easier for me to write, I can remove it if u guys want me too. Xx

Masons been in love with millie since the day he met her (26 august 2014) they were 15 years old, and it's almost like that date was imprinted in his brain as one off the best days in his life.

She was introduced to him through a mutual friend Declan, mason has known Declan since they was 6 but when they was 15 they became closer than ever when they was neighbouring rooms at Chelsea football academy.

Millie had know Declan since they could remember, which to them is about 3 years old. Being actual neighbours the pair got the bus to school together everyday. Declan always saw millie as the closest thing he will ever have to a sister. The pair would get teased in secondary school for being a couple but they didn't really care because they were just best friends and they both knew it. Thats why Millies heart completely broke into two when the 13 year old boy had mentioned that if he worked hard enough he could go move to cobham and live in the academy. She was happy for him, obviously. But seeing him open that letter 2 years later implying that he wouldn't be getting the bus with her to school anymore she could have sworn she felt her heart strings tug a bit.

Little did she know Declans move into his dorm was a blessing in disguise as she ended up meeting the love of her life and the man she assumed she would marry.

Not long after the pair met they all quickly became a trio, millie spending all her time with the two crazy boys whom she called her best mates.

However unnoticed feelings lingered between millie and mason, especially when he has mentioned he fancied one of her friends. This is when millie released she had feelings for the boy, and the feelings defiantly weren't reciprocated, so she decided to distance herself from the boy spending less time with him and more with her girl mates from home, and not visiting dec every weekend like she had promised when he first moved away.

Not long after a group of them had decided to go to winter wonderland including millie a few of her friends, dec and a few of his football mates, mason obiously and the girl mason apparently 'fancied'.

Millie felt anxious going, it being the first time she had spoken to the boy in a few weeks and she knew he would have questions. He asked dec everyday about millie and why wasn't she answering the messages he sent to her little silver iPhone 4, and decs reply every time being "I dunno mate, she calls me back, maybe you pissed her off" mason racked is brain of things he could have said to her in the past few weeks that might have pissed her off, nothing coming to mind. But he did realised how much he missed the girls company, he missed her laugh, how she would get all stroppy when he would beat her a Mario cart and especially there late night convocations on Declan's cold floor at 3am when dec had fallen asleep, talking about everything and nothing. He missed simply talking to her, he always felt comfortable around her. And now he would find himself laying in bed thinking of all the things he loved about her. Love.. that word made his stomach turn. Thats when the boy realised he may have feelings for the girl, but she clearly didn't feel them back because she didn't even care to reply to his calls.

But when he saw her in her white coat , matching white gloves and hat with a bobble on the top, sniffing her red nose from the cold he released he most defiantly was in love with her.

He immediately went over to her.

"hi" he stifled out, hands in his pockets. She looked up at the boy as he felt like he was staring a hole into her, 'shit', she thought.

"heyyy, you" she tried to not be still and awkward, completely failing in the process, hitting his shoulder as the spoke.

mason looked down at his shoulder and back up at her 'why is she acting weird?' he thought.

"why haven't you been answering your phone?" mason questioned

"phones broken" she was lying, he knew this though, he knows she can't look people in the eye when they were lying and that's exactly what she was doing right now.

"but you been talking to dec?"

She looks back up at him, it bothered him he couldn't read the expression on her face, and can always tell what she's thinking, but right now he really had no idea.

"hey guys come on" shouted one of the friends of the group they were in, and with that she rushed of, itching to get out of masons presence.

After a long, slow and very awkward couple of hours at the park the group decided to go get some drinks.

Kate, the friend mason supposedly fancied pipped up "hey guys, there's a photo booth anyone want some photos?"

Millie didn't reply, you really didn't want to remember this night, sos a souvenir of it is the last thing you want. Mason didn't pipe up either, assuming he went in the photo booth with Kate.

After a few of your friends went in the photo booth millie felt a tug at her arm and had been pulled into the Photo Booth, when she looked up and saw mason with a bright smile on his face she felt her heart warm up.

His heart was racing as he placed £2 into the machine, he sat back and looked at millie, he just felt, comfortable with her, he couldn't explain it.

"Okay, so, I was thinking a smiley one, then a funny one and then the third one we can put the hats on" pointing at the accessories box in the corner of the both. But millie was just looking at him, tracing the freckles on his nose and cheeks. Her silence frightened him a bit, he looked intently in her eyes, the two having a so called moment before she snapped out of it, "ready?" she called.

"erm yeh" he pressed the button saying start, "okay so smiley one first"

The two pulled there biggest smiles, masons toothy grin melting her heart as the both took the photo

"err quick, funny one" mason panicked looked at millie, thinking of a pose.

"turn that way" she cupped his face so he wasn't acing he and facing the camera,

She dint know what came over her but she had a rush of confidence following masons confidence, fingers still gently places on his chin he kissed him on the cheek.

"pretend to be shocked" she mumbled into his cheek,

He already was shocked, an hour ago she wouldn't even look at him and now she was kissing his cheek.

When the macho took the photo she backed away, mason coughed giving himself a moment to recover, not that it was anything serious he just dint expect it. A kiss from millie on the cheek emit different now he knew he had feelings for the girl, it gave him awful butterfly's and made his stomach tuen, nit knowing why.

She then picked up the feathered pink and blue scarf, wrapping the pink one about masons neck then wrapping the blue one around her own.

They took the third photo, giggling as the pull of of there funny faces looking at ecahother.

Staing into her eyes he realised he did love her, and he wanted to kiss her. But there only 16 there no supposed to know that love is. But mason was sure he loved her.

So, his eyes flickered from her eyes to her lips and he leaned in, cupping her face in his hands almost like she had done to him moments ago and dived in to kiss her lips.

Surprised she kissed back. slow, simple and passionate is how she would have described, he would have just said it was perfect. Then the two pulled out of the kiss.

"I'm- im sorry" mason started to panic,

She shut him up with a peck to his lips, letting him know she liked the kiss, grinning at the boy.

"lets erm, lets see the photos. As the pair waited outside in the cold as the machine printed there pictures, looking at them masons heart was doing twirls as he realised there was a 4th picture and it was their first kiss. He then tucked the photos safely in his back pocket keeping them safe knowing there were his favourite pictures in the world.

And the rest after that was history, the pair stared dating not long after, millie started her YouTube channel quickly gaining subscribers and befriending other English youtubers and mason thrived in football.

The pair were now 18, they have been dating for 2 years and were completely involve and happy, that was until it happened.

it all starred when millie was waiting for mase in the stands a Chelsea youth stadium, he was talking to some fancy bloke in a suit and tie after a match. she could see mason was nervous, even from where she was standing, she knew because I know him better than she knew herself. The way his was fiddling with his fingers behind his back, his unconfidant laugh. She was so proud of him, seeing how his face lit up while talking to the fancy man knowing when he comes back over he would have some good news to share.

"so? what did he want" asked masons mum and she stood almost anxious for her son, but a wide grin on her face almost a replicate of the one plastered on her sons face.

"Me. Me, he wanted me mum, he offered me a year loan at a genuine club" said mase, almost shocked at his own words.

"oh my god mason" his mum smothered him with a loving hug, even though he would often find his mums public show of affection rather embracing, this time he hugged her back tighter than usual as tears welled up in his eyes.

She held eye contact the whole time he was hugging his mum, happy for him, however she couldn't help but sense some sadness in masons eyes. As he pulled away from his mum he stood back with his hands in his pockets, ready to shut down all the congratulations.

"what's up mate?" asked his dad patting his back.

"he's just shocked, that all" his mum waves her hands in Tonys face. "so where did u get offered baby?" his mum was teary but managed to suck them back, avoiding embarrassing her son.

Millie peeped forward "so? where u of to mr professional baller" giggling and looking at her boyfriend. She felt a pit form in her stomach at her boyfriends quietness.

"derby" he murmurs, he's not holding eye contact with you anymore.

"wait derby up the road? mase what's the problem" said his mum confused at masons silence.

You knew then, why he was so silent.

"oh mason, this is er a good thing, its an opportunity of a life time mate" says masons dad at the realisation of the problem.

"im not following boys, Tony what are you on about? masey? mason Tony mount can you answer me." says masons mum

no reply.

"okay, so what, its a shit team I suppose. Is that right? what's the problem can someone explain please?" she was panicking now looking back an forth from the three infant of her.

Millie stayed silent though.

"derby county mum" says mason.

She just looks at him, just as confused as before.

"well, where is that?" she questions

" Amsterdam, mum"

He just had to say it out loud, the realisation pangs in your chest. He's leaving, mason mum lets them tears drop she's tried so desperately to hold back.

"no. no no no. you're to young, you're only eighteen mason. like fuck you're going to Amsterdam.

"Debbie, debs" says Tony, trying to clam her down.

She was rambling now, crying too. Masons dad telling her to calm down and explaining how great of an opportunity this is, and how well it's going to benefit him in the future of his career.

But while all that was going on, all u could focus your eyes on were masons sad ones. You both stood, quiet, almost as though you were speechless.

After that was a blur, you left the stadium and walked to the car in silence with mason and his mum and dad, they dropped you both off at masons shitty little apartment in cobham. Mason said goodbye to his mum and for her to not worry and think about it as he hasn't singed anything yet and he isn't even sure he wants to go.

when you both walked in through the door, you was still silent until mason finally speaks up.

"Mills, I don't have to go. You know, yeh, I think ill stay here"

"what?" you stare at him almost angry and confused. is he being serious right now?

"Mason, name me one reason why you shouldn't go?"

Without a hesitation the boy replies "you."

"oh come on, I'm not a good enough reason mason." you laugh.

"yes you are. And stop calling me mason, I don't like it." referring to you always calling him 'mase'.

"no, I'm not. Like your dad said, this is extremely beneficial for your career, and I will not be the reason you don't go far in life mason."

"what's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean." you take a deep breath, you turn to face him, staring back into them dark brown eyes you will always love. Both preparing for what you know is going to happen.

"if I'm your only reason not to go, then I won't be here if you stay"

"what? what are you saying? You're not breaking u-, no. Stop it Millie. I'm not having this convocation. The season doesn't start till next month ill figure something out."

"mason."

"NO" he shouts, anger laced within his voice, however you know that tone, he's covering up that he's hurt and scared.

"mase. Please don't make this difficult" you're gentle with your words, you don't want to upset him but you both need to have this out.

A single tear leaving your face, you place your hand on masons cheek, his eyes red and puffy.

"This is what we are gonna do, okay"

He shakes his head not wanting to hear what you have to say, and not wanting his tears to spill from his eyes. He mumblers a few 'no's' he really docent want to hear what you have to say.

"your going to take that offer tomorrow-"

"millie"

"no mason listen, you're taking the offer because if you don't, I won't be here as the reason you stayed. I'm not a good enough reason for you to stay, don't be stupid .

"but- but you are. Millie please. I love you" he's crying now.

"we will be fine." you feel like a knifes been dragged down your chest hearing him say he loves you.

"I love you." he says it again.

You let out a long breath, "its a year, were will be fine, okay? ill start uni, your be off kicking arse in Amsterdam, getting goals and playing time. And im just going to focus on this YouTube thing"

You giggle a little thinking of the future, you just wanted to see him smile.

"and, if things work out, I'll be here when you get back. Mase, I promise you, ill still be here, I promise okay."

"your breaking up with me arnt you?"

"mase"

"why can't we long distance it?"

"what if you like it there? what if you stay longer than a year?"

Theres that silence again.

"promise you wait for me?"

" I promise I will mase."

Waving him off at the airport was a day she dreaded, mason offered for her to come with him and his dad and move him in and get him settled but she knew 1, it would be harder to say goodbye and 2, she didn't think she would ever come home if she went with him.

Standing outside terminal 3 she was standing back with dec as masons mum checks he has got everything.

Mason waddles over to the pair, failing to make eye contact with millie, not wanting her to see the tears burning through his eyes.

Dec and mason say their goodbyes giving each other a quick bro hug, dec mentioning that when he's on break he will come visit mason for a week.

Until eventually it was your turn.

Mason just embraces you in a long tight hug, the sight of you too making his mum cry and even dec tear up a little bit too. But you guys had already let the tears fall, as you sobbed quietly into his shoulder.

When you pull back and look at each other he gently kisses your forehead, still refusing to look in your eyes. "there's erm, some stuff, in this bag, stuff I though you might want."

You grab the bag a smile appearing on you face as you see your favourite hoodie of masons on the top.

"anything you don't want you can just give to my mum I guess.."

You just sniffle and look back up at mason. "thanks mase"

"your gonna miss your flight"

He now finally makes eye concat with you, you notice the glossiness in his eyes, "don't forget me when your some big time famous YouTuber, yeh?"

"Don't forget me when your some famous footballer known for scoring all the goals"

He giggles telling you to shut up.

"right then,"

He turns to his dad making sure he's got everything, saying another good bye to his mum, you and dec, and walking off into the terminal.And with that you got back in the car with dec and broke down in more sobs, dec rubbing your back to make sure your okay, but you wasn't ever going to be okay when the boy you love is in a different county...n

And with that you got back in the car with dec and broke down in more sobs, dec rubbing your back to make sure your okay, but you wasn't ever going to be okay when the boy you love is in a different county...

find part 2 here:

https://mymoneymase.tumblr.com/post/667288067831382016/ill-come-back-to-you-chapter-2-mason-mount

#mason mount #football #crying in the club #this took hours to write #mase #money mase #cute #chapter 1

[writing-in-april]

Helping Hands

Spencer Reid x Gender Neutral Reader

Summary: After a bad case Spencer needs help shaving after getting injured, he gets help from the least likely person to help in his life.

A/N: Day two of my 750 follower celebration is here! This was totally supposed to be a blurb and ended up being so much long lol. Thank you @imagining-in-the-margins for this idea and letting me write it! And thanks to @spencers-dria for helping me out as always! This fic wasn’t originally going to be Gender Neutral I just ended up writing it that way on accident which is cool, I want my blog to be as inclusive as possible! I’ve had someone check it over for pronoun mistakes but please let me know if you spot any! This is also my first time writing in second person for Spencer!

Warnings: 18+, Enemies to lovers, Knife kink (use of a straight razor), Dry fucking, Humiliation, ONE slight nick to the skin- there’s just a very small bit of blood

Main Masterlist Word count: 1.68k

Your friendship with Spencer was shaky at best, the truth was you two were barely able to work together without biting each other’s heads off. It’s not that you wanted to butt heads with him almost every day, but when he picked apart everything you said constantly you always felt the need to bite back.

Emily just had to put you as roommates for this case so you guys could ‘work out your issues.’ Of course the case then ended up becoming one of your longest cases all year. The tension between you and Spencer ran high throughout the entire case, the petty arguments grew in rate as the team got less and less sleep each day. The case combined with the sleeping arrangements was definitely making you feel miserable.

Unfortunately these hellish two weeks didn’t even end with a completely good outcome. We had caught the unsub, but not before one of your own had ended up injured. Spencer had been securing the perimeter around the suspect’s house when the suspect (who ended up being the unsub) attacked him. Luckily, you hadn’t been that far away from him and were able to help him apprehend the man. You may butt heads with him almost every working day, but he was still a part of your team. You would never want him to be seriously hurt or worse. His knuckles ended up getting bruised and bloodied from his unexpected scuffle with the unsub today although he insisted he was fine.

The sight you were looking at now directly contradicted his words. His fingers were shaking badly as he tried to move his straight razor along his jaw that was coated in shaving cream. When he let out a frustrated grunt when he couldn’t get the right angle you decided to try and lend a helping hand. He seemed to get even angrier when you walked into the hotel’s bathroom, this wasn’t new however, he always seemed to get more agitated when he sensed your presence.

“Let me help you.” You snapped while reaching forward to grab the razor, your movements were in stark contrast to your words, only doing that softly as to not cut the both of you.

“Why do you want to help me?” He snapped back with just as much bite in his tone and jerked his hand away so you could not reach the razor.

“Does it matter? You need help and I’m offering to help. So sit down and let me help.”  The real reason that you wanted to help didn’t have to be known by Spencer, he didn’t have to know that you felt guilty. His injuries were from no fault of your own however, you could not help a little bit of guilt pool in the bottom of your stomach. You may not like him very much, but again you did not want to see him hurt.

He finally acquiesced to your request sitting down on the edge of the tub that just had enough of a ledge so he could sit rather comfortably. You reached out and gestured towards the razor letting out a little sigh of relief when he handed it to you, glad that he was finally letting you help.

The handle of the razor was simple in design with no ornaments adorning it and it was made of a dark wood, perhaps mahogany. The simple design of the handle and blade did not mean that it was inexpensive, the weight in your hand alone was a testament of how finely made it probably was. You suspected it might have been one of the only things Spencer splurged his money on.

Soaping up his cheeks again, you then straddled his thighs so you could get as close as possible to him. He squeaked a little in surprise at your sudden willingness to be close to him. In all honesty, you didn’t really want to be that close to him, but you had promised to help him, this just was the only way you could get the correct angles.

Besides the initial squeak the fell from his lips Spencer had become strangely quiet as you got to work shaving off his stubble.

His silence was then replaced by something else, the inability to sit still. Each time you started to scrap the razor against his jaw his hips shuffled under you, making it extremely difficult to get a close enough shave.

“Stop squirming.” He of course felt the need to again not listen to you and he continued to squirm underneath you. You ran your fingers through his hair then tugging on the stands to crane his neck backwards so you could get full access to the underside of his jaw. He defiantly squirmed again, causing you to falter with the razor again, this time accidentally nicking the underside of his jaw.

Instead of hissing and pulling away from you would expect; Spencer threw you for a loop when he let out a loud moan while jutting his hips up into your own. A look of mortification came over Spencer’s face at his actions, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, but with your body straddling him he couldn’t quite escape your grasp so easily.

You weren’t going to lie, Spencer was an attractive man, your favorite part of his looks being his fluffy locks and the scruff he left behind after shaving. You weren’t going to pass up the opportunity of having an attractive man underneath you and begging. Experimentally you reached up with your free hand to brush up against the small nick that had only let out just a little drop of blood. Pushing down slightly on it you then rolled your hips to grind against his hardening cock in his slacks. His response to your actions pleased you, his slacks becoming more strained and another moan left his lips, this one much more high pitched.

“Are you ok with this? I won’t be gentle.”

“Yes, please do whatever you want.” You were pleasantly surprised how quickly a plea fell from his lips. It was going to be so easy to ruin him.

“Tell me if you want me to stop. You may infuriate me, but I do not want to make you uncomfortable.” He nodded quickly in understanding before tentatively moving his hands to rest on your hips lightly to make sure you were ok with his touch and so that his hands didn’t suffer from any unnecessary pain.

You were right, it was extremely easy to ruin him. It only took a few short minutes of grinding your hips into his own before you could tell he was getting a little close to his release.

“Is this all it takes for you to get off? That’s a little pathetic.” The humiliating words only made Spencer’s moans louder though at this point they had devolved into high pitched pitiful whimpers. You were glad he was keen on the idea of some light humiliation and decided to continue with some more harsh words, “I haven’t even gotten a chance to use it anywhere near any more exciting places yet. You’re so needy, Spencer.” The evil smirk that made its way onto your face at the thought of getting to use the razor in more, exhilarating places, made Spencer visibly gulp hard.

You shifted a little forward which brought more pleasure to you, enough to push you to teeter on the edge. As you felt your release begin to wash over you surged forward to mark up Spencer’s neck with a hickey to go along with the other slight mark you had left. The rocking of your hips sped up as you worked yourself through your blissful release. Spencer may have been one of the most infuriating people you knew, but you couldn’t deny that even with a few swirls of your hips together he gave you a stronger orgasm then most men ever had. After a few gasps of your breath into his neck after your release you began to focus on his own. You could just leave him hanging and force him to take a cold shower to alleviate the straining in his pants, though you couldn’t deny how good he had been for you.

“Beg me. Beg me to let you finish.” Carding your fingers through his hair once more you yanked hard so you could get to catch a glimpse of his gorgeous neck again. You brought the razor up to rest at the underside of his jaw close to the previous cut you had accidentally given him.

“Please!” Even though his begging was only one word, you were satisfied with how desperate he sounded for you. You had completely ruined him without even taking off a single article of clothing.

“Cum for me Spencer.” As soon as the words of permission fell from your lips, his hips started to meet yours with more vigor. His groans came impossibly louder as he neared his finish, so you surged forward to capture his lips with your own for the first time. Immediately you slipped your tongue into the cavern of his mouth, swallowing all of the noises that tried to escape. He rocked his hips forward once, twice, three times before feeling the front of his slacks dampen with his own release.

When you had both calmed down and slightly processed what you had both indulged in you separated from him to help clean up the nick on his jaw and to grab him a pair of sweatpants to change into. You returned to help him finish shaving making sure to leave the little bit of scruff you liked. As you finished he moved to rub slight circles into your hip, you didn’t let him do it for very long until you made sure that it wasn’t hurting his hands too much. You were both extremely content with your current position. Maybe he wasn’t as infuriating as you once thought. In any case you had enjoyed lending him your helping hands, maybe you could help him again if he was willing.

——

Tag list (message me if you want to be added):

Spencer Reid/CM taglist- @calm-and-doctor @destiny-tsukino @safertokiss

Sub!Spencer taglist- @thatsonezesty13- tags are not working for you for some reason!!

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid smut #spencer reid fanfic #criminal minds #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds smut #matthew gray gubler #matthew gray gubler x reader #matthew gray gubler smut #750 follower celebration #750 followers

[elliesguitarstrings]

promises, promises || part one: what used to be

masterlist || series masterlist

tom holland x reader

summary: you're crying over someone you haven't seen in two years, tom is straight up depressed, your friends are trying to set you up, and sam is just trying his best to help

warnings: ANGST, language, mentions of sex, little bit of fluff, probably typos

A/N: PART ONE IS HERE!!!! i absolutely love this fic and i hope you guys love it as much as i do :)

p.s. this ended up being really long sooooo i decided to make it into a series instead lol if y'all haven't figured that out

wc: 5k

~~~~~~~~

"I got the part! Holy shit I actually got the part!" Tom throws his computer across the bed in disbelief, almost hitting you.

"Wait, like THE part? Like Spiderman?" you question excitedly.

"YES!!! Check the Marvel Instagram right now!" he crawls over to you as you whip out your phone and quickly search up the account. You scan the page to see a post captioned, "Click the link in our bio to see who the new Spider-Man is!" You quickly find the link and impatiently wait for the page to load. And then you see it, boldface print and giant letters across your phone.

The new Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man will be played by: TOM HOLLAND

"HOLY SHIT TOM! You're fucking Spiderman!" you tackle him with a hug, squeezing him so tightly that he has to fight for breath. "I'm so proud of you, I knew you were gonna do big things." you smile brightly.

"We have to go tell everyone else, come on!" Tom pulls you off of him, dragging you out of his bedroom and down the stairs to give his family the big news.

The rest of the Hollands were already together in the family room, and they immediately took notice of yours and Tom's excitement as the two of you are bounding down the stairs.

Out of breath, Tom sprints to the center of the room. "Attention everyone, I have an extremely important announcement to make!" He pauses for dramatic effect, his family waiting in anticipation. "I'M GONNA BE SPIDERMAN!"

This causes an outburst of cheers and applause from his parents and brothers, each one of them getting up to hug Tom and congratulate him on this huge achievement.

Paddy pipes up, "How did you get the news? Did they call you or something?"

"Um, not exactly. They posted it on their Instagram and on the Marvel website as well, wanna see?" He turns to you, "Y/N, show them your phone!"

You pull out your phone and open the screen you were just looking at, showing the Hollands the Instagram post and article.

"No way, they're totally hacked." Harry remarks, earning disapproving looks from Nikki and Dom. "if you were really gonna be the next Spiderman, they would have called you."

Before Tom has the time to argue back, his phone rings, as if on cue. Tom pulls it out of his back pocket and nervously studies the number across the screen.

"Well, what are you waiting for div, answer it!" Sam chirps impatiently.

The rest of the room is silent while Tom listens intently to the person the other line. You can't make out what they are saying, but the eventual smile on Tom's face completely gives it away.

"Yes, thank you. Thank you so much for this opportunity," he holds while the other person talks again. "Yeah, I'll be in touch, definitely. Thank you again." Tom ends the call and lets out a sigh of relief. "That was fucking Kevin Feige! I got the part! I actually am gonna be the next Spiderman!"

You and the rest of his family cheered even louder than before, enveloping him in a giant group hug.

"I say we celebrate!" Nikki announces. "How about we go out for a nice dinner?"

Tom smiles, "If I'm honest mum, as nice as that would be, I'd rather just stay in and celebrate here tonight. I like your cooking better than any fancy restaurant anyways."

"Of course honey, I'll make your favorite. We can have a nice big family dinner, how does that sound?"

"Sounds perfect mum, thank you."

She dashes into the kitchen followed by Sam, the aspiring chef of the family, while Dom, Harry, and Paddy go to dress the table.

You take this as your cue to leave, seeing as you don't want to disrupt the rest of Tom's night with his family. "I guess I should get going then," you turn to Tom, hugging him once again. "Congratulations again, I'm so proud of you Tommy." you smile as you head to grab your things before you leave.

"Nonsense! You're staying for dinner too!" Tom stops you.

"Tom, I can't, you should spend this night celebrating with your family." you try to reason with him.

"But I want you here too!" he pouts.

"And you are family!" Nikki pipes in from the kitchen, earning nods of agreement from the rest of the family.

"See, everyone wants you here Y/N, please celebrate with us?" Tom cups your face.

"Are you sure? I really don't want to-"

Nikki cuts you off, piping in once again, "Y/N, I insist you stay for dinner with us. You've been a part of this family for so long, and you know that. So please stay and celebrate with us!" she smiles.

You giggle, "Well, I guess I can't say no to that." Tom smiles, giddily engulfing you in another hug.

After a long and delicious dinner, you and Tom now lay under the stars in the treehouse in his backyard. Dom had built it for you two when you were eight years old, and it's been your special place ever since then. Obviously, it has been upgraded and redecorated since then, now that you and Tom were both eighteen, but it still takes you back to the old days when you were just carefree little kids.

You cuddle into Tom's chest, looking up at the night sky through the small window in the roof of the treehouse. "I wish we could stay here forever," you whisper.

"Me too." Tom pulls you closer, kissing your forehead.

"Everything's gonna change you know. We're graduating in two weeks, and then you leave for America. I don't know what I'm gonna do without you." A small tear rolls down your cheek which doesn't go unnoticed by Tom.

He wipes the tear off your face with his thumb, cupping your chin to make you face him. "Hey, hey, look at me. Things might be changing, but that doesn't mean we have to. I'm only gonna be gone for a few months, and then I'll be back. I love you so much, and a few hundred miles is never going to change that. I will never let anything come between us, ever, okay?"

You smile softly, "You promise?"

"I promise darling. It's you and me forever. I'm never letting you go. Never in a million years." he kisses you lovingly, and you swear you could just live in this moment forever with him, and only him.

That was six years ago. And what Tom said was true, everything had changed. You just wish everything else he had said that night was true too.

Now, Tom is a world-famous actor, living a luxurious life out in Hollywood. You, however, have stayed in England, living only thirty minutes away from your childhood home with your newfound best friends Julia and Finn. You are no longer a part of Tom's life, and he is no longer a part of yours. But that doesn't mean you've forgotten about him.

How could you possibly forget about Tom? Your entire childhood was spent with him. From the ages of two to twenty-two, you were inseparable. To this day, you still remember when you first met, and you think about it often.

"I no wanna go! I stay home and watch princesses!" you cry, defiantly pulling away from your mother's firm grip as she tries to stuff you into shoes that are much too small for your rapidly growing feet.

"I know honey, but we have to go welcome the new neighbors who just moved in across the street. We made them brownies, remember?" she smiles.

You scrunch your face up, " No! I stay home!"

Your dad chimes in, kneeling down to your level. "Listen peanut. How about we make a deal. You come with us and say hello to the new neighbors, and then after we get home you can watch any princess movie you want and maybe even have some ice cream, how does that sound?"

You smile, "Ice cream with rainbow sprinkles?"

He rubs your head, "With rainbow sprinkles."

"Okay. I go then."

Your parents smile, and you hold their hands as you walk across the street to meet the neighbors. Your mom rings the doorbell, and the door opens to reveal a red-headed woman, smiling at you and your parents. Hiding behind her is a small, curly-headed brunette boy about the same height as you.

Your mom introduces herself, "Hi! My name is Y/M/N, this is my husband Y/D/N, and this is my daughter Y/N. We live right across the street, and we just wanted to welcome you into the neighborhood." She outstretches her arms, holding the brownies, "I made these for you as well, I hope you like them!"

The woman smiles, "Oh, wow, thank you so much, you are so sweet! Would you like to come in for a bit?"

"Of course, as long as you'll have us."

She ushers the three of you in and you stay close to your mom, still wary of entering a stranger's home.

As she closes the door behind her, she introduces herself as well, "Sorry, the house is a little messy, we’re still getting settled in. But I'm Nikki, my husband Dominic is unpacking in the kitchen, and this is Tom." She motions to the boy behind her, "Tom, say hello to the nice people!"

He timidly steps forward, waving at you and your parents. "Hello." he says quietly.

"Oh my, he is adorable!" your mom gushes. She walks over to him, "How old are you Tom?"

He holds up two fingers, "This many."

She smiles, "Two years old? Wow, you're so big! Guess what, you know who else is that many?" Tom shakes his head no. "My daughter Y/N!" She motions for you to come, and you shyly walk forward.

You wave at him, and that makes him smile. Nikki taps Tom on the shoulder, "Do you maybe want to show Y/N your toys upstairs?

He nods his head, smiling at you, "Wanna go play?" he asks.

You smile back, looking at your mom for permission. She nods her head and pushes you forward. "Okay, we go." you respond. He takes your hand and pulls you upstairs, seemingly coming out of his shell. You don't know what it is about this boy, but he makes you feel warm, like a hug. It's something your two-year-old brain can't quite comprehend, but suddenly you couldn't care less about watching princess movies or eating ice cream.

Sometimes you wish that day had never happened, that you had never met him. You wish your little two-year-old self had fought harder against your parents so that you wouldn’t have to endure the years of pain he would cause you later in life. But you can’t go back, and in part, you’re glad about that. He was your first friend, your first crush, and your first love. But he was also your first heartbreak, and that’s something you can never forget.

You're snapped out of your thoughts by a sharp knock on your bedroom door. "Hey, are you almost ready? We have to leave in ten or we'll be late!" you hear Julia's muffled voice from the other side of the door. Finn is hosting a gala tonight for his art studio, and being his best friends and roommates, you and Julia are basically required to go.

"Uh, yeah, I'm about done, I'll be out in a minute!" You haven't even started getting ready, but you don't have any more time. You quickly raid your closet and find a short v-neck black dress and matching heels. You wiggle into the dress as you make your way into the bathroom. You had planned on straightening your hair, but you have no time, so instead, you brush it back into a sleek low ponytail and spray it with a bit of hairspray. There's no time for the elaborate makeup look you had planned either, so you quickly throw on some concealer, blush, mascara, eyeliner, a bit of highlight, and you're set. As you walk to the door, you grab your purse and slip on your heels, making sure you have your phone and keys. Finn and Julia are already waiting in the car, both with disapproving looks.

"What the fuck took you so long? We were supposed to leave five minutes ago! You know I can't be late for this thing." Finn complains as you slip into the backseat.

"Sorry, I, uhm, don't feel well. A little nauseous." you lie. You don't feel like telling them that you were actually crying about someone you haven't seen or talked to in two and a half years like you do every other night.

"You're not pregnant are you?" Julia chuckles.

"Oh please, we all know that Y/N hasn't gotten any since he who must not be named." Finn replies for you.

"Thanks Finn, what a great friend." you joke sarcastically.

He's not wrong though. Since you and Tom broke up, you haven’t slept with a single person. You’ve been on a few dates and kissed a few guys, but nothing past that. The closest you got was about a month after Tom broke it off with you. You were looking for someone to take your mind off of him, so you found a random guy named David at a pub and took him back to your place. But as soon as he took off his shirt, you saw a birthmark on his back that looked eerily similar to Tom’s, and you promptly broke down crying.

No matter what you do, you just can’t seem to get him off your mind.

"Alright bitches, we're here." Finn sighs. "Help me bring my stuff in, we don't have much time thanks to someone who took ages to get ready."

You give a halfhearted apology as you grab Finn's paintings from the back of his car. Julia stops you before you follow Finn into the venue, "Babe, are you sure you're doing alright?"

You smile lightly, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be fine."

"Okay, if you say so. And sorry about Finn mentioning... him. It's been two years, he should know better."

"Oh, no. No, don't worry about that. It's okay. I don't care." you lie.

She gives you an encouraging nudge on the shoulder, "Hey, who knows, maybe you'll find a hottie here tonight and finally get back out there! What do you think, huh?"

"Yeah, that would be great, actually. Maybe Finn can introduce me to his friend James, I know he's pretty hot." you say just to get her off your back. You know for a fact that you won't be going home with anyone tonight, but you want to ease her conscience, so you continue to lie.

"That's the spirit! Good luck hun, love you."

"Thanks Jules, love you too." you smile.

Halfway through the gala, you already want to go home. Finn is over at the bar flirting with some guy, probably trying to get him to buy his artwork. Meanwhile, Julia has disappeared into the bathroom with her boyfriend Ollie, who she invited about thirty minutes into the event because she "got bored."

You look at your phone and realize it's already midnight, and you know the event won't be ending anytime soon. You slowly make your way over to Finn through the sea of people and tap him on the shoulder, drawing his attention away from whatever guy he's flirting with.

"Hey Y/N, how's it going with James?" he asks excitedly.

"Oh, um, it didn't work out, thanks for introducing me though. I just wanted to come tell you that I'm still not feeling well, so I think I'm gonna head home, sorry."

"Oh, okay, no problem. You're probably gonna be alone tonight though, just a heads up. Jules is going back to Ollie's for the night, and" he starts to whisper, "I think I might be going home with this hunk."

You laugh, "Okay, thanks Finn, see you tomorrow then."

"Bye babe. Do you have a ride?" he questions.

"Uh, no, I'm just gonna Uber home, it's no problem."

Finn gasps, "Not this late at night you're not! Let me drive you, hottie with a body over here can wait."

"No, no, don't let me ruin your night. I'll just call Sam then."

His eyes widen, "Like... his brother Sam?"

"Yeah, we're friends still, it's not a big deal. Trust me."

"Okay, fine. But text me when you get home, okay?"

"Okay, love you Finn, see you later." you give him a quick hug and walk outside to call Sam.

You aren't lying, you and Sam are still good friends. Back when you and Tom were together, Sam was the brother that you were closest to, and you felt that it would be unfair to cut ties with the rest of the Hollands just because Tom was a dick to you seeing as they were as much of a family to you as your own parents were, maybe even more. He was attending culinary school in the area anyway, so you decide he’s the best person to call.

As expected, he's happy to drive you home, and about ten minutes later he arrives at the venue where you are still standing outside.

"Hey Sam, I'm sorry for calling this late, but thank you so much for picking me up." you smile as you slide into the passenger seat.

"It's no problem, I wasn't going to sleep anytime soon. How've you been?"

"Fine, I guess. How about you?"

"C'mon, I know that look. Something's up with you." he pries.

"I told you on the phone, I'm just not feeling well." you lie, hoping he doesn't catch on.

"It's Tom isn't it?"

"How the fuck do you always know?"

He chuckles. "He is my brother, remember? And you're basically my sister too. I've known you both for literally my entire life, so trust me, I know when it's about him."

You sign in defeat, "I don't know why I can't get over him Sam. It's been nearly three years since we broke up, and I haven't seen him since. My roommates think I'm overreacting, and honestly, I'm starting to agree with them. I should be moved on by now, but I just can't stop thinking about him."

"Hey, hey, don't listen to them, you aren't overreacting. You and Tom were literally attached at the hip for twenty two years, and you weren't even dating for most of them. It's completely normal for you to feel like this, trust me. And I know it doesn't help much for me to say this because I've said it a million times before, but Tom's a complete dick for what he did to you. He's my brother, and I love him, but he's a dick."

"Thanks Sam. I just wish I knew why, y'know? Why, after twenty-two fucking years, he just completely cut me out of his life." you feel your eyes brimming with tears.

"I wish I could have an answer for you Y/N, I really do. But I haven't got a clue. Hell, I honestly don't even know if Tom knows why he did it."

You sigh, "Well, he must have had a reason. Plus, he seems to be doing great in Hollywood. He seems perfectly happy without me."

"You've been stalking him on Instagram, haven't you?" Sam chuckles.

You laugh, "Shut up." That's the great thing about Sam. He can always lighten up a situation, no matter how serious or how sad. Tom did the same thing, that was one of the things you liked most about him.

You and Sam sit in silence for a few minutes, until he finally breaks it. "He's not, you know."

"Huh?" you question, confused.

"He's not happy. You said he seems happy without you, but he's not. He's doing terribly, and it's not just from stress or his work. He won't admit it, but he misses you." he pauses, "I know I shouldn't be telling you this, but he asked about you the other day. About how you were doing and shit like that. I think he would take it back if he could."

You want so badly to believe him, belief that Tom actually still cares about you after all this time. But false hope is the last thing you need right now.

"Well, he can't, can he?" you say sharply, tears still threatening to flow out.

You and Sam sit in silence for the last five minutes of the ride back to your apartment. As he slows the car to a stop, Sam looks over at you sympathetically, "Look, I'm sorry if what I said made things worse. I just wanted you to know that your feelings aren't... one-sided I guess."

You know better than to yell at Sam, he was just trying to make you feel better, so instead of spitting out the sarcastic remark that was on your tongue, you manage out a half-hearted, "It's okay, thanks Sam." and shut the car door.

As soon as the door of your apartment closes behind you, all of the emotions come crashing down on you. A mixture of sadness, anger, guilt, and regret crushed your heart, smashing it into a million little pieces. It feels like two and a half years ago, when he first broke up with you, all over again. Everything was fine until Sam brought him up again, and the memories just all flooded back in. You fall to the floor, clutching your chest in pain, wishing someone was here for you. Wishing he was here for you. At the moment, it feels like you have no one. In reality, you do; you have an entire support system of people who love you so much and would do anything to protect you. But you only want him. You need him. He is the only person you have ever wanted, ever needed, and he's gone.

You want to hate him, you really do. He's caused you more pain in the past two and a half years than anyone or anything has ever caused you in your entire life. But you can't. You can never, and will never, hate him. Which makes you hate yourself.

After what feels like hours of crying, you finally calm down. There's no one at home to talk to and it's too late to call anyone at this point, so you flip on the tv. There's nothing good on Netflix or Hulu that you haven't seen yet, so you scroll through the other apps. You remember that you just got a free Apple TV subscription with your new phone, so you check to see what's on there.

And there it is. Cherry.

His face right on the screen in front of you, lighting your dark bedroom red. You know it's a bad idea and you know you'll regret it, but something draws you to watch it. You need him right now, and this is about the closest you're going to get.

It's fine at first. It's actually nice to see his face again after so long. He looks basically the same as the last time you saw him, just a little more mature. You feel good supporting him, even if he doesn't know it.

But then it's not fine. His character had just gotten into a fight with his girlfriend, so she comes to visit him in his apartment. They talk, and eventually he reveals that he joined the army and has to go away for two years.

"It's just a couple years. Just a couple years and a lifetime together." he whispers.

Then it all hits you, and you break down crying once again. You can't help but think back to that night in the treehouse, and how the conversation is so eerily similar. You wonder if Tom was thinking about it too, while he was filming the scene. Obviously, the circumstances were different, but it still makes you wonder.

You quickly shut the TV off, unable to bear it anymore. With nothing else to do, you try to sleep, but your thoughts keep you up. And as much as you try to fight it, your mind drifts back to the day you so badly want to forget. The day that it all ended.

"Hey, Tommy, what's up? I'm excited to see you tonight!" you pick up the phone. Tom is supposed to come back to London after filming his first solo Spiderman movie, and you could not be more excited to see him. It's been almost a full year since he left for America, and you miss him so much.

"Yea, uhm, about that. Plans have, er, changed a bit." you can hear the solemn tone in his voice.

"Oh no, what happened? Did your flight get delayed or something? I know there's some rough weather in Atlanta, but I didn't realize it was that bad."

"No, no, it's not that. I don't really know how to say this," he sighs, "I'm not coming home."

Your heart drops to your stomach. "What?"

"Yeah. I'm, um, I'm staying in America for now. I found a house in LA, it's nice."

"Well when are you coming back then?" you utter in disbelief.

"Not anytime soon. I have work, so it's just easier for me to be in America. I'm sorry." his tone is stiff.

"But what about us? I miss you so much, these past few months have already been hell for me. I don't think I can survive much longer without seeing you."

No response.

"Tom, are you still there? You know I can't move in with you. I'm already enrolled in university here in London, I can't drop everything and come to America if that's what you want."

"That's not what I want." At this point he seems to have no emotion in his voice, as if he's reading directly from a script.

"So then what do you want?" you start to really worry, tears already stinging your eyes.

"I think you can probably figure that out by now, Y/N."

"Tom, no. You seriously can't be thinking-"

"Yeah, I am thinking that. You've already said that these past few months have been hell, and I'm too busy with work, so I think that's the only option."

You plead with him, "Tom, please! We can figure this out, I love you so much. We can't break up Tom, I can't lose you." You're sobbing at this point, scared to lose the one person you need the most.

"No, we can't figure this out. We have to break up, there's no other choice."

"What happened to you and me forever? That- that night in the treehouse you said you wouldn't let anything come between us!"

"We were kids, Y/N! We had no idea what our lives were going to turn out like. That was a stupid thing to say and I never should have said it, okay? You can't keep every promise you make, especially when you're eighteen. But we're mature adults now, and the mature way to handle this is to break up. Understand?" His voice is booming through your phone speaker, and it's nothing you've ever heard come from him before. He was always calm, looking for a way to work things out. But now, he's completely giving up.

"Tom, please, I-"

"No, Y/N, I don't have time for this right now, I'm sorry. Goodbye."

He hung up. He's gone.

That was the last time you spoke to him. You didn't even get to properly say goodbye, let alone see his face before he was gone forever.

Unbeknownst to you, that phone call is still, to this day, Tom's biggest regret. Almost immediately after he hung up, he wished he had never called you in the first place. He was stressed from work, he was angry at his management team for making him stay in America, but most of all he missed you. So he did the only thing he could think of to take it all away - separate himself from you. He thought that if he broke up with you, he would feel better about his career choices and he wouldn’t have to wwc:orry about missing you anymore because it would be over.

He was wrong.

Every day since then, he’s wanted to call you, text, you, or somehow contact you to apologize; explain why he did what he did and how he still loves you, still needs you, still misses you every second of his life. But he knows he can’t. You would never be able to forgive him for breaking it all off so suddenly. There’s no way in hell you could still love him after something like that.

So he’s stayed out of reach from you for good. And he hopes that maybe one day he’ll be able to move on, find someone new like you’ve probably done by now. But deep down he knows he never will.

You’re still unable to sleep, and now that it’s almost four in the morning, you decide that you probably won’t be able to for the rest of the night. Not knowing what else’s to do, you begrudgingly roll out of bed and go to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. As you fill up your mug with warm water, you hear a knock at the door.

Who the fuck would be coming to your apartment this early? You suspect it’s Finn, as he always manages to forget his key. Maybe his night with the mystery bar hunk didn’t go as well as he had planned. You quickly set a tea bag in your mug and walk to open the door.

“Back so soon Fi... what the fuck.” your heart drops to your stomach.

It’s him. The same brown-haired, brown-eyed, British boy that you remember, staring down at you from outside your apartment at four in the morning.

“Hey.”

~~~~~~~~

tags: @pxkajesus @roseke @agentsofparker @lifeasjazzz @damnrancidchicken @tomhoelland01 @iwannabekilledtwice @rafehogwarts @non-eexistent @rosiexx8 @nearlydanger9 @realityisabitch07 @midgardassassins @jbreenr @cap-marvxl @ellesmythe @deepestcolorgiantopera @that-one-person @nevertrustapanda16 @rxmanxff @bubbleskz @quinn-spn58 @idkkkkaaw @aayaissaa @pjmjams @tiredstudenttrinity @isabella-bby @hollandprkr @pure-ghost @ladykxxx08 @white-wolf1940 @runawayolives @geekgirleve @thathurtbrolol @lost-girl24 @justafangirlduh @emistrash @writingrem @hallecarey1 @adayasgeorgia @mathletemadison @paulaabellag @miraclesoflove @captainamirica @mlmarint @quaksonhehe @laneybobeczko-g @peterspideysense @hollandstanevans @anna-sofia

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland fluff #tom holland smut #tom holland angst #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fic #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland series #peter parker #peter parker fluff #peter parker x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x fem!reader #soph writes #promises promises

[philhoffman]

Since it’s been out on wide release for a few days and I’ve seen it twice, here’s my full Licorice Pizza review! It’s a bit longer than I expected, but I’ve been waiting to talk about this movie for months, so...

Includes spoilers!

I’ve seen it twice, once at a full-house advanced screening with other Film Lovers™ and once at my local Regal theater with only a dozen other people. Very different experiences and I’m glad I had them both, I’ll get into that later.

First things first, the cast is wonderful, from the major players to the smaller cameos — I gasped when I first saw Phil’s partner, Mimi, and on my second watch I realized their daughters, Cooper’s younger sisters, are in it, too, which made me cry lol. 

Alana Haim is just as good as everyone has been saying she is. Every critic sounds like a broken record, but it really is hard to believe this is her first on-screen role! She’s completely natural and funny (and the entire Haim family is a riot). The combination of casting a lead who hasn’t acted before and her natural talent makes it feel like Alana really is Alana Kane, totally immersive and delightful. She’s lost, she’s defensive, she’s a loser, she’s defiantly Jewish (!), she’s immature, she’s surrounded by terrible adults while trying to figure out who she is.

Cooper! The comparisons with his father are inevitable (and understandable) — it’s funny because they don’t look alike in the face (he’s the spitting image of her mother), but the way he moves, his gestures are so Phil. Wrestler’s build, touching the hand to the forehead, the way they light cigarettes.

I can’t help but watch it and think of Phil, notice things that might be me projecting or might be little moments meant for him. There’s a small scene where Gary and his mom get cheeseburgers (one of Phil’s favorites). The heavy-breathing over the phone like Happiness. Gary’s father isn’t around. Smashing the car windshield like the window in Charlie Wilson’s War. Gary and Alana’s argument about being cool versus Lester Bangs’ “I’m always home, I’m uncool” in Almost Famous. Whether any of these are intention callbacks I don’t know, but they’re sweet. It’s really so beautiful and fortunate for us that we get to see Phil’s son acting.

BUT Cooper Hoffman also deserves consideration on his own merit! Same as Alana, there’s that combination of a new face + talent (+ PTA’s skills) that make this a fantastic acting debut. Gary Valentine is cocky, he’s an asshole, he’s a teenager who wishes and thinks he’s much older, he’s got a crush. He manages to walk a thin line between asshole and decent guy, and much of the unspoken tension has to do with what kind of man he’ll become — a shit, like nearly every adult man we meet in this movie, or something better? And we really don’t know. Knowing that Cooper is studying acting now, I’ll be thrilled if he decides to continue performing.

Other characters: 

Tom Waits’ entrance is maybe one of my all time favorites. When I saw LP at the advanced screening, the crowd went crazy when he appeared through that haze of smoke. His command of the restaurant crowd extended to the film’s audience and it was just delightful.

JOHN C. REILLY!!! His cameo happened so fast it was over before I realized it on my first watch, but I wanted to hoot and holler the moment I saw him the second time around.

Harriet Sansom Harris and Skyler Gisondo absolutely steal their scenes, so damn funny. That’s part of what I loved about this movie, the way it focused consistently enough on our two leads that smaller characters could come in and chew the scenery (in the best way possible) while everything still felt coherent and well-paced, without taking away from the core story.

On to the plot... I enjoyed the narrative structure of the film, focusing on these two leads but floating through various vignettes and shenanigans. I generally like episodic movies like that anyway and thought it was well-paced. The push-and-pull of their friendship over... how long? The first time I watched, I didn’t really think about it. The second time I definitely paid closer attention but I’m still not totally sure. At least a year, but I’ve read analysis arguing three?

Either way — the age gap conversation. I’m quite Online so I’ve heard the fuss on twitter, but I’m not sure how much people are actually talking about it. Nevertheless, I think one of the reasons LP has generated so much “controversy” is that this is 100% the most mainstream-advertised PTA film ever. They’re definitely reaching out to a much wider audience, some of whom are probably watching a P.T. Anderson film for the first time. At the risk of sounding pretentious 🥴 I think a lot of people who see (or just hear about) LP approach it with a mindset of like... MCU brain, or something. PTA’s films are often about toxic relationships and people who are not Bad or Good or things that are Right or Wrong. They’re about people, as they really are, as things really happen, whatever you think of them. Alana is too old, Gary is too young. She’s flawed, and so is he. They shouldn’t be here, but they are, and this is a glimpse of what happens at this moment in their lives together.

In the waterbed store scenes, I was practically waiting for Scotty J to walk in. Loved the Valley setting, the feel of the era. Read another review about the length and pace of the movie where someone said they have no problem meandering through a world like this, one you love to explore. Seeing it on 70mm was an unforgettable experience but it still looked great on digital. Every song slaps, end of story. The opening with Nina Simone’s “July Tree,” breathtaking, gives me goosebumps just to think about. Good and truly obsessed with all the running.

Every moment Bradley Cooper was on screen I wanted to scream/laugh/hold my breath. The first watch I was almost too anxious to really enjoy the entire Jon Peters/truck sequence (it is Paul Thomas Anderson, after all — I doubted but wasn’t sure if the film was suddenly going to take a much darker turn). The second viewing, it was the time of my life (like Gary) — until you get to the end of the scene and realize what Alana just went through. That felt like the Boogie-Nights-New-Years-shift-in-tone scene, highlighting how Gary is still a kid and Alana is an adult and terribly lost.

The biggest, glaring issue are the scenes with John Michael Higgins’ racist restauranteur, Jerry Frick. I think I get what PTA was trying to do — throughout the film we get the themes of misogyny, antisemitism, racism, homophobia of the 1970s. Frick is one of Gary’s older friends and probably role models, and he’s one of the men that makes us ask the question “Is this who Gary is going to become?” But it’s just gross and slams the brakes on the film’s tone and pace. Even if we’re meant to laugh at how egregiously terrible this white guy instead of with him, it’s too much, feels totally out of place and uncomfortable. My first audience laughed, my second audience groaned audibly every time he spoke. Could and should have been cut and the movie wouldn’t have lost anything, plot- or meaning-wise.

Something I’ve been thinking about nonstop in relation to the ending is an interview with Alana from a few weeks ago. She said something like, after Gary kisses Alana and they run outside together and the movie ends on that neat and tidy note, maybe Gary pulls her arm too hard and she falls and scrapes her knees and they don’t talk for another three weeks. I love that.

Overall, Licorice Pizza is solidly my favorite film of 2021. It represents a lot more than just the sum of its parts for me, and the joy and love poured into this film buoy the spirit. My favorite PTA since The Master, by far. “It is whatever you think it is.” Already can’t wait for the next slice.

#licorice pizza #* #when I say 'a bit longer'... it's a BIT long but oh well #in short. LP is about jewish women and not knowing what you're doing with your life and music that rocks. <3

[dumbledamnn]

Party Like It's 1974 (Ch.4)

Characters: Marauders, OCs

Pairings: Remus x fem!OC, Marlene x Dorcus, Lily x James

Word Count: 4167

Warnings: Language, very little angst, little sneaky sneaky heh

Summary: Kat and Emma go to Hogwarts in 1974 lol

“Alright ladies, if we are gonna do this, we are gonna do this right!” Marlene stands defiantly, ready to lead this tier 5 operation. “Lily and Dorcas, you two are on decorating duty. This place has gotta be jammin’! Though the road ahead of you is difficult, I am placing my trust in both of you.”

“Yes sir.” Dorcas salutes sarcastically. Lily offers a silent nod, a promise to fulfill their very serious duty.

“Emma and I will get the snacks-”

“Yes!” Emma exclaims, halting Marlene’s speech. “I love food and I’m pretty good at sneaking into the kitchen if I do say so myself.”

“But we’ve definitely never done that before…” Kat adds.

“Yeah, what? Never. Absolutely not. I’m just guessing that I’d be really good at sneaking in and probably know the layout of the kitchen like the back of my hand.” Emma smiles as Lily shakes her head at her troublemaker friends.

“It’s just a guess though… totally not from experience…” Kat adds again, her grin spreading by the second.

“Yeah, yeah we get it. You two are grade-A sneaks. Kat, remember when you brought all those muggle games and then they got confiscated last January?”

“Ah, yeah. I had just gotten them for Christmas too. Rest in peace my bowling set.” Kat sighs, holding up her prayer hands in a moment of silence.

“Well, you are gonna go get them. All of them,” Marlene puts her hands on her hips, proud of her successful delegations.

Kat half-heartedly raises her hand. “Though I love the game plan, Marlene, I have one question. How mad would y’all be if I got Gub to help me carry the games back? There is just no way I could carry those on my own, especially if I have a whole ass bowling ball.”

Marlene, as the team leader, weighs the options for a split second. “Yeah, of course.”

“Gub is an honorary member of the girl’s club at this point,” Dorcas adds.

“Especially since he was rejected by the boy’s club.” Lily rolls her eyes. Any thought of James sends Lily’s pupils straight back into her head.

“A moment of silence for Gub,” Emma bows her head in respect. The rest follow her lead, a single moment of complete peace.

“Alright team, let’s break!” Marlene ends the silence with her exclamation.

They begin tackling their designated jobs, the liveliness of party planning overtaking the tragedy of the exploding suitcase.

–

Kat steals Gub from the guy’s side, offering little explanation to the rest of the boys. They head out first, followed shortly after by Marlene and Emma who now cover themselves with their robes for a more discreet look.

The door closes behind them, leaving Lily and Dorcas to stare at the space they’ve been given charge of.

“So, where should we start?” Lily nudges the couch back a bit, sighing. “Marlene wants us to go big doesn’t she?”

“I think that's a fair assumption.” Dorcas crosses her arms. They both stand still as if the answer would appear if they made no sudden movements.

“Well let’s think about this logically,” Lily steps closer to Dorcas, “we need a place to sleep, we need a space for the games, we need a space for the food, and…”

“Pizzazz. We need pizzazz.” Dorcas adds. Their smiles begin to grow alongside their excitement.

“Right. Pizzazz. What would make this a…uh pizzazz-y more party?” Lily looks around, searching the room for an answer. Carpets, fire, couches, and rugs are homely but they aren’t quite party material.

Then she spots it. In the corner of the room, hidden underneath a dusty scarlet sheet, hides a machine she recognizes from her home.

“Music, Dorcas! Look!” She shouts, rushing over to rip off the sheet. She reveals a record player, its grey box with long black legs hovering over a small box of unlabelled vinyls.

“Yeah! I remember this. So uh…how do you use it?” Dorcas kneels down, fingering through the black discs.

“Well, you…uh…shit.”

–

“Hey so, where are we going again?” Gub trails slightly behind as Kat speeds down the hall. “And why are you walking so fast?”

“We have two stops to make and-”

“Two? I thought we were just going to Filch's office for the games.” Gub elongates his strides to catch up with Kat, whose walk keeps speeding up.

“I just have one quick stop to make first.”

Filch’s room is across the river on the east side of campus. As soon as they exit the building, they are met with a covered walkway that leads them straight to their destination. The covered walkway, a wooden bridge, rickets in the autumn wind, completely obscured by darkness. The only thing giving them a gauge of the distance is a small light about 100 feet away.

“Uh, Kat?” Gub says, grabbing onto a nearby rail.

“Yeah?” Above them, a rather concerning caw screeches out violently into the night. Below them, rushing water crashes into the rocky cliffs that elevate Hogwarts into the air.

“Would this be a good or bad time to mention that I am a bit frightened of heights?” Gub whispers back, his eyes searching the side of the bridge for a sense of stability.

“No, no, that's totally fine. Uh. If it makes you feel any better, I’m a bit frightened of just about everything else out here.” Kat whispers back, peeking out over the side to find the source of the screech in the sky.

“No, actually, that does not make me feel any better.”

“Oh. Well then, we might be in a bit of a pickle here Gub.” Another caw in the darkness causes both of them to tighten their clutch on the wooden poles beside them.

“A pickle?” Gub asks with a little shake of either laughter or fear in his voice.

“You know what, we’ll cross that bridge after we cross this bridge,” She laughs at herself, the awkward chuckle  echoing off the bridge into the chasm below.

“Alright Gub, we’re running out of time so we’re gonna make a run for it okay?”

Gub gulps, pushing himself off the wall into the center of the walkway, taking a starting position. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Kat straightens up, letting go of the bridge to join Gub, ready to run.

“Alright, three…two…one. Go!”

–

Marlene and Emma are almost perfect thieves. With their robes pulled over their heads, they are almost perfectly hidden in the darkness; Only their eyes peer out into the empty halls. They squat, roll, and hide as if they are dodging little red lasers at every turn. They take shortcuts only seasoned sneaks would know, arriving at the kitchens in almost record time.

Their only setback is the sheer amount of giggles they let escape them as they run through the halls, waking almost every portrait on their way down. But that’s beside the point.

“Alright, the house-elves are great but they are kinda sticklers when it comes to the rules. I’m friends with a few of them but I swear, if we run into Sinjie or Scrag, we are dead meat,” Emma gives Marlene the rundown, her years of experience finally coming in handy.

“We’ll have to stick close to the walls. Lucky for us, the sweets are right by the entrance so we won’t have to travel too far. Grab whatever you can and we should be good. I’m gonna go further in and see if I can swipe us some Butterbeer.”

Marlene nods, brows furrowed in determined readiness.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Emma pushes the door open, slowly revealing the largest small kitchen ever. The kitchen spans the length of the Great Hall and is impeccably clean. Every cabinet, stovetop, and refrigerator is waist level, an obvious tailor towards the working house-elves. Though the ceiling stood high, much of the space is filled with recipes on the wall and framed kitchen rules.

Emma’s layout is spot on, the desserts sitting right at the entrance, ready for the taking. Marlene begins to stuff the two bags she brought with as many treacle tarts, pumpkin pasties, sour stripes, and chocolate frogs as she could get her hands on. She makes sure to grab an extra load of chocolate for Emma and even more for Remus, just in case.

Emma continues further into the kitchen. Usually a lively place, right now it is eerily quiet. Even late at night, it wasn’t unusual to find a few house elves around, sharing some snacks or playing gobstones.

Across the room, Emma approaches the drinks, an elaborate set up of spouts coming down from the ceiling. Varying in colors, the only tell of their contents are little pictographs on the tap handle. She looks around in search of some form of to-go cups when she notices a peculiarity. Further down the hall stands a door she hadn’t noticed before. Well, she had noticed it, it's just that it always seemed to be a door to nowhere. She has never seen anyone enter or exit it and the light behind it was always off.

That is, until now. The door, still closed shut, is outlined with light and if you listen closely, there are sounds of music and conversations happening inside.

Emma takes a step forward, her curiosity growing, but she is stopped by thoughts of their upcoming party. She has a duty and if she doesn’t get cups quickly, Marlene might steal the whole damn kitchen. She takes one last look at the door, noticing the shadows of footsteps on the floor. She looks to the side, noticing a lidded pot right next to the door, then back at the mysterious door.

“Maybe just a quick peak…”

–

“So you need me to do what exactly?” Remus scratches his forehead as he looks down at the exposed record player and the two bewildered girls.

“Make it play music,” Dorcas says, matter-of-factly. She picks up one of the records, handing it to the still confused Remus.

“And why can’t Lily do this? Or Kat? Or Emma?” He takes the record, flipping it over in his hands.

“They aren’t here,” Lily mutters.

“And Lily can’t remember how, so we got you,” Dorcas adds. Lily blushes at her own lack of knowledge.

Remus sighs, taking a knee in front of the machine. He lifts the cover, setting the vinyl gently on the pin. He drops the needle as the disc begins to spin. Earth, Wind, and Fire begins to sing softly through the scratchy speaker.

Remus stands up as he wipes the dust off onto his pants.

“And why are you two trying to listen to records in the common room by yourself in the middle of the night? I mean I’d expect this from Marlene or Emma but it's a bit surprising coming from the queen of rules and you, Dorcas.”

Lily smacks his arm as Dorcas stands to join them.

“Lily and I are having a passionate affair,” Dorcas doesn’t hesitate, her composure completely deadpan.

Remus’s eyebrows shoot up, allowing a smirk to grow on his face, “Is that so?”

Lily smacks Dorcas in the arm this time, “We’re throwing a party,” she says.

“Lily, that’s supposed to be a secret!”

“Since when?” Lily lifts her eyebrows in confusion.

“And how does one get invited to this super-secret party?” Remus smirks, crossing his arms.

“It’s a girls-only party, Rem,” Dorcas retorts.

“That’s not true, Gub is coming,” Lily corrects. Her sense of rightness outweighs the obvious push-and-pull Dorcas is trying to do.

“Lil’, girl, we have to teach you about getting with the program,” Dorcas teases. “Fine, I’m sure Mar won’t mind and I’m positive Emma won’t either. The more the merrier, but there is one condition.”

Remus smiles at the success of his request. “I suppose that’s fair, what is it?”

“Get us pizzazz.”

Remus’s face scrunches up as he tries to process what pizzazz might entail. Then it hits him, the most obvious solution.

“Okay, hear me out… Who do we know who throws the absolute best parties? With the most pizzazz?”

Lily and Dorcas look at each other, an entire conversation happening between them in a moment of silence.

Remus’ eyes dart between them.

“Ah screw it. Go get them.”

—

Fear is a powerful motivator. That’s what they say at least. And fear is probably why it takes a record time of 9 seconds for Gub and Kat to sprint the 100 feet from the west side to the east side of the castle.

It takes everything in them not to scream as the wood creaks beneath their pounding steps. As soon as they hit the other side, the two burst through the large wooden door, entering the building.

It takes a few moments for them to catch their breath.

“Alright, I need you to head down the hall. Filch’s room is the second door on the left. Grab anything you think would be fun. Games or whatever you find. Got it?”

“Yeah. But wait, where are you going?” Gub asks as he starts to head down the hall.

“I’m just grabbing something real quick. You know the spell right?” She asks as she starts towards the nearest set of spiral stairs.

“Yeah, Alohomora.”

“Perfect, I’ll meet you back here in 5 minutes alright!” She disappears around the corner.

Gub turns, continuing off down the hall to retrieve the games.

Five minutes later, he’s back, standing alone in the hallway, a stack of board games in his hands and a bag of bowling pins at his feet. Gub is a very timely person.

It takes an extra five minutes before Kat comes back down, panting as she stuffs a small piece of paper into her pocket. She is a very untimely person.

“Sorry, I got lost. I started running around and I think I almost ran into McGonagall. This is more exercise than I’ve done in weeks. Now I’m- wait a second. Where’s my bowling ball?”

There is no bowling ball in sight.

“I’m sorry Kat. I couldn’t find your bowling ball.” Gub drops his gaze, saddened by the loss.

“Are you sure? You looked everywhere?” She pleads with him, searching for some hint of hope. Maybe he had missed a spot or maybe Filch was secretly bowling down the hall.

“I’m sure. I’m so sorry, the bowling ball…is gone,” Gub sighs at the tragedy.

Kat simply shakes her head. “It’s a cursed world we live in Gub… it’s a cursed world,” she pauses for a moment, faking a sob. Suddenly she laughs, her demeanor shifting so suddenly the surprise almost knocks Gub off balance.

“Sorry, I was just thinking about what would happen if we said Accio bowling ball. That would be such a bad decision. Like wablam, bowling ball to the head,” she laughs again.

“Sometimes your mind is a scary place,” Gub states with only a slight look of concern on his face.

“You're telling me, buddy. Alright, let’s get back and start this party,” she pats him on the shoulder, taking a few board games from his hands. He picks up and slings the pins over his shoulder and they head back out the doors.

—

Emma creeps towards the door, promising herself she was only headed this way for the pot. She would grab it, happen to bump into the door, accidentally toggle the handle, peek inside, then head back to the drinks to fill up the butterbeer.

She was never a very curious person but there is something about Hogwarts that makes her constantly want to explore every nook, wander every hallway, and climb every tower. The magical mystery of the building is too much for her to deny her adventurous nature.

She slides the pot off the counter, completing step one of her plan. She closes the lid tightly with her fingers. It would be the death of their plan if she were to drop it.

Steps two and three are a bit more difficult as she crosses the space between the counter and the door. Her fingers faintly brush the handle, making sure it wouldn’t squeak if she were to twist it. Slowly, she begins to turn it until it won’t turn any more.

Now just a quick peek, as she pulls the door out, using the cushion of her shoe as a buffer.

An outpour of music fills the kitchen along with shimmering light. Inside the room, the entirety of the Hogwarts house-elves dance around white-clothed tables with drinks in their hands. They sing and shout, hugging each other in celebration. It is a lively view and brings a big smile to Emma’s face.

There is so much joy and fun, it is taking everything in her not to jump in and join in the commencement. That is until something catches her eye.

A rather tall figure in the corner, obviously a student by the robes and height They hover over the house-elves, Their hair short and black and their skin pale. She squints, trying to get a better look when suddenly a hand grabs her shoulder.

“Oh shit,” she almost shouts but the sight of Marlene behind her calms her nerves.

“Close the door,” Marlene whispers, nudging Emma’s arm.

“Sorry!” Emma closes the door and the two sigh in relief. Emma rushes over to the drinks, pulling the tab with the little sketch of butter until the pot is full. She puts the lid on and squeezes it tightly. They take one more look around before rushing out the kitchen, back to the dorms.

–

Remus’ grand plan is to summon the two wildest Gryffindors, James and Sirius, from their chambers to throw what they call ‘an actual jammin’ party’.

The first thing they do is fix the lighting. As Sirius puts it, “lighting is the mood maker and the mood killer at a party. If it's a jammin’ party, you have to have at least two disco balls.”

Then they fix the furniture, moving all the chairs and couches to the edge of the room. They set up tables for the food and games, bringing out blankets and pillows to make a big pile in the middle. A combination of a communal bed and a soft dance floor, the room is set perfectly.

Next is the decor. James is, and always has been, the top of the class at charms. She would never admit it, but even Lily is impressed by his skills. James fills the room with infinite confetti, falling and flying like snow. He adds some color to the disco ball, animating the room in a kaleidoscope of light.

“Now this is a party!” James looks smugly around the room. Everyone has smiles on their faces, even Lily. That is until she sees James and her frown immediately returns.

Dorcas walks up to him, patting him on the back. She leans over and whispers, “You should apologize.”

He sighs in response as his eyes trail Lily from across the room. “I know I just…” he sighs again.

Suddenly the door wooshes open, revealing a rather sweaty set of Marlene and Emma.

“We have the food!” Emma shouts, hauling the butterbeer to the nearest table. Before she could get there, Remus takes it from her hands, relieving her from the weight.

“Oh thank god, my hands were killing me.” She walks to her spot on the couch, now against the wall, plopping down for a moment of rest.

“Damn ladies, this is almost perfect!” Marlene takes in the room, a now festive sight.

“Almost?” Sirius puts his hand on his chest, utterly offended by anything less than perfection.

“Yeah, almost. You’re missing the most important part,” She smiles as she sets the bags of sweets on the designated food table. Lily begins pulling them all out, sorting them into categories.

“No offense to Earth, Wind, & Fire, but if we really want to party, I think we all know what needs to be done,” She walks over to the record player, stopping the needle from going on any further.

A quick “Accio ABBA record,” summons one of the center blacks discs straight into her hand. She tosses it down and throws on the needle, turning the volume up.

Waterloo blasts through the speakers, causing a wave of cheers from the gang. Emma jumps up from her seat, reenergized by the song.

The door swings open again revealing the second sweaty pair of Kat and Gub. Kat throws the games down, immediately joining Emma to dance. Gub follows after, honoring his Swedish idols. Sirius and Marlene join them immediately, each singing and dancing to their heart's content.

It takes Marlene grabbing Dorcas’ hand before she joins in, reluctant at first. Marlene swings her around until her awkward tension is gone, making her laugh and sing with ease.

Sirius finally drags Remus into the dancing pool with the classic ‘Caught on the Line’ dance move.

“You gotta do it, Rem. You gotta! Be my fish! Be my fish, Remus! Come on!” Sirius keeps shouting as he reels and reels the line in.

“Be his fish! Be his fish! Be his fish!” Emma begins to chant, still swinging her arms to the song. He glances at Emma, rolling his eyes at her stupidly big grin before he begins to hop in in all his fishy glory.

While everyone dances, Lily stays by the food, fiddling with her piles of candies. James stares, sighing every couple of minutes and muttering under his breath, his only company Peter.

It isn’t until track 7, “Honey, Honey”, that the gang finally gets the three off their walls and into the center of the room to dance. They dance and dance until they are out of songs to dance to. Then they eat and eat until their stomachs are full. Finally, they play at least four rounds of Bogarts and Aurors and at least five more rounds of Clue.

It isn’t until the sun peeks through the windows do they finally lay their heads down to rest.

“That was some first night huh?” Kat whispers to Emma, who is already almost drooling next to her.

“Mhmm,” she droopily responds, eyes closed.

“It seems it was, Ms. Russell,” a shrill voice interrupts all of their drifting.

“Oh shit,” Sirius says, rubbing his eyes as he sits up.

“What have we here? Stolen items and various charms?” Professor McGonagall stands at the door, once again dawning the most ornate of robes. Her hair is neatly pinned back and her glasses hovers on the tip of her nose. She surveys the room as the eight of them stare at her like deer in the headlights.

“Can’t we have one year without your shenanigans?” She looks down at them, a hint of a smile on her face.

“I’m sorry Minnie, no-can-do,” James responds, still flat on his back with his eyes closed.

“Mr. Potter,” she tsks at his nickname for her, looking back at the other students. “Listen closely. If I catch this kind of behavior again, you will be losing house points.”

“Professor, please-” Lily starts to argue but she is interrupted.

“However, today and today alone, I will let you off the hook. Clean up this mess and go back to your rooms before the other students awake.”

The group lets out an almost unanimous sigh of relief. Professor McGonagall pivots on her heel and heads back to the door.

Before leaving, she turns around one last time, a small but still noticeable smile on her face “And it's good to have you back.”

The door closes behind her. James thrusts a pillow over his face, groaning into it.

Kat suddenly sits up, eyes wide. “I forgot!” She stands up, shoving her hand into her pocket. Pulling it out, she reveals a note, the note she disappeared earlier that night to get. “Lily! The spell! The spell is Tergeo!”

Lily lets out a scream, the irritation of forgetting finally relieved as the word she had been looking for all night finally came back to her.

“Why were you guys looking for a cleaning spell?” James sleepily mutters into the pillow. The girls each shoot a glare at him for withholding this knowledge from them but the pillow obscures them from his view.

Lily rushes up the stairs, leaving the rest to clean up the common room.

Despite their lack of energy, they finish up pretty quickly, leaving only the table of snacks out for the other students to eat if they wanted.

They settle on quick goodnights to each other as they each go back to their dorms, feet dragging and eyes drooping.

Before the girls cover their noses and shield their eyes in order to enter their room, Lily opens the door revealing a spotless and odorless dorm. She receives little woo’s of thanks but unfortunately, her praise would have to wait until morning when their brains could compute her heroism. For now, they all crash land on their beds, sleeping the rest of the day away.

#this is for Emma my love hehe #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #James Potter #peter pettigrew #fem!oc #remus x oc #marlene mckinnon #hogwarts #harry potter fanfiction #lily evans #mcgongall #severus snape #barty crouch jr #dorcas meadowes #ABBA

[wheresmynaya]

Hate to Date Ch.8 | Brittana

A/N - These next two chapters are probably some of the more difficult ones I've written so far for this story so be gentle LOL. Also, I've noticed readers saying in their reviews lately that these weekly updates are like waiting for a new episode of a fav tv show and I love that. One of the things I miss about Glee or whatever show I’m obsessed with is having something to look forward to each week so I'm really happy this story offers you all that kind of comfort! Hopefully I can keep it up 💙

Before you read on, consider treating your local fav fic writer with a coffee through Ko-Fi!

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) & under the cut!

When Saturday rolls around, Santana putters around the apartment attempting to busy herself with meaningless tasks – anything that’ll keep her from anxiously watching the clock. She lounges in her sweatpants and a tank top all day, switching from vegging out on the couch to catching up on some coursework, but it gets harder for her to resist the urge to check the time the later it gets.

No matter what she does, no matter the many distractions she tries piling on – she can’t help but cave.

She can’t help but think about Brittany.  

When Puck gets home a little later from hanging out with a couple guys from his team, he finds Santana close to falling asleep on the couch. He takes in the lazy clothes she wears, the messy hair, the sea of snacks that surrounds her and lifts a brow.

“What’s this?”

“What’s it look like?” Santana snarks.

“It looks like you’ve just gone through a rough break up.”

Santana shoots him a look, “I’m clearly having a lazy day.”

He glances from her to the tv screen and back to her again, “Is that what you call it?”

“Yeah,” Santana replies and averts her eyes as she tugs on her blanket. “You can either join or scram.”

Puck rolls his eyes and reaches for the remote. When the screen shuts off, Santana lets out a huff but Puck only crosses his arms.

“What the hell?” She snaps. “I was watching that!”

“So?” Puck challenges.

“So turn it back on.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll kick your ass.”

Puck barks out a laugh, “I’d like to see you try. Go ahead.”

Santana doesn’t move, “I don’t have the energy for this.”

“You’re so damn frustrating,” Puck shakes his head.

The comment makes Santana falter a little; it makes her think about Brittany again, it makes her think about how she let her down, it makes her think about how it made her feel to watch the blonde run away.

But Brittany isn’t here, it’s Puck and Santana knows he doesn’t scare off too easily.

“Just leave me alone,” Santana grumbles.

Of course, Puck doesn’t.

“Are you seriously not going tonight?”

Santana clenches her jaw as the anxious feeling returns. It didn’t take much but she’s wavering and she knows it. Puck probably knows it too or else he wouldn’t be here pressing her buttons still.

“I told you I can’t go,” She tells him defiantly. “I’d only ruin her night. She doesn’t need that, no one does. It’s better if I stay here.”

“Bullshit,” Puck disputes. “You don’t know that.”

Santana stays quiet, she can feel her foundation cracking.

“I do know that,” She says. “You saw how pissed she was when she left. I’d just make things worse if I go.”

Puck sighs tiredly, “Why do you always do that?”

“What?”

“That,” Puck tries to explain. “It’s just like high school – you’re taking yourself out of the game before you even play it.”

That strikes a nerve with Santana, “That’s not what happened and you know it. This is so much different.”

“You gave up then,” Puck tells her. “And you’re giving up now. Why? I don’t know. This should be way easier for you. There’s no scholarship on the line or this big scary secret you need to help hide. You’re not even in love with the girl this time but here you are sitting on the damn bench.”

Santana shrinks back. She doesn’t want to talk about the past, she doesn’t want it mixing in with her present so she deflects, “Can you stop with the ridiculous sports metaphors?”

“No. Now get your ass up,” Puck huffs as he pulls off the blanket Santana covers herself with.

“Goddamn it, Puckerman! Cut the shit!”

“You first, Lopez!”

This time, Santana rises to her feet. She faces Puck head on and glares. Her fists are tight and her chest aches with rage and something else, something she’s tried so many times to push away.

“You know what you have to do,” Puck says. “Stop with the excuses and just go do it already. Quit being a little punk about it.”

“I’m not being a punk,” Santana grumbles.

Puck laughs as he waves his hand at her mess, “All this because Britt finally called you out on your shit? Come on, you’re better than that.”

Santana tenses her jaw again but Puck only softens as he puts his heavy hands on her shoulders, going into total pep talk mode. Santana tries to squirm away, but Puck steadies her like always.

No one would ever expect that this guy, the one with a ratty mohawk, could be the voice of reason for Santana but he’s never failed her before. Just like her, he doesn’t back down. He sticks by her even when she’s being a stubborn dumbass and if anyone needs someone in their life like that it’s Santana.

“I know you,” He says solemnly. “Going to this thing tonight is a piece of cake, all you have to do is quit selling yourself short and go.”

Santana’s shoulders drop even further as Puck continues.

“Prove yourself wrong and kill it,” He says. “You owe it to yourself and you owe it to Brittany.”

There’s an uneasiness still but Santana can’t lie and say Puck’s words didn’t ignite something within her. It goes without saying that his words have had an impact. She bats off his hands and glances at the time, frowning when she sees how late it has gotten.

“I don’t think I can make it in time,” Santana says. “I can’t get ready in forty minutes. My hair alone takes at least an hour.”

“Well what’s that saying?” Puck questions. “Better late than never?”

Santana sighs through a small smile, “I mean, I do like to make an entrance.”

Puck smirks, “Then you better get going.”

\\

Santana’s used to walking into parties like she owns the place, but she finds herself struggling as she approaches the entrance of the Brainiacs’ Ball. She stares up at the prominent steps flanked by solid columns and has never felt so small in all her life. She’s way out of her comfort zone, but she takes the first step anyway.

Slowly, she puts one foot in front of the other. She can feel the low thrum of the bass from the music inside before she can actually hear it. At least that’s something she’s a little more familiar with and with that in mind, she continues her journey.

Maybe Puck was right? This is a piece of cake!

When she reaches the top and looks back, she finds Puck still waiting at the bottom of the stairs watching on like a proud soccer mom. He catcalls at her loudly and it causes the last of the guests making their way inside to stare.

Santana scrunches her face and waves him away, not wanting to be embarrassed by how he sticks out like a sore thumb in his ripped jeans and jersey. He gets the message though and gives her one last round of thumbs up before heading off.

Though she tries to play it off like she can’t stand his dorkiness, she’s thankful for that little bit of extra support and finds enough courage to walk into the building with her head held high.

She might not feel like she owns the place right now, but that’ll change by the end of the night!

\\

Santana knew it was a black tie affair, but she really didn’t expect such extravagance.

There’s a great crystal chandelier hanging from above casting iridescent shadows across the lobby, spotless marbled floors speckled with flecks of gold, the ruby red carpet leading the way into the grand hall where guests dressed to kill mingle with champagne flutes in their hands.

All that’s missing are the annoying paparazzi and the blinding flashes from their cameras and she’d feel like she was at some gaudy Hollywood party.

It’s like she just walked into one of the parties Maribel’s firm throws for holidays and she so wasn’t expecting that. Although she’s been to many of those, she still feels a little out of place as she makes her way through the double doors.

“Good evening,” The doorman greets politely before extending a gloved had to the party. “Welcome to the Brainiacs’ Ball.”

Santana smiles in return and heads in. She tries to keep an eye out for Brittany all while trying to wrap her head around the fact that all of this is in celebration of a handful of academic decathlon clubs.

Who the hell knew they got down like this? Even their DJ has great music playing! Santana’s so surprised, almost distractingly so but then she spots a familiar someone in the crowd.

Brittany

There’s a sudden sense of relief but it’s soon replaced with a frown as Santana finds that the girl isn’t alone. She’s with some tall guy; Santana can’t really see that far to tell who it is or if she knows him. All she knows is that Brittany is standing with him and she’s laughing.

He’s making her laugh.

Santana’s frown deepens before she squints her eyes, trying to get a better look at the guy. Like the others here, he’s dressed to the nines in a dashing suit with his black hair slicked back.

Okay, whatever – he can clean up well. Santana can too! But the important question is, what’s he doing with Brittany?

She ducks behind a vase of flowers, peering through the gaps in the leaves so Brittany doesn’t spot her. She only briefly thinks about how ridiculous she must look before other guests unknowingly happen to block her view.

Frustrated, she tries ducking and dodging them but even in her stilettos she’s just too short. She’ll need to get closer if she wants to see what this guy’s deal is, but as she makes her way over she can’t help but think: did Brittany really replace her?

Surely not, that would definitely raise suspicion. She wouldn’t do that.

Would she?

Suddenly, a waiter dressed formally in a suit and tie steps in Santana’s path. There’s a silver tray full of champagne flutes atop his hand and he looks to Santana expectantly.

“Champagne?”

Santana takes one last look at Brittany and that guy and goes for a glass.

“Yeah, sure.” She takes one and downs it in two gulps.

The waiter raises his brows in awe and quickly goes to turn away, but Santana stops him.

“Hold up,” She says and puts down her empty glass in favor of taking two more. She smiles sweetly at him in thanks before getting her game face on. She finds herself thinking about what Puck said before and starts to fill with confidence – no more sitting on the sidelines for her!

Santana saunters over to Brittany with determination in her eyes.

It’s go time.

\\

“There you are!” Santana greets cheerfully as she reaches Brittany with a champagne flute in each hand. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Brittany stops mid-sentence, her face pale as if she’s just seen a ghost.

“You’re here.”

“Of course I am. I wouldn’t miss it,” Santana replies as she hands her the spare flute before pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek. She looks up at pretty blue eyes and adds, “I know how important this night is for you.”

Brittany blinks, it’s like she can’t believe what she’s hearing. Santana thinks she’s off to a good start so far – naturally – and sizes up the guy Brittany was talking to before she came over.

“And who are you?” She asks with a slight bite to her tone as she wraps her arm around Brittany’s waist.

He falters as he looks back and forth between her and Brittany, “I’m Mike.”

Santana lifts her brow challengingly, but Brittany steps in to add.

“He’s a friend of mine.”

Santana continues to stare at the guy, “Friend.”

“Yeah,” Brittany glances at her with slight confusion but it quickly disappears as she slips into character too. “I was just telling him you weren’t feeling too good and that you probably wouldn’t make it tonight.”

“Right,” Santana replies. Her smile turns devilish, “Well I appreciate the concern but I’m all better now, Mike.”

He looks a little nervous but nods, “That’s good to hear.”

“Mhmm,” Santana brings her glass to her lips. She maintains eye contact with him while she threads her fingers with Brittany’s and sips her champagne slowly.  

“Well Britt, I’m gonna go,” He says hesitantly to Brittany before jutting a thumb over his shoulder. “I want to make sure we grab a good seat. I’ll see you over at the table.”

“Okay cool,” Brittany smiles. “See you there.”

“It was nice finally meeting you, Santana,” Mike says kindly to the brunette before disappearing into the crowd.

Santana watches him go as she takes another sip. This Mike character really changed up his tune once Santana was around – all nice and polite. He wasn’t fooling her though! Trying to steal her fake girlfriend, not today!

“He’s gone,” Brittany says gruffly. “You can let go of my hand now.”

“Oh sorry,” Santana pulls away and glances in the direction Mike went. “So he’s attractive…what’s he doing at a place like this?”

Brittany doesn’t even smile, “You know not everyone with a brain looks like Steve Urkel.”

Santana doesn’t notice Brittany’s dismissive tone as she looks around. She’s still mind blown by the atmosphere and the people and everything.

“Clearly,” She replies. “I mean, did you see that man’s jawline? I’m a lesbian, but I can still admire a good looking – “

“What are you doing here, Santana?”

Brittany’s curt tone pulls Santana right back to the other day where they sat together at her tiny dining table and she watched as Brittany grew more and more disappointed in her. There’s a hardness to her, an annoyance, that doesn’t go unnoticed. It makes Santana shrink back, that confidence before taking a big hit, but she stands her ground – even if Brittany makes her feel shaken.

“I’m here to be your arm candy,” Santana says in return – attempting to make this exchange lighthearted.

Brittany’s not having it though as she says bitterly, “I don’t need it.”

“Sure you do.”

“No,” Brittany admonishes. “I don’t so you can leave now.”

Santana slips up out of frustration, “Are you really going to make this difficult for me?”

That sets Brittany off once again, the bitterness intensifying.

“Seriously? You did not just ask me that. After everything you said the other night, after the way you just put your foot down and refused to budge? You want to talk to me about being difficult?” Brittany lets out a dry laugh, “You’ve got some nerve.”

Santana cringes as she takes a subtle look around to make sure no one notices them arguing, but no one pays them any mind. It’s a relief, but it doesn’t offer Santana much comfort with the way Brittany’s still glaring at her.

She was a little prepared for the backlash, she just wasn’t sure how bad Brittany’s words would sting. She isn’t used to the harshness in Brittany’s tone and she kind of hates that she’s the reason for it.

Still, she pushes forward. She’s determined to fix this, no matter how hard Brittany fights her.

“Okay,” Santana’s voice is meek. “So that was a poor choice of words... ”

“You think?” Brittany replies, her tone thick with sarcasm.

Santana’s instincts have her wanting to retreat. She has clearly messed up big time and everything in her is telling her to just listen to Brittany and leave – yet her feet don’t move.

Maybe she’s hardheaded, maybe she’s too damn stubborn for her own good; whatever it is, she continues to stand her ground.

“I’m here now,” Santana says earnestly. “That has to count for something?”

Brittany shakes her head, “It doesn’t.”

Santana lets out a laugh out of aggravation. Who knew the girl could be just as stubborn as her? Talk about grudges, no wonder no one ever gets on Brittany’s bad side! It’s damn near impossible to get off of it! But Santana’s made proving she can be there for Brittany her new mission so she’s not going anywhere just yet.

“What do you want me to do?” Santana asks dejectedly. “Get on my hands and knees? Beg for your forgiveness?”

“Save your breath,” Brittany replies briskly as she sets down her glass. “I don’t want to be here with someone that would rather be elsewhere and I’m tired of trying to force you to care.”

That one surprisingly hurts a little more than Santana expected, but it doesn’t top the feeling that quickly follows as she watches Brittany begin to turn her back on her.

“Brittany,” Santana finds herself calling out. When the blonde doesn’t stop, Santana calls out to her again. “Britt – “

“No,” Brittany pauses as she looks over her shoulder at Santana. “You were right. You’d just ruin my night. Go home, Santana.”

It’s another blow to the chest as the blonde turns to walk away again. Only this time, Santana kicks into gear. She’s got something to prove and she’s not leaving until she does! She quickly sets down her glass too and reaches out, catching Brittany by the wrist before she gets too far.

“Can you just wait?” Santana pleads.

“What?” Brittany snaps back.

Santana softens as she tucks her tail between her legs, “I’m sorry.”

Brittany looks a little taken aback by the relaxing of her tensed jaw, but it only last for a moment as she looks down at Santana’s hand still around her wrist.

“Okay, great,” Brittany says sarcastically. “Now let me go.”

Brittany doesn’t wait for Santana to loosen her grip and instead shakes Santana off of her. The brunette doesn’t try reaching for her again, but she does take a step closer.

“Hold on,” Santana urges again. “I’m not finished.”

Brittany pauses, taking a wary look back her. Santana can see that she’s wearing her down, but who knows how long it’ll last. There’s no reason for Brittany to give her another chance after having so many, so she has to make this count.

“I thought about what you said,” Santana tells her. “Like I really, really thought about it and I think you might be right.”

Brittany remains looking indifferent and that makes Santana nervous, but she continues on.

“You’re right about this being one sided. You’re right about you putting in most of the work and doing things that benefit me,” Santana says. “You’re right about it all – minus one thing.”

Brittany quirks her brow, “What’s that?”

“I’m not selfish.”

“No?” Brittany scoffs. “Then you must not know the meaning of the word because your past actions would say otherwise.”

Santana sighs, “Yeah, I know but I guess that’s why I’m here…to prove that you’re wrong.”

Brittany softens in the slightest as she listens.

“I haven’t been fair to you,” Santana explains. “You always go above and beyond. I mean, you climbed through a window for me and you’re learning Spanish to get on Abuela’s good side! Like what the hell? Who does that?” Santana pauses when she realizes she’s veering from her point.

“I know I’m still not on your level when it comes to doing the most,” She continues. “But I figured it’s only fair that I do something that I normally wouldn’t just to show you that all you do isn’t for nothing. By coming here tonight, I’m trying to return the favor. This is my metaphorical window and I want to climb through it for you.”

Santana pauses when she realizes how lame she sounds, but maybe this huge fuck up calls for a little lameness. Maybe a lot; whatever works at this point!

Brittany watches Santana for a moment as if she’s trying to decide whether or not Santana’s words have any weight to them. It isn’t the first time she’s said she’d do better, so it’s no surprise Brittany isn’t as quick to accept her apology.

“I don’t really know if I believe you,” She finally says. Her tone has lost most of its bite but Santana knows she’s not in the clear just yet.

“That’s fine,” Santana replies. She stands a little taller, puffs out her chest and says, “I’ll just have to spend all night trying to convince you. You want a perfect fake girlfriend? Well Britt-Britt, you’ve got one.”

There’s the slightest hint of a smile that graces Brittany’s lips and it makes the dimming beacon of hope in Santana begin to shine a little brighter.

“That is,” Santana adds. “If you want me to. I know this night is important for you. I can go if that’s what you really want.”

She bats her eyelashes for the extra touch – because if after all of that Brittany still makes her leave…well that would just be embarrassing. Surprisingly though, it makes Brittany’s smile grow. Santana can tell she’s fighting to keep it small, fighting to keep from giving in, and she takes that as a personal victory.

“You can stay,” Brittany says after making Santana wait a little longer.

Santana beams, “Okay gre – ”

“For now.”

“Okay,” Santana’s grin softens. “I can handle that.”

“I don’t want to fight with you here,” Brittany tells her firmly. “I only want to have a good time and if you try to mess that up then you’re out of here.”

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” Santana replies.

Brittany holds out her pinky, “Promise?”

Santana eyes her skeptically, “Are you trying to make me pinky promise? What are we twelve?”

“It’s a yes or no question,” Brittany replies flatly – still holding out her pinky.

“Promise,” Santana sighs and curls her pinky around Brittany’s.

Satisfied, Brittany nods and pulls away. While Santana chuckles, she looks over to the direction Mike left.

“So I guess you can go ahead and tell Hot Stuff over there that he doesn’t need to be coming around here anymore too.”

That pulls a genuine laugh out of Brittany who can’t help but smirk at Santana’s comment.

“Shocking; you’re the jealous type.”

Santana lifts her brow, “I’m not. I’m just saying – his assistance as interim date is no longer required if I’m here.”

“I said you can stay for now. I can change my mind at any time.”

Santana’s shoulders droop as she’s once again put back in her place. Brittany notices and smirks.

“He has a date already,” Brittany continues. “His girlfriend. You know her. Tina?”

Santana’s jaw drops a little, “No shit, really?”

“Yeah, they’ve been together for awhile now.”

“Wow, I had no idea. Well good,” Santana lifts her chin. “He can carry his fine ass on over to her and stay there then.”

“You’re really hung up on how people can be both smart and hot,” Brittany points out with a laugh. “Like you and I aren’t also examples of that being a thing.”

“Hold up,” Santana starts to smirk. “Did you just say I’m hot?”

Brittany rolls her eyes, “I mean, you do look nice.”

Santana frowns, “Just nice?”

Brittany eyes her up and down slowly before shrugging, “Yeah, nice. I’m actually surprised you didn’t wear one of your stripper dresses. Guess you won’t be making it rain tonight.”

Santana lets out a laugh. She’s glad Brittany’s back to bantering with her instead of the heavy intensity from before. Maybe they’re not completely back on good terms, but at least it’s better than what it was.

“We’ll see. Those moves are for later,” Santana winks jokingly before giving her compliments. “You clean up pretty good too. I like what you’ve done with your hair. It’s cute.”

Brittany gets a little bashful as she fluffs her softly tussled hair, “Thanks.”

Santana only nods, “Now where’s this elusive open bar I’ve heard so much about? I needs me something other than champagne.”

“Ah, so that’s the real reason you’re here,” Brittany quips.

Santana feels like Brittany’s testing her although her tone remains playful.

“Yeah, but I’m mostly here for you,” Santana replies super sweetly. “I mean, how can I say no to an open bar? I am a broke college student after all.”

Brittany chuckles, “I see your priorities are straight.”

“It’s the only straight thing about me,” Santana jokes before hooking her arm with Brittany’s.

\\

After getting their drinks, the couple roam around the room arm in arm. It’s mostly to keep up appearances; a way to make up for Santana arriving late and to show that Brittany really isn’t here all alone.

She’s surprised by how many come up to greet them – well, greet Brittany. Santana guesses the blonde really is a big deal here after all and everyone happily chats away with her. Who can blame them though? Brittany’s probably the friendliest person Santana knows.

They bump into Mike and Tina again near the giant owl ice sculpture while they make their rounds – because yeah, of course this party has one of those – but the conversation is kept brief with Tina trying to get in as many interviews with everyone before dinner.

Mike tags along after her with a proud smile on his face as he offers to hold her drink and for a second Santana kind of feels a little guilty about having her claws out when they first met. He seems kind, happy to be alongside Tina and Santana finds herself wondering if people get that vibe when she’s with Brittany.

While Santana and Brittany linger by the ice sculpture, Santana notices a small group of people that look a lot like the guys from Brittany’s team. At least the one in the center of it all is for sure. They stick out to her because they’re probably some of the lasts who haven’t come to greet Brittany which seems odd considering she’s their teammate.

Wouldn’t they have been the first to see her? Maybe Santana missed that part since she arrived late, then again judging by how they seemed to shun her at the match they probably haven’t come to say hi on purpose.

Santana quietly watches them though as Brittany chats with another guest about robotics or whatever nerdy talk that goes completely over Santana’s head. She notices how they all gravitate to the one guy in the center and it’s like they hang on his every word. They laugh when he does, they nod when he nods – they’re puppets and he’s the puppet master.

Santana doesn’t realize she’s pulling a face until Brittany bumps her with her elbow.

“Quit it,” Brittany chastises. “People can see you.”

“My bad,” Santana fixes her face and gestures over to the group. “He’s on your team, right? The one in the dusty grandpa sweater.”

Brittany glances in the direction and nods.

Santana wrinkles her nose, “He seems like a tool.”

“He’s not,” Brittany’s quick to defend before softening. “Not really.”

Santana doesn’t looked convinced so Brittany adds.

“He’s a pretty big deal to this community. People say he has one of the most gifted minds in our generation.”

Santana picks up on Brittany’s tone, but she can’t tell whether it’s envy or something entirely different. She knows one thing is for sure though.

“People say that about you too,” Santana tells her honestly. “The whole gifted mind thing.”

Brittany shakes her head and looks to the ground, “No they don’t.”

Her dismissiveness confuses Santana. She’s never not seen Brittany confident in how intelligent she actually is. If there’s one thing Santana knows the blonde is sure about, it’s her smarts. They argue about it all the time! That’s the very foundation of their rivalry, but apparently here that’s not the case.

“Word about his work has travelled all the way to MIT,” Brittany adds. “It’s so impressive.”

“And yet, he never went there. You did,” Santana reminds her as she continues to stare down the guy. She glances to Brittany again skeptically, “Or is he a transfer too?”

“He’s not. But I’m sure he would’ve gotten in easy. His work is…it’s legendary.”

Santana watches Brittany, trying to figure her out. It sounds a lot like admiration rather than envy, but why? How great can this guy possibly be if he has Brittany doubting herself?

“I didn’t know you were such a fan,” Santana comments.

“I just admire him is all,” Brittany says, confirming Santana’s thoughts.

Santana still doesn’t get it though and frowns around the word, “Admire…”

The both of them watch the man chat with the others silently for two very different reasons. The longer Santana stares, the more she kind of wants to punch him. He just has a very punchable face she supposes, especially when he laughs louder than anyone else in the room.

The sound makes Santana grit her teeth while it has the opposite effect on Brittany.

“He’s kind of cute too,” The blonde admits.

“Cute?” Santana raises both brows and laughs. “We looking at the same guy?”

Brittany shrugs, “He’s cute in that boy next door kind of way.”

“Seriously?” Santana snickers. “That Mike guy was kind of cute. Him? He ain’t it.”

Brittany suddenly hardens, “Well it doesn’t matter what you think. Does it?”

Santana’s taken aback.

“It’s not always about looks,” Brittany further chastises. “There’s more to people than that.”

Santana keeps quiet and nods, not wanting to piss Brittany off again. Afterall, her presence is completely dependent on whether or not Brittany wants her around. She can revoke the privilege at any second and Santana would hate to be kicked to the curb because she once again can’t keep her opinions to herself.

“What’d you say his name was again?” She asks a moment later.

“Artie.”

Suddenly something clicks. She remembers the conversation she had with Brittany’s parents at Brittany’s last match and the comment about someone named Artie.

“So that’s who your parents were talking about,” Santana hums.

“Wait what?” Brittany whirls on her. “I’ve mentioned him like twice. What’d they say?”

Santana shrugs, “They said dating me is an upgrade.”

Brittany gives her a look and slumps, “They didn’t say that.”

“No, but it’s true.”

“They clearly don’t know you well enough.”

Santana cringes, “Hey, I’m trying. At least I’m not a tool like that guy.”

“Debatable.”

“Rude.”

They settle into silence again. Santana goes from scanning the crowd to glancing Brittany’s way. She notices how the blonde continues to gravitate towards Artie too, just like one of his puppets. Santana finds it so odd and the curiosity begins to get the better of her.

“So what’s your deal with him?” She asks. “He an ex I need to worry about?”

“No. It’s nothing like that,” Brittany replies.

Santana doesn’t believe that for a second though.

“I sense a story.”

“There isn’t one,” Brittany says with a shrug. “We were friends and now, I don’t know what we are. Things got weird after I was asked to join the robotics team and he wasn’t. We used to study all the time together, but after that happened he kind of kept me at a distance.”

Santana struggles to mask the disdain she has for this guy. He really is a tool if that’s how he acts. But she fights the urge to speak on it, sensing Brittany still has some kind of connection with him.

“Do you like him or something?” Santana wonders.

Brittany shrugs again, “It’s complicated. We’ve got history I guess.”

Santana nods; she can oddly relate to that.

“You know, he was the first friend I made here?” Brittany smiles at the memory. “I was so freaking nervous – you know, new campus and all. I spent extra time trying to get my bearings the day before but I still ended up getting lost on my first day. Artie was the one who took the time to show me around.”

Santana quirks a brow at that, but notices Brittany’s melancholy even more.

“Don’t tell Tina that,” Santana tries to joke. “We’ll have some conflicting stories.”

When Brittany barely gives her a smile, Santana tries again.

“I thought Puck was the one who showed you around?” Santana asks. “That’s how you guys became friends?”

“He was, but Artie was the first.”

“Huh,” Santana glances at the guy and laughs. “He must not have done a very good job then if you still ended up getting lost.”

This time there’s a small that graces Brittany’s lips, but it’s not nearly as big and bright as Santana’s used to. She’ll just have to try harder.

“He also introduced me to the Brainiacs,” Brittany tells her. “It was pretty cool of him. When I was at MIT, it was hard to get into any clubs. Everyone was kind of cliquey, so it was nice to see that things were different here. Everyone on the team was super accepting at first.”

“At first?” Santana questions.

“Yeah,” Brittany starts to frown. “When I first joined, the team was mostly girls and they were really great – super smart and so lovely – but they graduated last year. Now the dynamic’s changed a lot because of all the new people who seem to worship Artie. That’s probably part of the reason for his ego boost.”

Santana turns up her nose at that, but Brittany’s quick to return to the positives.

“But when it’s just us, he’s not so bad. He really looked out for me when I first came to Columbia. He introduced me to the Brainiacs and recommended me for the tutoring gig,” Brittany tells her. “We used to work together all the time until I got into this fake relationship with you.”

“Sorry not sorry,” Santana quips, but Brittany doesn’t really laugh at that. So Santana softens, a little intrigued by Brittany’s past, “So after all that time spent together, nothing ever happened between you two?”

“No,” Brittany replies. “I don’t think it ever would anyway.”

“Because you’re taken or…”

Brittany sighs at the joke, “Like I said, things got weird after I joined the robotics team. It was like the first time I did something for myself without his help or recommendation and I guess it rubbed him the wrong way?”

“You’re friends, aren’t you?” Santana questions. “Why would he feel some type of way about you branching out?”

“I don’t know,” Brittany shrugs. “Maybe I’m looking too much into things? Maybe he really doesn’t feel the same way about me.”

Santana shakes her head and stares at Artie again, “Well it looks like on top of being a tool, he’s an idiot too.”

Then almost as if he was summoned, Artie looks their way.

Santana finds herself straightening up, trying to stand taller, trying to seem more intimidating, but it doesn’t look like it deters the guy as he begins his journey over.

\\

“Brittany,” Artie greets with a nod. “Hi.”

Brittany smiles, “Hey Artie.”

He then looks to Santana and gives her a curious look full of judgement. It has Santana clenching her teeth, trying her hardest to maintain character when all she wants to do is roll the guy into the giant owl ice sculpture.

“Who’s this?” He asks Brittany as if Santana can’t hear.

Santana breaks slightly and scoffs, “You know how I am.”

Artie raises his brow and looks expectantly to Brittany.

“This is my girlfriend, Santana,” Brittany introduces. “I’ve mentioned her to you before.”

“Right,” Artie looks to Santana again. “I thought you weren’t going to come.”

Santana stares back challengingly, “I bet your hear that a lot.”

Artie sits back in his chair with this smug look on his face, “Funny. She’s funny.”

“It’s one of my many top notch qualities,” Santana fires back before looking to Brittany. Her arm goes around her waist, “Ain’t that right, babe?”

It takes a moment for Brittany to play along, but then she’s smiling and melting into Santana’s side, “Yeah. Totally.”

Artie only eyes the two though, out of suspicion or jealousy – Santana’s unsure. She’s hoping for the latter, because it seems like no one’s ever put him in his place before. Santana’s just the girl for the job!

“So do you think the team is going to get the top spot, Artie?” Brittany asks, trying to keep things light. “It was a lot of close matches this year, I hope our percentage is enough to pull us through.”

Artie shakes his head, almost like he’s disappointed. “I don’t know. Several of those matches shouldn’t have been that close. You really should’ve spent more time studying.”

Santana’s brows rise, but she remains quiet – looking to Brittany to see her reaction. To her surprise, the blonde looks just as remorseful.

“Yeah, you’re right. I think I was having an off day.”

“I think you had a lot of those,” Artie quips. “Too busy with the robotics team maybe?”

Santana scoffs, “Is he joking?”

But Brittany doesn’t say anything so Santana keeps quiet too.

“Some competitors take a little while to warm up,” Artie continues. “You just aren’t a seasoned contender like I am. You know I hold the record for fastest buzz in during my rookie season?”

“I know.”

“No one’s come close to beating it,” Artie flaunts. “We might’ve made state if you didn’t botch the science round during the last match. Maybe I should’ve taken the turn instead.”

Brittany nods and Santana can tell she’s trying to take his criticism constructively – only problem is that it’s not constructive at all. It’s completely condescending and uncalled for.

“Hold up, no,” Santana finds herself interrupting which seems to surprise the pair. “Brittany killed it during the finals or whatever you call it. She was buzzing in when no one else on your little team was. Not even you knew those answers, so what I think you need to be doing is thanking her.”

“For what?” Artie challenges.

“For carrying the team obviously. No way you would’ve gotten far if it wasn’t for her.”

Brittany looks a little shocked by the way Santana stands up for her, but Santana barely notices – too busy willing Artie to step out of line again.

And he does, with an arrogant laugh, he brushes Santana off.

“But the time it took her to buzz in is what we lose points for,” Artie explains. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand how academic decathlons work. They’re not like your cheerleading competitions, we actually have to use our brains.”

“Artie,” Brittany chastises but he’s unfazed.

Meanwhile Santana’s eyes are wide with surprise. The nerve, the audacity – it’s unbelievable!

“I’m sorry,” Santana starts to lean forward, getting down on his level. “Are you jealous that you can’t possibly possess both brains and brawn?”

Artie shifts in his chair and tries to evade Santana’s eye, but she’s so close now that he can’t avoid her.

“Or do you feel threatened by it?” Santana presses. “Threatened because this cheerleader’s GPA is something you’ve only dreamt of having and I didn’t have to waste away in a musty old library to get it? Tell me, Wheels, who was it again that was on track to be valedictorian until Brittany came along because I don’t remember seeing your name anywhere on the list.”

Artie’s face goes a little red that time; out of embarrassment or anger, Santana doesn’t care. All she cares about is making sure that he knows he isn’t shit and there’s no way he’ll talk to Brittany like that while she’s around.

There’s only one person in the world that can pick on Brittany and that’s her.

“The keyword is was,” He retorts.

“The keyword is you’re a prick,” Santana bites back just as fiercely.

“Okay,” Brittany cuts in. She gives Santana a little tug until she can curl an arm around her waist, “I think that’s enough of that.”

Artie continues to look shaken, but he does his best to mask it. Trying to be as macho as he can while in that turtleneck sweater he must’ve stolen from his grandfather’s closet. Safe to say it doesn’t fool Santana one bit.

“Well, I can see why you like her, Britt,” Artie comments with a glance in Santana’s direction. “She’s fiery.”

“She’s also this close to going all Lima He– “

“Santana,” Brittany scolds again.

There’s a pleading look in her eye that has Santana softening. She remembers what Brittany said earlier about tonight being fun and not wanting to fight, so Santana let’s Brittany pull her back. She settles, but it feels like it’s only the calm before the storm.

Artie notices too and puts on a smug grin, “Come to think of it, I have heard your name floating around on campus. Santana Lopez; the girl can’t be tied down to save her life.”

“Well Brittany’s changed that,” Santana quips. “Hasn’t she?”

“Hmm,” Artie nods but the stare he gives her is almost analytical. “It’s not really a pairing I would’ve pictured considering your history.” He then looks to Brittany and frowns, “I’m pretty sure you once told me that she couldn’t possibly have any redeeming qualities.”

Santana tries looking unfazed, but she can’t lie and say that comment didn’t sting. One look at Brittany and she can sense the guilt, but she keeps it hidden from Artie. Santana can’t hold it against Brittany though if she did say something like that about her, there’s been many times she’s complained about the blonde to Puck too.

But that was before they got to know each other, that was before they had to work together to emulate this perfect couple.

“Looks like I was wrong about that,” Brittany replies behind a smile that’s directed at Santana. She squeezes a little at the brunette’s waist, “Who would’ve known, opposites really do attract?”

Santana chuckles, remembering saying something similar during a conversation with Tina months ago.

“It sure took me by surprise,” Santana adds before glancing to Artie. “Guess I have some pretty redeeming qualities after all.”

Artie hums again with this contemplative look on his face, but he doesn’t rock the boat any further. He just nods and says, “Well this was fun. I guess I’ll leave you two to enjoy the Ball.”

Santana sneers at him while Brittany bids him goodbye.

“Oh. By the way Britt,” Artie pauses and glances back. “You look really great.”

Santana raises a brow at the compliment.

She wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but there’s the slightest little smirk on his dumb face as he says it and it has Santana feeling hot. Even if Brittany isn’t her actual girlfriend, what the hell? Who compliments another person’s date right in front of them? It seems as though Artie knows exactly what he’s doing, but given her promise to Brittany she’ll bite her tongue – for now.

While Brittany ducks her head in thanks, Santana stays quiet – waiting until Artie is out of sight before she can finally let down her guard and say what’s really on her mind.  

#hate to date #brittana #brittana fanfiction #enemies to lovers #fake dating au

[harrytpotter]

RIGHT PLACE, WRONG TIME — Part VII

Plot: Y/N finds herself trapped in a time in which she doesn’t belong only to learn that maybe that was her place all along.

Pairing: James Potter x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2,7K.

Right Place, Wrong Time Masterlist.

A/N: Each chapter i write of this story leads me to believe that’ll be at least a couple more than originally planned because i keep wanting to add things to the plot lol. Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter, i’m excited with this! :)

“Thought I might find you here,” you smiled at James, who sat at the higher goalpost in the Quidditch pitch.

“Aren’t you just a show-off riding your broom upright?” He chuckled at the vision of you standing on your feet on top of a broom several metres above the floor. “Come here,” he patted the spot beside him.

“What the bloody hell is that?” You nodded at a squared piece of metal James held with his left hand as you seated next to him.

“Oh, this?” James asked as he turned the box to you whilst levelling it with his eyes and pressed a button. “That’s a Muggle camera. A Polaroid, if I remember its name correctly.”

You quirked your eyebrows when the camera started to make some noises and suddenly spilled a black square with a white frame. James laughed at your reaction as he took the piece of paper out and started to shake it furiously. The black square soon transitioned into a very still picture of you smiling dreamily at the photographer. James handed it over to you.

“Why isn’t it moving?” You frowned, analysing the picture. “Godric, I look terrible.”

“Muggle pictures don’t move. They just... stay still I guess,” he chuckled. “You look perfect and I’m keeping it,” he grabbed the picture from your hands with a smile.

Biting your lower lip amidst a smile, you pulled the camera from James’ hands and, without a warning, snapped a photo of him as well. As the camera tossed the paper out once again, you took it in your fingers and started to shake it exactly like James did. When his handsome features showed on the paper, you couldn’t help but smile at the adoring gaze he was giving you in it.

“And I’m definitely keeping it,” you held the picture in his direction so he could see it.

“I look like an idiot!” He protested with a laugh.

“You look cute!” You argued, smiling.

He stared at you with the same gaze the picture you held had eternalized. 

“Where did you get it anyway?” You asked after a while, handing the camera back to him.

“With me, of course!” Sirius’ voice reached your ears.

Turning your head to your right, you smiled at the sight of the raven-haired boy with stormy grey eyes. “Owning a muggle camera, Sirius Black? If only mommy dearest could see you now,” you teased, laughing.

“I’d say I’d get disowned, but bugger me, that already happened,” he shrugged with a loud laugh, flying on his broom until he was in front of you and James.

“It’s nice to see you smiling again and making jokes about your misfortunes,” you smiled dearly at your friend.

“Like you once told me, I’m much more than my twisted family,” Sirius smiled back at you. “Thank you.”

You, Sirius and James smiled warmly at each other for a few seconds before the grey-eyed boy pulled the camera from James’ hands and got ready to snap a photo of the two of you, “strike a pose, lovebirds!”

James quickly got a hold of your waist and brought you closer to him, planting a kiss on your cheek. Tangling your legs with his, you wrapped your arms around his neck and smiled playfully.

“Aren’t you such a cute couple?” He winged his brows, showing the picture to you and James.

“Aren’t you such a tosser?” You rolled your eyes at him, pulling it out of his hand. “And that’s mine.”

“That I am! But you know what I’m not?” He mischievously lifted a brow at you.

“I’m positive I’m going to regret asking, but… what?” You crossed your arms defiantly.

“A bloody coward who are afraid to own up to their feelings!” He shouted amidst a hearty laugh, speeding off in his broom.

“Oh you did not just call me a coward, Sirius Black!” You cried out, hopping on your broom and flying after him.

You could hear James’ laugh behind as he followed your trail whilst you cut through the air in high speed, chasing your other best friend. The three of you looked like little kids, flying across the corridors of Hogwarts, laughing, cursing and teasing each other, completely ignoring the fact that neither of you should be out of bed by this time.

After a few rounds, Sirius got a little advantage on you and James and got off his broom, ditching it recklessly inside the nearest broom closet and starting to run on foot. He ran for about five minutes before stopping to catch his breath and hiding behind a statue. Sirius shut his eyes down as he tried to stead his breathing and suppress the laughter that threatened to burst from his lungs.

“Where the bloody hell is this damned dog?” You hissed at James, trying not to alert Sirius of your presence as you hopped off your broom yourself, a little further from the bloom closet.

Landing right beside you, James took his index finger to his lips and grabbed you by the hand, pointing his head to a shadow with a curly long hair standing a few meters ahead of you. Exchanging mischievous grins, both you and James started to tiptoe in its direction, ever so silently. Once the boy entered your visual field, you realised he had his eyes shut and, looking at James, you bit your lower lip devilishly. The messy-haired boy nodded at you with a lopsided grin as the two of you cautiously got even closer to Sirius, ready to startle the living hell out of him.

However, before you could scare him away, the loud sound of footsteps and an incomprehensible nagging approaching your location startled the three of you. Sirius widened his eyes and James pushed you behind the statue, before getting into hiding himself.

“You do realise this space is quite small for the three of us, don’t you?” Sirius shot you and James a glare.

“At least we’ll go down together, Pad,” you wiggled your brows sarcastically. “Unless you’re a bloody coward who’d much rather throw your own friends under the bus to save yourself.”

“Like I said, love, you’re the only coward among us,” he smirked gleefully.

“Aren’t you just asking to be hexed, Black?” You smiled wryly at him, wand in hand.

“Please, go ahead; I’d love to see that!” Remus joked as his head popped behind Sirius. “What are you three idiots doing behind this statue anyway?”

“We just heard footsteps and-,” James started to talk but suddenly stopped as he realised something. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

“Guilty,” Remus shrugged playfully. “When I woke up and didn’t find you in your beds I figured you’d be doing something stupid, so I came looking for you. Then I heard your very discreet and quiet giggles and cursing and decided to follow you idiots.”

“Did you just prank us by pretending to be Filch, Moony?” You asked, astonished.

“Indeed, my dear Beastie,” he smirked satisfied.

“That was… genius!” James frowned in awe.

“You were supposed to be the nice one, you know that right?” You winged a brow at him, a lopsided grin forming on your lips. “Come on, boys, let’s head back before the actual Filch catches us.”

Taking the lead, you started to walk up the corridor, James by your side and the other two boys right behind you. The four of you were still discussing Remus’ brilliant tactic when a distant meow erupted with the wind and made you all freeze.

“That was not funny mate,” James rolled his eyes at Remus after the initial shock. “That bloody cat creeps me out.”

“It wasn’t me,” Remus frowned. “I swear!” He added at the sceptical stares.

“Well, in that case…” Sirius rested his left hand on Remus’ shoulder. “RUN!”

You, James, Sirius and Remus held hands as you lot desperately ran in the opposite direction of Mrs Norris’ meows. You passed through the halls heading to the Gryffindor Tower like a blur, laughing and slipping, chests pounding and adrenaline cursing through your veins.

“I- I think- I’m going- to faint,” Sirius muttered breathlessly, stopping abruptly. He leaned against the rock-wall, a hand on his chest and another on the wall, steading him.

“Seriously, Padfoot?” James rested his hands on his knees, catching a breath. “We’re literally one turn away from the Fat Lady portrait.”

“Well, Prongs, ‘m sorry if not everyone here is a damn jock!” He quirked his brows with annoyance.

“You realise you’re also on the Quidditch team, right?” You chuckled.

“As a beater!” He cried out hysterically. “It’s not like I have to run in my broom through and through across the pitch for the entire match!”

“Padfoot…” Remus started, massaging the bridge of his nose to suppress a laugh. “Stop being such a drama queen, would ya?”

Before Sirius could hit back, a new meow sound alerted you of Mrs Norris’ closeness. Turning on your heels, the lot of you got ready to get back on running towards the opposite direction, but a creepy laugh coming from the hallway ahead of you, frustrated your plans.

“Fuck, it’s Filch!” James hissed, heaving a sigh.

“Now what?” Remus asked hopelessly. “If we turn around, we’ll run straight into Mrs Norris. If we go this way, we’ll run straight into Filch.”

“Well, we obviously can’t be here like sitting ducks,” you muttered, pacing around and desperately wishing a way out.

“Would you stop already?” Sirius rolled his eyes at you when you were about to complete your third round.

Before you could tell Sirius off, a sudden noise of rocks moving was heard and a large door made of bronze materialised itself on the wall out of thin air.

“What the bloody hell is that?” You asked no one in particular, approaching the door with a straightened arm, ready to touch the patterns engraved on it.

“Our way out, apparently,” James said as he took your opened hand in his and pushed the door open, dragging you inside the unknown room.

Sirius and Remus followed the two of you, closing the door behind them whilst looking around the peculiar room. It was messy and had all sorts of things scattered around it: an old enchanted harp that was playing a soothing old music by itself, a wooden cabinet with a strange shape and endless piles of old books and trinkets.

“What is this place?” You asked, gobsmacked. You had never seen it before and you were sure if anyone would know what that room was, it would be the three boys standing beside and behind you.

“I- I don’t know…” James whispered, equally awestruck. “We’ve never seen it before.”

Splitting up, each one of you followed a different direction, all eager to explore the newly-found refuge in Hogwarts. You wandered through the aisles, taking in the most strange and unique sights as your eyes spotted interesting magical objects. Turning on your left after a few meters, you went deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of junk, stopping suddenly when something odd caught your attention. On top of a blistered, small old cupboard laid a stone bust of an old warlock wearing a dusty wig. What really stood out to you, however, was an ancient discoloured tiara, sat lopsided upon the bust. It was beautiful and unique: a silver diadem in the shape of an eagle with open wings; it had a blue sapphire shaped like an oval right below the eagle’s head. Etched upon its surface was a quote: "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." You found yourself hypnotized by its beauty; it was as if you could feel an invisible force pulling you to it, wrapping you in its magnetic strength. You stretched your arms, reaching for the strange object. A cold and cruel chuckle filled the air.

“Y/N…” The voice to which the chuckles belonged to, whispered. You could feel your skin crawl, terrified, but you couldn’t break out of the trance.

Your fingers were almost touching the diadem when you felt a light pressure on your shoulder. Looking to your left, you found James staring at you with a frown.

“Are you alright, love?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. “I’ve called your name a few times but you didn’t seem to be listening.”

“Yeah- Yeah, ‘m fine,” you muttered slowly, retracting your arm and clutching your hands together on your chest.

James tilted his head as he eyed the object that had you so interested, turning his body in its direction. “What is it anyway?” He asked, walking towards the stone bust and motioning to grab the tiara.

“Don’t touch it!” You bawled as you quickly grabbed his hand. “I don’t think this is… good.”

“Do you think this is… dark magic?” James asked incredulously. “It wouldn’t be inside a room in Hogwarts if it was.”

“I just...” you started, resting your face in your hands. “Just please don’t touch it, ok? If anything ever happens to you, I-“

“Hey,” James whispered, taking your hands off your face. “I find it extremely cute that you’re worried about me, but you don’t have to, okay? I’m never leaving you.”

“Promise?” You stared pleadingly into his eyes.

“I promise,” he reassured you with a sweet smile. James cupped your cheeks with his hands and placed a kiss on your forehead, closing his eyes and letting his lips linger on your skin for a little bit longer before pressing his own forehead against yours.

You rested your hands of top of his and smiled at the messy-haired boy. The urge of kissing James felt so right in this moment, but you knew that was your hopelessly-in-love heart speaking. Unfortunately, your head knew better and the image of Lily and Harry floated in your mind, so you just stood there, staring lovingly into those piercing hazel eyes.

“They’re too quiet, Moony! I think they’re making out, we can’t barge in there!” You and James heard Sirius’ urgent whispers to Remus on the other side of the junk pile.

“They’re not making out!” Remus’ voice whispered back. “I too wish they were, but I don’t think they are. Are they?”

“No, we’re not!” You shouted with a roll of your eyes, smiling and getting away from James before your two friends could see you.

“But you should!” Sirius winged his brow as he entered your vision field.

“I agree!” James shrugged playfully, winking at you.

“Aren’t you forgetting about a little detail called Amos Diggory, mate?” Remus teased, pursing his lips together to suppress a laugh. “Too soon?” He added at the death glare James sent him.

“You can tease all you want, Moony,” James gave him a lopsided grin. “But don’t complain when you’re not chosen as best man in our wedding.”

“Excuse me? Wedding?” You looked at James, flabbergasted.

“Well, yeah,” he shrugged before wrapping his arm on your shoulders and guide you to the door. “I’m making you Mrs Potter one day.”

“You sound awfully sure for someone who doesn’t even got the girl yet, mate,” Sirius joked.

“But I will, Pads, but I will!” He patted his friend on the shoulder with his free hand.

“Aren’t you a cocky git? Godric!” you bumped your elbow against his side.

“What, love? You seriously thought I’d hand you to over to Diggory without a fight and watch him being happy with the woman I love? Not a chance!” He said bluntly with a confident smile.

You grimaced as you stared at the floor without knowing what to say. Your cheeks were warm and your stomach stubbornly fluttering at his words.

“Alright lovebirds, as your future best man that will always look out for your best interests, I advise you to head back to bed before the day rises and get some sleep,” Sirius smiled satisfied at his two smitten friends.

“And who made you best man, again? That will be me and you know it!” Remus teased, playfully wrestling the raven-haired boy.

And like that, amidst wedding chats and playful teases, the four of you headed back to the Gryffindor Tower.

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Taglist: @treestarrrrrrrr @fanfic-enthusiast-collector @jgtfvhsg @jullianerey @silver-winter-wolf @ladylizziesficsaves

#james potter #james potter x reader #james potter x you #sirius black #sirius black x reader #remus lupin #remus lupin x reader #sirius black imagine #remus lupin imagine #james potter imagine #harry potter #harry potter imagine #harry potter x reader #the marauders #the marauders imagine #rpwt imagine

[sofd-maybe]

Mu for the character ask?

Favorite thing abt them: caters to my fav type in character which is “Oh they’re just a little guy.. wait they’re a little bit fcked up actually…” good for her, choose violence every day I am so proud of you.

Least favorite thing abt them: I think she couldn’t been written as the main antagonist/rival character a bit better. It would‘be made more sense to have her appear more to keep her in our minds and keep her significant. At the end when she took the time pieces it was less of a dramatic “YOUUUU!!!” And more of an “oh… you?” Yknow?

Favorite line: “No… strangling is too kind. We smash them together in a mush and put their remains in a jar. Then we sell the jar for pocket money!”

brOTP: hat kid and bow kid

OTP: none lol

nOTP: any adult characters ig??

Random hc: also not original but I think hat kid and bow kid stay a little longer after the main events of the game and during they’re extended stay they all make up!! Hat and Mu defiantly still pick on and and tease each other (mostly playfully) and Bow holds them together.

Unpopular opinion: uhhh… just the thing I said abt her writing being a little :/ I guess.

Song I associate them with: Caramelldansen but You’re in an Bunker Underground While Air Raid Sirens Go Off in the Distance by @/250m

Favorite picture of them: