#this post was prompted by the fact that a couple of weeks ago

[tmae3114]

most days I feel like most of what I do in terms of trying to accommodate other disabled people is just. the bare minimum. even though I know that I do stuff that other people don’t, it doesn’t feel like I’m putting in any particular effort beyond just... basic decency and compassion. it feels like the people who don’t are failing to perform basic decency and compassion, y’know?

and most of the time the responses I get feel in line with that. just other people recognising basic decency when performed. a nod, a “thank you”, where appropriate, mostly just unacknowledged because it’s not something that needs acknowledged. it’s the same kind of response I tend to give

but sometimes I get a response that’s just heartbreaking and that always pushes me to keep paying attention and keep trying to do more because if so many other people are going to fail at basic kindness then somebody’s got to pick up the slack and if I don’t, who will?

#this is mostly a vent post but you can reblog if you want #if I get bothered by reblogs I now have the option to Simply Turn Them Off #this post was prompted by the fact that a couple of weeks ago #I asked one of my volunteer teammates what his preference was for when I did the written version of the interview we're going to do together #would he prefer I transcribe his speech exactly as he said it with his stammer included #or would he prefer I write it as the questions are written in our notes? #and he gave me the WIDEST eyed look and went ''you can DO that?'' #before saying he ABSOLUTELY wants it written exactly as he says it on the day ''if that's okay'' #and I just. that should NOT have been the response. that should NOT be such a surprise to him #writing a transcript of his speech exactly as he said it should be the STANDARD EXPECTATION #I knew it wasn't that's why I ASKED but it should not have been such a shock to BE asked #and I think about when I was in college and got accomodation for my auditory processing issues for the first time #and the way I felt when I realised that this was me FINALLY for the FIRST TIME on even footing #and just. the way that that felt. #and I'm not saying that every single form of accomodation is simple or basic or easy #some is difficult and requires significant effort and not everyone is in a position to do it #but being patient and respectful and /ASKING PEOPLE/ THEIR NEEDS AND PREFERENCES #should not be something that so often seems to be a rare treat for the recipient #an untrained twenty-three year old should not be a more conscientous guide for a blind teenager than her professional school aide yknow? #hhhhhhhhh it's two am and I'm having Feelings

[iamasaddie]

consequences

paring: Joel Miller x f!reader rating: explicit warnings: explicit sexual content, light pain!kink, daddy!kink, daddy!dom!Joel/sub!reader, no use of Y/N a/n: the continuation of my writing challenge fic sprinkled with the valentine's day prompt i posted a month ago! thanks to sweetest person in the world for coming to my rescue and bing a beta to this fic @janaispunk ily more than pedro loves frozen pizza 🍕💛 word count: 2k masterlist

After Joel’s call you’d been buzzing all night, tossing and turning in your bed until the early hours of the morning. You hid under the blanket from the mockingly cheerful chirping of the birds that felt like pebbles being thrown at you. The darkness and heavy weight of the blanket soothed you into dreamless sleep until you were once again torn out of it by the buzzing of your phone. You wouldn’t have heard it on any other day ignoring every sound until you got your fill of sleep, but you were too wound up for that right now.

Your hand slid under the pillow, retracting your phone and checking the messages. Just like you thought, there was only one short text from Joel. 

’I just left the house, be ready.’

Sleep has quickly left your body, giving way to excitement and anxiety. You jumped out of bed, stopping for a second when your head went dizzy and your eyes unfocused. Taking a couple deep breaths you hurried to the bathroom; if Joel just left that meant you had approximately twenty minutes to shower, shave where needed, moisturize and pick pretty lingerie. You looked at the big cotton panties you eventually wore to bed yesterday and shrugged. Joel had seen you in all kinds of clothes, in all kinds of states, and found you attractive both in your sweatpants and an oversized ratty t-shirt, and in a silk nightgown you were gifted for Valentine’s day. Still, you felt like you might get off easy if you were extra sexy. Maybe Joel’s mind would stop working as soon as he saw you and his dick went hard. 

You lathered your body in shower gel, the smell of sweet white peaches filling the small room. You scrubbed yourself squeaky clean, humming a song that was stuck in your head, your toothpaste foaming out of your mouth. Before climbing out of the shower you slowly traced your hand over the parts of your body that you shaved, making sure there weren’t any traitorous hairs that you didn’t catch. Happy with the result, your skin smooth and smelling like summer, you checked your phone. Judging by the clock, you had no more than five minutes left, so you quickly dried yourself off and skipped to pick out the killer panties and bra set. 

You settled on a cute black one, the almost transparent material of bra cups and panties was embroidered with pretty red hearts. It made you feel sexy and bold, and it made Joel lose his pants in less than three minutes.

Giggling to yourself, you straightened the bed and laid down on top of your simple pink sheets when you heard your door opening downstairs. As usual, Joel used the key you kept under the flower pot outside to let himself in. He joked about the amount of flower pots in your garden on more than one occasion, considering the fact that you killed any plant you bought within a couple of weeks. You even managed to kill a cactus and that was the last victim of your plant-killing spree that left behind too much evidence in the form of dozens of clay pots. 

With a smirk, you listened to his footsteps growing louder as he made his way up the stairs, your heart pounding in your ears. As the door creaked open, Joel's voice called out.

“I hope you're ready, because you’re not escaping your punishment.”

His eyes settled on you sprawled on your bed and his brows furrowed, his jaw going slack. The unmistakable fiery passion you saw in his eyes sent shivers down your spine as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. In that moment, you realized that there would indeed be consequences for your playful teasing, but you were more than ready to face them head-on.

“Why aren’t you naked, baby?” He didn’t let your little trick affect his plans like you hoped, your mouth dropped open and you tried to stutter out a reply while Joel rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. You were surprised that he decided to wear something so formal, he usually wore sweatpants or shorts and an old t-shirt when he visited your house. Your mouth filled with saliva as more and more of his thick tanned forearms showed. This time, there was no escaping the threatening notes in Joel's voice as he took a deliberate step closer, his unwavering gaze locking with yours. You knew exactly what kind of mood he was in and your insides shivered with excitement, arousal already staining the gusset of your panties.

“I’m sorry, daddy,” your voice was anything but remorseful, little devils dancing in your eyes, “I just wanted to be pretty for you.”

“You wanted to be bratty for me, and you succeeded. Your little whore self thought you’d get off easy if you met me in this number? Well, lucky for me I rubbed one out before coming here, sweetheart."

“But…”

“Do you really want to finish this sentence, baby?”

You shook your head and Joel leaned down over you, taking your face in his palms, “good girl.”

You got rid of your underwear while you saw him fumbling with his phone and strategically placing it so the camera was facing you. 

“What are you doing?” Your voice was suddenly surprisingly shy, nipples hardened from the exposure and anticipation.

“We’re gonna make a little video lesson for you, so that you know how to please your pretty pussy when I’m not around.” Joel said matter of factly. He checked the angle on the screen, “move a little to the right, baby, and spread that pretty pussy.”

You abided him immediately, without question. It was something you were used to. Not shooting porn with Joel, no, in fact, that was the first time; but trusting him blindly. What he says goes, because somehow he always knew what made you feel best. 

Your fingers slowly traced down your body, pinching your nipples on the way and getting a warning glare from Joel. Going lower you let your legs spread further apart before parting your pussy lips with your index fingers. Arousal covered your burning flesh, and you felt your digits slipping.

“What a gorgeous fucking cunt,” Joel lowered himself on his knees before the bed and dragged you by your ankles so your thighs framed his shoulders. “If only she didn’t have a mind of her own, hm? One that makes my perfect little girl act like the brattiest slut in a Vegas whorehouse.”

He didn’t let you say anything, biting into the soft flesh of your thigh with vigor so that the word you tried to push out was broken by a half scream-half moan. Whatever you thought your punishment would be, you definitely didn’t consider Joel going down on you and recording it. If that was the case you’d have to misbehave more often, you smirked to yourself as you felt your man’s wet and hot tongue sliding through your folds.

“Sweet as sin,” he mumbled, grazing your  throbbing clit with his upper lip,”and twice as dangerous.”

Joel knew your body well, sometimes you felt like he knew it too well, dangerously well. He knew your ticks, and pleasure points, and pain spots and all of the erogenous zones, some of which you didn’t even know existed. He possessed a power over you that would make a normal person terrified, but you were too fucked up in the head, too hungry for the love he’s been giving you to care one bit. 

His tongue drew tight circles around your pulsing clit dropping from time to time to lick the arousal where it leaked around his fingers. The upcoming orgasm made you numb to everything but pleasure and you almost didn’t catch it when first one, then two and then the burning stretch of three fingers started plunging into you and coaxing the release from you.

It didn’t take you long, the movements just right, the pace perfect, and in a couple of moments you were squeezing Joel’s fingers with your contracting muscles, panting heavily.

You tried to catch your breath, but Joel didn’t stop. None of his movements changed and you thought that maybe he didn’t notice you cumming.

“Daddy, I came,” you whispered, your trembling hands sliding into his hair, gripping the curly strands that were more salt than pepper. 

Joel’s hums into your pussy were quiet, but the sensitive skin of your pussy felt the vibrations zap through it. His tongue continued torturing you, never giving you a chance to calm down before ripping another orgasm out of you. Your back snapped, arching so hard you thought you’d heard your spine crack. When you stopped shaking, but Joel was still stubbornly nipping and licking your clit, spitting on it after getting a long inhale with his nose pressed into the soft skin of your pussy and diving back in, you finally understood your punishment. 

Joel was uncharacteristically quiet, usually he would spew all kinds of filth in your ear, but now he didn’t spare a second to mutter anything so as not to give your poor pussy any rest. The only sounds coming out of him were pleased hums and moans that spread from your cunt and to your brain in electric shocks. 

By the fifth orgasm you forgot about everything. You forgot the camera that was still recording you becoming less and less coherent, you forgot the place you were at, you even forgot your own name, the only thing you knew was raw pleasure on the verge of pain that made your eyes water and your mouth plead.

“It hurts, Daddy, I can’t do it anymore,”  you cried, trying to move away from his death grip. Your vision was blurry with tears but you still saw Joel’s head appear from between your legs, smacking his lips intentionally loud. He looked satisfied, a cat that just managed to steal and eat thanksgiving turkey, but two of his meaty fingers continued pushing in and out of your tender cunt.

“Baby, you know Daddy only hurts you because you look so pretty when you cry.”

You felt another orgasm sending electric pulses through your body. It was a constant state of painful bliss, your body was both tired and wound up. You let your tears stream freely down your cheeks, salty water collecting in the shells of your ears but you were too out of it to be bothered or even pay attention. Your voice was hoarse from screaming and whining and begging, unintentional whimpers flowing out of you with every breath. Your eyes dropped closed for what you thought was just a moment but turned out to be way longer.

The next time you opened your eyes it was already dark in your room. Your body was hot, sweat sticking to your back that was pressed into the man spooning you from behind. You started shifting when you realized something about you was different. Squeezing your thighs you quickly realized what that was exactly. Nestled deep inside you was a throbbing hard shaft of Joel’s cock. It felt so right spreading your soft and aching walls that you didn’t feel any discomfort at all, if you ignored the burning sting of your swollen pussy and clit. 

When Joel’s hand traveled to your sternum and cupped your left tit, your pussy squeezed him once again, both of you moaning in tandem. 

“The punishment is over, baby, now let Daddy give you a reward.” He whispered, pressing a wet kiss to the back of your neck as you hummed in agreement.

#iamasaddie fic #joel miller x reader #joel miller x f!reader #joel x reader #joel miller smut #joel miller x female reader #pedro pascal fanfiction #ppcu fanfiction #tlou fanfiction

[formulateez]

1:32am | oscar piastri

pairing: oscar piastri x fem!reader

genre: literal pwp, except there is minimal plot, random horny hour drabble prompt(s): "i'm going to fill you up so good and make you mine." and "someone's going to hear us!" summary: classic fwb troupe where y/n and oscar try to fit in a quickie during a sleepover with their mutual friends asleep in the rooms next door word count: ~520

requested?: no, teehee, but i got faded than a hoe a few nights ago and wrote this at like 5am and it's been sitting in my drafts for a little bit because i've been too scared to post it LMFAO there also isn't enough op81 content so i wanted to add to it :) but, please reblog and leave feedback !! (but pls be nice otherwise i will cry)

extras: banners made using template by @/cafekitsune !!

"Oh-fuck, Oscar-" You choke out, your hands running through Oscar's hair as his lips found all the spots that draw out heavenly sounds from you. “Please, Oscar, someone’s going to hear us!” You fail to sound stern as the Australian continues to ravage your neck.

“Fine with me, ‘cuz I wanna hear how good I’m making you feel.” he mutters out in between each kiss that he trails down your front.

It had been a couple weeks since you and Oscar originally made a special friendship agreement. You had invited him over one night to watch a movie or two, and the night ended with his face lodged between your thighs.

Oscar’s mouth and free hand occupy themselves with your nipples, while you buck your hips up to grind against him. “Oh shit, please.” Your plead leaves your lips softly as you ache for him to give you more.

“Please what, baby? Am I making you feel good, hmm?” Oscar hums as he continues to suck on your nipple, while he’s flicking your other nub between his fingertips. “Wanna hear you say it, pretty girl.“

“Yes, yes- fuck, yes. Please, Oscar, more-“ your pleads earn you a slight chuckle out of the guy above you as his fingers find their way to the waistband of your shorts.

“Quite talkative for someone who’s worried about being heard, don’t you think?” His lips are leaving faint marks along your collarbone and the tops of your boobs. Man, does he love seeing the very faint marks peek through the lower cut tops that you often wear during the summer. “You want more? Tell me what else you want, doll.”

As his fingers dip into your waistband, they start to lightly brush over your core as another soft, yet sharp, moans leaves your lips. You grab what you can of his hair and lightly tug him upwards to meet face to face with him. “Fuck- please fuck me, Oscar.”

“Yeah?” Oscar draws his hand out of your shorts as he starts to tug them down, along with your underwear before he throws them off to the side. “You want me to fuck you, hm? Is that what my pretty girl wants?”

“Yes, Oscar, please,” you breathe out, lightly tugging on the hem of his shirt, wanting less barriers between the two of you. “Want you inside me, so bad.”

It doesn’t take long before both of you finish undressing each other, and his lips are finding themselves attaching to your neck once again. His tip is just barely teasing your entrance and he continues to work his way all over your neck and chest.

“I’m gonna fill you up so good and make you mine, princess.” Oscar groans into your ear as he slowly starts to push himself into you, enticing the sweetest of moans from your lips as you savor the feeling of Oscar filling you up as promised.

You both were, in fact, not quiet enough, as Lando was tortured with faintly hearing both of you moan. He quickly threw on his noise-canceling headphones, making a mental note to clown the both of you the next morning.

#formula 1 smut #f1 smut #oscar piastri smut #oscar piastri imagine #oscar piastri x reader #formula 1 imagine #f1 imagine

[moralesmilesanhour]

my neighbor's a punk

summary: you move into a new apartment with a noisy neighbor. inspired by this prompt list! wc: 922 A/N: just wrote this for some practice. I'm getting better at writing longer drabbles, I think! As always feel free to reblog and leave your reactions in the tags or comments. As of the date this is being posted, my requests are also open! (pls check my pinned beforehand)

You had never seen a garden so beautiful.

Vibrant blossoms of yellow and orange greeted you as you hauled two medium-sized boxes carrying the last of your things through the entrance of your new apartment. Their fragrance wafted through the humid summer air, delighting you and confirming that they were, in fact, real. But for the past couple of days that you had been in the process of moving in, you’d never once spotted a gardener or seen the sprinklers turn on. Curious.

The modest apartment had only a couch to occupy the living room, which was currently still dotted with cardboard boxes. A freshly-ironed shirt and work pants lay neatly folded on top of one. You stepped over a few to get to the kitchen, where various unopened appliances were strewn about the counter. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, you made a note to finally put everything away in the cupboards tomorrow evening after work.

No TV meant your only sources of entertainment for the time being were your phone and your laptop. It was now evening, and you were slouched on your sofa in the midst of a harrowing ‘Game of Thrones’ episode when a violent guitar riff ripped through the air and made you jump.

These thin-ass walls…

Whoever was playing (very well, you might add) seemed to be next door, so it didn’t take long to follow the sound to the correct number. You knocked impatiently and rang the doorbell too, for good measure. It took a minute for the music to come to a halt before the sound of heavy footsteps approached the door and you heard it unlock.

Once the door creaked open, you weren’t sure where to look first.

Your eyes darted back and forth between the array of piercings on your neighbor’s face and dangling from his ears, the wicks styled to shoot out from his head like an explosion, and his bright red plaid pants before landing on a pair of large eyes set deeply within a dark, angular face.

Judging by the way his pierced brow quirked up in amusement, you weren’t the first to give him a weird look, and wouldn’t be the last.

You remembered how to speak.

“Oh, um- hey,” you began, “I live next door, and I heard you playing–”

The young man’s face lights up and he interrupts, “Oh, d’you like it? It’s a song I’ve been workin’ on for the past few weeks. Finally got the bridge down.”

You blinked. 

“I mean…it’s not bad. It’s great, even, but–”

“Say, I haven’t seen you around before,” he pointed. “You new here?”

The man spoke with a strong Cockney accent, you noticed, with a tinge of something else that made a couple of vowels run together.

“...Yes, I moved in two days ago,” you sighed. “Now that that’s out of the way, I was about to ask if you could maybe play a lil’ quieter? You’re very loud.”

The realization seemed to dawn on him that you weren’t here to applaud his sick guitar riffs, and he winced. You almost felt bad for disappointing him, but you had a show to binge.

“Ah shit, my fault. Got too used to playing on full volume after the last neighbor moved out,” With a hand placed over his chest, he promised, “Won’t happen again.”

You nodded with a tight smile. 

“Thanks. Goodnight,” you said as you turned to leave.

The next few days were quieter, though you could still hear the neighbor’s guitar through the walls at a much more manageable volume. Sometimes you would hear the man humming to himself in his baritone voice. Eventually, you were so used to it that you found yourself falling asleep to the sound.

One Saturday morning, though, you awoke to the peculiar sound of silence. Normally by now you’d be hearing the first few chords of…whatever the guy was working on, then he’d reach the end by mid-afternoon. Part of you wanted to check up on him, but reason held you back; you’d only spoken to him once. Maybe he was just taking an off day.

Unable to return to sleep, you decided to shower and take a walk outside while the air was still comfortably cool.

As soon as the early morning sun hit your face, a familiar head of hair came into view.

There stood your neighbor–band t-shirt and all–in the garden in front of the apartment. Watering the flowers.

Mystery solved.

“So you’re the reason the plants haven’t died yet,” you laughed, causing his head to snap up.

He grinned, and lifted his watering can proudly. “Sure am. Bring some color into the place.”

“I thought it was awful quiet around here,” you remarked. You toyed with the hem of your t-shirt. “How’s the, uh…song going?”

Something between delight and surprise graced his features and made him look boyish. 

He smiled, revealing a crooked front tooth as he replied, “Almost done with it, actually.”

There was silence for a beat, and the both of you shifted awkwardly where you stood. 

Suddenly, a lightbulb went off. 

“Mind playing it for me when you’re done?”

The tall man seemed about ready to run laps around the block at the suggestion.

Quickly setting his watering can down, he replied, “Thought you’d never ask, mate!”

He jogged his way around the perimeter of the garden and over to you. “Can I get your name while we’re at it?”

“Y/N.” You stuck out your hand, and he shook it.

“Hobie.”

#hobie brown x black!reader #hobie brown x reader #hobie brown fic #hobie brown x gn!reader #hobie brown x gender neutral reader #atsv x reader #moralesanhour

[ask-serendipity-sky]

1108: Facts and observations

•Day 0

1108 started on the 8th of November of 2015.

Jimin uploaded a video of him and Jungkook to twitter:

On the 26th of January 2016, Jk uploaded a small snippet of a song he was covering.

•Day 100

And on the 15th of February of 2016, Jk uploaded the entire song Nothing Like Us and noted to listen to the lyrics as they were expressing what he wanted to say:

In Korean culture, parents celebrate 100 days after a child is born. This is to indicate that the child made it through the first vulnerable phase in their life. In the same manner, the 100 days are celebrated by Korean couples.

And this is what Jk had to say 100 days after the 8th of November of 2015:

There's nothing like us There's nothing like you and me Together through the storm There's nothing like us There's nothing like you and me together, oh

•Day 366 (1 year)

On 08/11/2016, a year later, Jimin posted another video of them:

•Day 732 (2 years)

On Oct. 28, 2017, Jungkook treated Jimin to a trip to Tokyo. It was because of this trip, that Jungkook released gcfTokyo on Nov. 08, 2017.

A fan used the images in the video and was able to determine the hotel and room jikook stayed at. It was room number 1108.

The video also used the song There For You by Troye Sivan:

Boy, I'm holdin' onto something Won't let go of you for nothing I'm runnin', runnin' just to keep my hands on you There was a time that I was so blue What I got to do to show you? I'm runnin', runnin' just to keep my hands on you

Day 811

On the 26th of January 2018, in a Japanese fancafe, Jimin gifted Jungkook a drawing of a set of champagne glasses and a bottle. Note the details of the glasses.

•Day 900

On the 25th of April 2018, a day before the 900 day milestone, Jimin had a vlive where it was obvious he wasn't alone in the room. He kept looking to the side, laughing shyly and explained:

After he said this, you can hear someone whisper, "Jimin."

Day 1000

On August 3rd 2018, Jk posted a selfie while they were all filming BV3:

During BV3, jikook were able to look around the city alone, and have a boat date under the moonlight.

Day 1013

As you all may know 10:13 is also known as Jimin ssi, or Jimin time. It only makes sense that this day would be special to jikook too.

On the 16th of August 2018, Jimin tweeted a series of 3 tweets:

Jungkook was the only member that appeared in the photos with Jimin. It is also interesting to note the 2 butterfly temporary tattoos he had on his hand.

This is the same time when they had the photoshoot with the inflatable unicorn:

The next day, Jimin uploaded a tweet with the caption "Love Ya", and one of the photos was him and Jk.

•Day 1141

On the 22nd of December 2018, when fans uploaded their selfies on fancafe, the fans let Jk know that Jimin had uploaded his own:

This prompted Jk to type "JIMINNNN" and he signed off. He later uploaded a song that he stopped at 1:18:

You take my mind away When you touch me that way This place, your face It gets hard to breathe I know you're feeling me now You're all I see Almost like we're dreaming

•Day 1394

On the 1st of September 2019, Jk made 2 tweets. One in which uploaded a snippet of Decalcamonia, which he also ended on 1:18:

•Day 1500

On the 16th of Dec 2019, Jimin posted a good night tweet:

The time he uploaded this was at 1:50.

•Day 2300

On Feb 22, 2022, Jk uploaded a story on insta where he is in a car, listening to So Good by Joan. The story was labeled 23:08 even though he uploaded it at 1:24 am.

You and me Got a lotta tension, not even to mention Ooh, that night, just two weeks ago It was half past ten Thinking about living, suddenly when you walked it You took my breath away

•Day 2315

On March 10, 2022, during the Permission to Dance Concert, Jimin used the 2315 numbers and stated the following:

2315 days had passed since November 8, 2015.

•Day 2545

On the 26th of October 2022, Jk uploaded a photo of himself while he was in Qatar. He uploaded the photo at 11:08 Korea time and, 5:08 Qatar time.

•Day 2643

On the 2nd of February 2023, Jimin answered a question on weverse at exactly 23:08. The question is now deleted.

•Day 2684

During Jungkook hosted a series of lives on White Day, 14th of March 2022. His first live was started at 8:11 pm:

During these lives, Jk changed to various outfits and had an extensive playlist. One of the songs that was included was There For You.

•Day 2855

On the 1st of September 2023, Jk hosted a short live to thank the fans for being present with him during so many birthdays. He ended his live quickly and it lasted 8:56 minutes:

My impressions

Based on Korean customs, celebrating different day milestones is typical in a Korean couple.

While some may think that jikook started dating on the 8th of November 2015, I think that's when they decided to be intimate with each other.

I feel like a jikook kiss had already happened since the last time Jimin asked Jk for a kiss publicly was in September 2015 for Jk's birthday. From there, one can only think that things proceeded quite quickly.

I think that in recent years, we have observed less mentions of 1108 because of BTS' popularity and so many fans expecting something from jikook.

It's possible that jikook has decided to not make these milestones known like they did before, but every now and then, they still reference that number. Who knows when they will do it again.

But who is counting, right?

#jikook #jimin #jungkook #1108 #Spotify

[baskeigh-ball]

Ignoring the fact that ibis had the ai paint feature a couple years before this whole ai fiasco, after seeing your post, I decided to try it out to see if it really held up. I already knew what you said made no sense, as even stuff like ai painting requires heavy human input that isn't just someone typing a prompt in a thing and looking through thousands of images and somehow still calling it 'art'. Really, it's just some weird advanced bucket.

The ibis ai paint... really sucks. I'm pretty sure it hasn't even been touched since it was added. No matter what I did, I got random colours and whatever colours I had put there looked like it were from a filter, not to mention how my lineart bled everywhere like it was blurred out.

Ibis isn't problematic for adding that feature as not only was it added ages ago, but it was also just a gimmick only added because a few more popular paid programs added them, like Clip Studio Paint. I highly doubt even the company took it seriously considering how poorly built it is. This is actually the one time I'm glad some feature in an app sucks so much.

Another reason why ibis isn't problematic by the mere feature alone is that, when you look at the artists making content during the time of that update, it was received with humour. It was something fun to try, but ultimately dismissed for actual artwork, as nobody would use it to fully paint their works. Nowadays we see something slapped with the words 'ai' and think that it's instantly bad due to the latest issues with it and big corperations/ certain production companies but it isn't. It's just a lot of people abusing what was previously some fun gimmick, which it can still be, and for certain apps, still is. Nobody throws pitchforks at character ai, after all.

You can tell just by the size of this that I'm procrastinating on something. Ima go and let this rot away in your askbox now lol

You really thought this would fade away in my ask box, mwahahaha /j

I wanna start off by saying thank you for holding me accountable, I will admit that I got buzzworded pretty hard in this situation lmao

This information came as a surprise to me-- I was seeing posts pop up within the past week complaining about the ai feature on ibis, so I assumed it was recent. As it turns out, after reading your ask, I discovered that I got a few wires crossed! Because yes, the auto paint feature I referred to in my post has been around for years now, and was never taken seriously anyways

So that was my bad (and yea ur right it's completely unusable, lmao)

But as it turns out, the feature that people have been complaining about DID come out recently. It was called the AI Example feature, I think the idea was that you make a simple drawing and the AI adds 99% of the detail and color, which I've seen a bunch of other programs do.

...and then it was immediately removed due to some pretty major backlash, which, duh

^ This is the only evidence I can find of the 11.2.0 update that included the AI feature on the actual site; their update history stops at 11.1.0. But there's also the news page about the removal of the update, so it's not like they're trying to pretend it never happened.

So tl;dr, I jumped on the hate train a little too quickly and never did enough research to figure out what the actual update was, and that it's been removed by now anyway (which I couldn't have known until today, ofc, but i did kinda post that thing about ibis today so it's still a pretty major oopsie)

I think I can say with confidence now that I agree, ibis paint isn't problematic to use-- they made a mistake with this update, but they actually listened to their users and removed it LITERALLY the next day. So, thanks for letting me know! I'll also edit my last post to prevent any misinformation, just in case people make the same mistake I did :]

#its a big relief that i dont have to learn how to use an entirely new art program anyway #so this ask came as a pleasant surprise #asks open #ibispaintx #now i just gotta hope i didnt get anything else wrong about the update

[a-bucket-of-trash]

And we see us again – Kelvin x Neutral Reader - One Shot

Prompt: Kelvin has recovered, time for a friendly visit.

Tags: Fluffy uwu

The last time you had seen Kelvin, it had been a couple of months ago, in the hospital, after having been finally rescued, after several months trapped in that hellish forest full of cannibals, mutants and an overpopulation of squirrels.

You had nothing more than superficial physical damage and poor nutrition, after consuming the tons of fish that he caught with inhuman skill, industrial quantity blueberries and the occasional legs that, in the winter season, gave you the opportunity to don’t starve.

Kelvin had it much worse, as his untreated brain injury had handicapped him over those months. Being on the island, you knew that the fact that his ears bleed on their own every couple of weeks was absolutely not a good thing, but in a place like this, there was nothing you could do but give him extra rest when you could, and cool down his head with a damp cloth. The fact that he had a fever along with the bleeding was a sign that something had become infected in his poor head, and the medicines you found lying around weren't the best, especially since most of them had already expired.

Still, the prognosis for him was pretty good. With proper treatment, medication and so on, within a few weeks his brain was working as it should, his hearing was beginning to return and he was finally articulating words. At least that's how you had seen on one of the last visits to the hospital. Maybe he would never be 100% the same as before, but, after what had happened, neither would you, and you hadn't had brain damage. You also needed treatment, especially psychological.

Forcing some of your contacts in the army, you got an address and, in that warm noon, you knocked on the light wooden door, seeing a familiar face open the door, and a pair of warm brown eyes smile in recognition.

"Permission to break your bones," he said, spreading his arms.

You laughed an "Affirmative" before giving him a hug, feeling how he squeezed you hard, almost lifting you into the air.

You had never been there, but you really wanted to visit your old friend of adventures and tragedies. Soon you were inside a very normal house, watching him walk back from the kitchen, a bottle of cold beer in each hand, pointing to the pale couch in the middle of the room, noticing the light coming in through the windows and the music playing in the background.

It was a little strange for you to see him moving fluidly and wearing a brown shirt and gray pants, shaved. Especially after months of seeing him dressed as a military and walking like a hasty duck.

You heard him sigh deeply, sitting down next to you, while you held your own beer.

"And well?" You asked, curious, “How are you? Getting better? You feel good?"

"What?" He pretended not to hear, to which he laughed as you smacked his leg firmly. “I'm fine, I'm fine. Little by little. I still don't hear as well as before, the doctors doubt that I will fully recover, but 90% is better than nothing. Possibly I will have a chronic headache from now on, and for another month I was forbidden to do any physical effort… The worst is the Post Traumatic Stress…” Kelvin shrugged and looked at you “And you? How did you find my house? Our mission was supposed to be… you know…”

"What mission?" You joked, taking a sip “I feel fine, except that now I'm terrified of flying… And well, you know, I can be a real pain in the butt. And I may have threatened to say things if they didn't give me your address."

"You're going to have them accuse you of Treason and end up in jail..." He shook his head softly "But I'm glad you convinced them" He looked at you out of the corner of his eye, smiling "After so much time together, let's just say that I've missed being ordered around by paper”

"I'm going to give you another concussion" You pushed him playfully, seeing him laugh, "I missed you too, puppy face... Did you get your memory back?"

“Mmmm…” He rubbed the back of his neck, wondering. “I don't remember anything about the week before the accident. I only have fragments of the first month, and I have more and more memories of the following months. The doctors say that I will not recover much more because of how my brain was then"

"Honestly, it's a relief" You sighed, looking at him "What happened to you was horrible, but it was also a horrible few months, it's better that you don't remember much"

“It was complicated, but not at all horrible” His brown eyes fixed on yours “You were there, I never felt alone or hopeless, despite the circumstances. I remember the hundreds of times you ran by with an ax in your hand, ripping off heads like you were possessed, but I also remember how you looked for a way to distract me, to make me feel useful, to cheer me up…”

"Don't start, please" You smiled, somewhat emotional "We already cried whole days, I don't need more..."

"You cried" He bothered you a little, smiling "Crybaby" He pushed you gently with his shoulder.

"Shut up" You laughed "You were the one who told me, crying, that you couldn't sleep in the hospital because you felt so alone"

"I still find it hard to sleep alone," He confessed.

“Mmmm” You sighed “Me too…” You remembered something and looked at him “In the end, I never found out your real name. Tell me to replace your code name, because it's already strange to call you Kelvin, Mr. Alpha Bravo Charlie"

“10.4” He laughed softly “But I've gotten used to being called Kelvin by now. It's going to seem strange to me that you suddenly call me Robert"

"Is your name Robert?" You laughed, denying "You don't have the face of a Robert"

"Affirmative, I'm going to change my name to one that matches my face," He joked, shaking his head, before slapping your knee "Keep calling me Kelvin"

“Kel…” You thought, in your own world inside your head.

"Hey" He gently drew your attention, touching your arm delicately "I know I thanked you a thousand times for keeping me alive, but thanks again"

"You're welcome, again" You smiled.

“Are you going to tell me what you saw in the caves?” He saw you deny “What? Why not? Military secret?

"Why do you want to know that?" You hesitated, taking a long drink of your beer.

"Don't fuck with me... If the times I saw a mutant on the island, I almost shit my pants, and you would happily go with your ax to cut off their heads or whatever the hell they had" Kelvin gestured widely with his bottle "You faced them! Like it was a picnic! And every time you left a cave, you came back beaten, without resources, with skin things hanging from your pockets… I want to know what the hell you saw for you to forbade me to accompany you down there”

“Rob… Kelvin” You put the beer down on the table “There was darker than a moose's butt, you were deaf. What was I supposed to do? Put a noose around your neck and walk among mutants as if you were a dog?

"I don't know…" He sighed, before drinking.

“Besides, if something happened to me in there, I knew that you were at the base, relatively safe…” You thought “Knowing that you were waiting for me back, somehow gave me the impetus to be extra careful, to make sure that I would come back to help you…”

Kelvin looked at you, half sad and half warm inside. You took care of him, even with your absences. The sound of his alarm clock woke him slightly, looking at the time, time for legal drugs. He slowly got up, to walk to a medicine box that was to one side, looking for what he had to take. He took out three different pills which he placed in his mouth and swallowed with a long sip of his beer.

"I'm going to kick your head until you even forget about your mother" You snorted angrily, seeing his surprised look "Idiot, don't mix drugs with alcohol. Are you still half stupid or what?"

"Ah" He chuckled, walking back to the couch "It's non-alcoholic beer, overprotective"

"Oh" You lowered your face from him, somewhat embarrassed, seeing him sit nearby.

You were still talking, when you remembered something else. You lifted the sleeve of your shirt, showing him a recent tattoo on your arm, below your shoulder. It was a skull with an ax stuck in it, very similar to the one you had used in all that time on the island. And next to both, what seemed to be a notepad, and on it, written: Survive.

Kelvin looked at it carefully, holding onto your arm a bit. He recognized that handwriting and even the design of the notepad, since he had read commands and suggestions in it, for months.

“It was going to be just the skull and the axe” You mentioned to him “But I didn't survive alone, on the contrary, I don't think I would have survived without you. So the notepad was in your honor."

Your name sounded tenderly on the lips of a Kelvin who had gotten quite touched and who hastened to give you one of his especially strong hugs.

"Silly..." He whispered, closing his eyes "Absurdly silly and cute... Even though at the time I saw you cutting off the testicles of all the cannibals you killed because you were in a bad mood..."

"Aren't you afraid of being next to me? Who knows, I might do the same to you” You smiled, rubbing his broad back.

"I don't sleep well since you're not by my side" He whispered again, holding you more, squeezing you against his chest "I feel safe with you... Calm... And... Everyone who found out I had some brain damage treats me as if now I had the mind of a two-year-old..." He growled softly, somewhat annoyed "I hate being pitied... I'm not incapacitated, I'm not stupid... But..." Kelvin sighed, rubbing his face gently against yours "You treat me like if nothing had happened... Even though you lived by my side, when I was at my worst... For you it's over, and you treat me as such, as myself... That reassures me so much..."

“Oh, Kelvin…” You hugged him tighter “You, at your worst, hurt and deaf, on a demon island, did more than anyone would have done in the same situation…” You tried to lift his spirits a little “I never saw anyone fish with their hands as well as you, you should dedicate yourself professionally to that”

You heard him laugh softly, still squeezing you, as if he was partially afraid to let you go, although it didn't bother you, he was warm and utterly huggable. You knew it well, since, on many cold nights on that island, it was only possible to sleep because you both stayed embraced, sharing warmth and softness.

“Could you…stay?” He asked, almost as if his voice were a distant instrument of the music that was still being heard over the speaker, not daring to move a muscle, “I don't know… Maybe… Maybe you'll let me take a nap like we used to do then? I miss sleeping… accompanied…”

"Me too" You whispered, with your eyes closed, with his clean perfume entering your lungs.

"And have dinner…? I promise there are no fish to eat, not this time.” The soldier teased sheepishly.

"Sounds like a good plan to me, big guy" You smiled "I have weird dreams about fish"

"I dream... of you" He murmured "I only sleep well... if I dream of you"

You stayed still for a moment. The way he spoke was mixing with the feeling of his hands running down your back, and his face rubbing tenderly against your cheek. You prayed that you weren't misreading the signs, you prayed that it wasn't your own confused brain, that mind that months ago had fallen in love with that soldier, and you moved your face slightly, to find that pair of soft lips that had brushed your jaw like the wings of a butterfly, landing on yours.

You were sure that both of you had kissed at the same time, so you stayed there, still in his arms, tasting that shy mouth that tasted faintly of antibiotics. Kelvin was slow to kiss, but that made him utterly sweet, cuddly, and overly romantic, as if he had the time in the world for that. You weren't in a hurry either, you spent a long time in his mouth, caressing his soft short hair, enjoying it, so that later he just hugged you, burying his face in your neck, taking a deep breath, soaking in your scent.

"I hate that I can't do physical effort for a month..." Kelvin growled, impatient "But you wait... As soon as I have the medical approval, I'm going to show you why I could cut wood for hours..."

Your laughter echoed both in the walls and in his ears.

#kelvin #sons of the forest kelvin #sotf kelvin #kelvin x reader #sons of the forest #sotf #one shot

[mppmaraudergirl]

the highway to getting the hell over you

whoops...my hand slipped

a TRBTY AU in which James learns who Lily is from the start, and he’s not a big fan

(rated m)

He just had to invite Lily to his birthday party.

Upon reflection, he won’t know why—or at least, won’t admit to it. But he justified it to himself with the inclusion of Gideon. If she came with her boyfriend, he would have little obligation to talk to her.

What he hadn’t accounted for was the possibility that Gideon and Lily would break up.

Equally short-sighted of him: not thinking about what Lily might wear to a club.

(A terrible misstep on his part because she came looking absolutely phenomenal. Even in her post-breakup state.

When he and Annie broke up, he looked like he’d lost several consecutive fights for weeks.)

“So Evans is single,” Sirius said as he sidled up next to him at the bar.

James stopped himself from turning toward the dance floor where he knew she was as he gave a nonchalant, “Mm.”

“Right, yeah. You don’t care. No interest in her at all.”

“Padfoot.”

“What? I know you think she’s fit.”

“What’s that to do with anything?”

Sirius laughed. “Well, not much apart from the simple fact that you are both now single!”

As if he needed reminding. As if he hadn’t been trying to not think about that fact since she dropped the news a couple of hours ago. 

“You! And Lily Jones! Your first handie”—James sent him a glower—“fine, your first love”—James’ glare didn’t waver—“fine, whatever the fuck she was. You were crazy about her and now—”

“I’m not interested.”

Thankfully, Sirius was cut off by the arrival of the bartender with their new drinks, and James took the opportunity to push himself away from the bartop and head back to the nosiest part of the club. He dodged Sirius’ follow-up questions and comments. They’d beaten this horse so many times that it had been ground to dust. Beyond snapping at Sirius with words he’d promised himself to never say aloud—angry, cruel, damaging words—James didn’t know how to articulate how uninterested he was in pursuing anything, even friendship, with the woman who broke his teenage heart.

Problem was, Sirius might not even believe him. Not when James’ actions over the past year had shown the exact opposite. He’d gotten very proficient at masking animosity with cordial friendship. He could never, would never again, let her get close enough to fracture his heart.

As the night wore on, the conversation evolved beyond Lily, though he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her despite his efforts. Time sped by with much laughter and many drinks and James let himself welcome twenty-nine by drinking far more than he ought to have. After spending most of the night successfully avoiding Lily, they happened to meet at the bar.

“Hey.”

“Hi birthday boy.”

She sent him a sweet smile that churned his insides with anger and desire; the combination felt toxic when mixed with whiskey.

“Having fun?”

“Time of my life,” he said dryly.

“Well, I’ve been having fun. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Sure, yeah.”

He should have walked away then, at the natural end to their conversation. But then Lily told him she was going to head home, and he let himself properly look at her in her tight black dress, and then before he knew what was happening, his stupid drunken brain was urging him out of the club with her.

As they walked, she asked about his past birthdays, the ones that had happened in the intervening years, and he made up answers, he told the best of his past—as if he could convince her that he’d been nothing but happy since she left England.

Duty, or whiskey, prompted him to follow her up the stairs to her flat. He lingered in the doorway as she slipped her coat back off her shoulders. His eyes were glued to the curve of her back, to the way her shoulders shifted at the motion, to the movement of her arse as she walked further into her flat.

“So birthday boy…as far as birthdays go, how will this one be remembered?” 

James deliberated for a moment as she perched herself against the back of her sofa; fuck, she was fit. “Better than I expected.”

She seemed to be able to read his mind, a siren smile appearing on her face as she watched him. Twisting a lock of hair around her fingers, she said, “Good. But more importantly… are you thinking of the sofa or the bed?”

It should have been a sign for him to leave. Her words. Her inviting eyes. The whiskey igniting his blood, slowing the cognitive part of his brain. “Sofa or bed?”

Lily hesitated and it became clear to James that she was also aware that she was about to cross a line. Perhaps she, like him, was weighing whether the reward outstripped the risk. “Yeah… for your birthday shag. It was… a joke.”

Last chance, he thought to himself right before taking a step further into her apartment and letting the door close slowly behind him. “Was it?”

She swallowed and the pettiest part of himself reveled in the well-hidden panic on her face. For the first time in over a decade, he felt like he could read her every emotion, feel her feelings as if they were his own. Her stare followed him as he closed the space between them, bright green eyes rising to keep his gaze as he stood in front of her.

“Because I don’t think it was a joke, Evans. I think you really want to shag me.” 

James smirked when he slid his thumb along the curve of her cheek and her eyes fluttered closed.

“Well?” he prompted when a moment passed with no reply.

A split second later she nodded, and James wasted no time in claiming her lips with his own. She melted into him, arms wrapping around his shoulders just as he grabbed her by the waist. She met his mouth with a ferocity of her own, clear proof of a mutual want that burned between them like a roaring fire.

He loved her once. He hated her once, too. Part of him still did.

But what was now becoming annoyingly hard to ignore was the fact he had never, not once, stopped wanting her. 

As a teenager, he would have given in without a second thought, but only if he knew she was ready. He would have made it special; he would have taken his time to worship every inch of her body; he would have made their first time about love.

There was nothing close to love between them now. 

There was nothing loving about the way he tugged up her dress. Nothing loving about the way he pulled her knickers down as he bent her over the sofa. Nothing loving about the bruising pace he set that got them both off quickly.

He loved her once and would never have imagined walking away after sex and leaving only meaningless platitudes behind. But this was nothing like love.

#the road back to you #idk man #should i even tag this the fic title #lmao #ok #jily #jple #fun fun fun

[runnning-outof-time]

K, my dear, can i request a modern Tommy with the prompt "Why do we have to keep hiding? I'm tired of being kept a secret." Give me that good angst 😆

Isabella!!! Thank you for sending this in (and for requesting a modern Tommy story 😉)!!! I was listening to the song Hide My Love by The Glorious Sons the other day and immediately thought of this prompt you sent. I decided to base it off of the last verse of the song. It may be a little ooc, but modern!Tommy is an AU anyway, so I just rolled with it. Enjoy! 🥰

Thank you for helping me celebrate hitting 2K followers! Want to read more blurbs from this celebration? Check out this post!

Why Do You Hide My Love?

Modern!Tommy Shelby

Warnings: language, slight age gap

Tommy shows up at (Y/N)’s house one day, wondering why she’s hesitant to share their relationship with the world.

All of the scenarios that Tommy had been thinking up while waiting on the doorstep of (Y/N)’s house disappeared the second her older sister answered the door.

“Well if it isn’t Tommy Shelby,” she said upon realizing who was waiting outside.

“Is (Y/N) home?” Tommy questioned, not wanting to deal with her more than he had to.

“What’s your reason behind wantin’ to see her?” the woman’s eyebrows raised as she leaned against the hand holding open the door.

“You know why,” he was curt with his response, trying his best not to blow up on the sister of the woman he was wanting to talk to.

“Actually I don’t…would you care to elaborate?” she asked him, so obviously playing dumb to get on his nerves.

He tried not to let her get under his skin. “Sarah, let me in. Please,” he just about demanded, still keeping his voice, and head, level.

“Never thought I’d see the day where I’d see Tommy Shelby, the president of our secondary school class, beg me to do something for him. Boy, how times have changed,” Sarah commented, now laughing at the irony of this entire situation.

“Would you at least stop laughing?”

“Tell me what you’re here for,” her laughter stopped in an instant, and she sent him a deadpan expression.

Tommy thought for a moment. Should he just tell her why he’d shown up at her house? Should he give her an ability to make another witty come back? “You know what, it’s none of your business…just go get your sister and then let us be,” he told her after deciding against telling her what she wanted to hear. He sent her a scowl then for extra measure, hoping to convey the point that even though he was there to speak to (Y/N), he still didn’t want to entertain her conversations.

He thought he’d seen the last of Sarah (Y/L/N) in secondary school. He never thought that he’d be crossing paths with her again some fifteen odd years down the road. He also never expected to take an interest in Sarah’s younger sister, (Y/N). She was only in year 10 when Tommy was getting ready to graduate. It would have been considered weird back then, but nobody really thought twice about a four year age gap at their age now. In fact, that was the last thing on his mind when the lights hit her the right way in the bar they were both at several weeks ago.

But there was a problem now. “Tommy? What’re you doing here?” (Y/N)’s questions brought Tommy out of his thoughts and back into the present.

“I asked him the same thing, (Y/N),” Sarah chimed in from behind her little sister.

“Give us a moment, Sarah…please?” (Y/N) asked before Tommy was able to send a response her way. Sarah only huffed and walked deeper into the house, leaving the couple on their own. “What’re you doing here, Tommy?” she asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she turned back to look at him.

“Why do we have to keep hiding, (Y/N)?” he got right to the reason behind his presence, “I’m tired of being kept a secret.”

(Y/N) sighed as she heard what he had to say. “Tommy, don’t think that this is because of…”

“Why do you hide me, love?” he cut her off, desperate eyes begging her for an answer.

Silence fell between them as (Y/N) looked at him for a moment before glancing to each side of the street. “Come inside,” she told him then, stepping aside so that he could enter her house. She really didn’t want to have this conversation on the front step of her home for the entire neighborhood to see.

Tommy only nodded before he stepped past her. As soon as he entered the house, he turned back around to face her, watching as she shut the door and turned around. The two stared at each other for a few more moments before Tommy finally spoke up. “Why do you not want anyone to know we’re together?” he asked her, stuffing his hands into his pants pockets, making his biceps become visible through the fabric of the white dress shirt he was wearing.

(Y/N) pursed her lips and stared at him a little longer, trying so hard not to let her eyes drop any lower than his collarbones (because it’d be over for her if she did). She held the silence for about a minute before letting out a long sigh. “It’s stupid…really,” she said while shaking her head.

“Tell me,” he demanded softly, wanting to get to the bottom of the problem standing between them.

“You’re very well known in the public and professional sector, Tommy…” she started off.

“And?” he prompted her to continue, unsure if he should raise his eyebrows or furrow them.

“And I’m still trying to make a name of myself. I…I just didn’t want people thinking that I’m getting with you so that I can climb up the ladder quicker,” she explained herself, ringing her hands together as she spoke; feeling embarrassed about the entire situation.

Tommy furrowed his eyebrows as he soaked in her statement. “That’s the reason?” he asked her, wanting to make sure he heard her correctly. She nodded, looking at him sort of in the way a scared child would. He couldn’t help but exhale a laugh and shake his head slightly. “That’s the last thing you should be worrying about, baby. If people’ve got a problem with us being together because they’re thinking that; they’ve got another thing coming for them, cuz I won’t let that fucking happen,” he told her, his eyes not straying away from hers as he spoke.

“You’re not afraid that they’d think that?” she asked, her way of checking to make sure he was being honest.

“Fuck no,” he shook his head, his prompt answer making his thoughts blatant, “why would I care about what other people think when I’ve got all I need with you, eh?”

“Tommy…” she trailed off, her cheeks heating up.

“I’m serious, (Y/N),” he doubled down on his statement as he stepped closer to her, “I’m happy you’re my girl, and I want the whole world to know about it,” he told her, a grin playing on his lips as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

(Y/N) couldn’t help but smile as she draped her arms over his shoulders. “Maybe it’s time we tell the world then,” she said, her statement making Tommy’s grin grow before he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

“Well that was fucking disgusting,” Sarah’s voice came from the hallway to the right of them, making (Y/N) pull away from Tommy with a groan.

“I thought I told you to leave us be, Sarah,” (Y/N) mumbled, sending her sister a glare.

“You did…but this is my house also, and I’m entitled to go to the kitchen whenever I want,” she argued, “I didn’t think that I was gonna walk in on a declaration followed by a make out session.”

“Well you’d better get used to it because he and I are together,” (Y/N) came right out and announced it. She didn’t miss the smile that formed on Tommy’s face, catching it in the corner of her eye.

“I’m fine with it if you’re happy, but just please let me go get my drink before you two start sucking face again, alright?” Sarah stated, making it sound like it was a big deal, but inside, she was happy for them.

“Go on,” (Y/N) dismissed her, letting her walk past them, which she did with a huff. “That felt good to say,” she said to Tommy then as she looked at him once more.

“I’m sure it did,” Tommy grinned right back at her before he leaned in and kissed her again.

———

Tagged: @mgcllovdrms @the-anxious-youth @cloudofdisney @look-at-the-soul @elenavampire21 @peaky-cillian @mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @lilyrachelcassidy @notyour-valentine @shelbydelrey @december16-1991 @onlydeadcells @peakyswritings @just-a-blackhole @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry @captivatedbycillianmurphy @yummycastiel @dark-academia-slut @tommystargirl @stevie75 @lyarr24 @signorellisantichrist @zablife @anotherblinder @midnightmagpiemama @cillmequick @rangerelik @lovemissyhoneybee @dandelionprints @letal-y-poetica

MASTERLIST

#tommy shelby #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby x y/n #tommy shelby imagine #modern tommy shelby #tommy shelby blurb #peaky blinders #peaky blinders x reader #peaky blinders x y/n #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders blurb #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky blinders fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #root2kfollowercelebration

[letstalkwhump]

Let's Talk Whump No.5

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump, a series of interviews that spotlight the amazing people in our whump community! ! I’m Malice and I’ll be your host. 

Today I’m talking whump with the wonderful @painsandconfusion! 

So good to have you here today, @painsandconfusion! Tell us a fun fact about yourself!

I'm a lawyer but don't seem like a lawyer at all - everyon'es always confused when I say so. I'm a fan of jumping between fluffy pink dresses, standard hipster vibes, emo styles, and who knows what else. It's different every day. I just like variety!

What does whump mean to you?

Oh dear, tricky to answer...

Whump is when a character is at their highest stress point (or...at least higher than average). I suffer from severe and vivid nightmares, but I found out that when I write whump, I can process my fears and anxieties through those characters and their experiences. I can only go about two weeks without writing before the nightmares start again. It's kinda amazing to see just how effective and healthy it is for me. I live vicariously through my whumpees for a moment, and they help my brain keep its shit together. Then I get to meet all these lovely people online and it just makes my heart so happy!

Wow, that’s really great to hear! Whump can be really cathartic at times. How did you find the whump community? What made you want to join? 

I think this is a standard story, but I discovered the hero x villain community first, and it wasn't /quite/ my cup of tea, but it was close. After I saw a few people reblogging things with #whump, I checked it out. 

I have a vivid memory of skipping class for the first time in my life, just sitting in my apartment, all but crying as I scrolled through everything. I was so relieved to find that I wasn't alone. I spent so much of my life hating myself and hating whumperflies and hating that I was drawn to violence and not understanding why. After I found this community I felt so much more at home. 

I made a blog and started reblogging.

Then of course, I relapsed into hating myself and deleted it.

Then I made another. Started posting gifs I made from my favorite whumpy movies.

The kink community kinda took it over - which is fine and lovely and I'm happy to share content, but....they were the only ones who saw my blog. So everything I made was taken in a way I didn't mean and I felt very isolated and unheard.

So I deleted it again.

A couple years ago, I tried again. I started just reblogging, then I impulsively added to a prompt list in one of my reblogs and people really liked it? So I made more. And more and more and more- eventually I started posting scenes, and I've been having a lovely time here ever since! 

Do you think your view on whump has changed since you joined? Are there tropes you now love/hate that you didn't at first? 

Absolutely. Like. Wow so much. I used to dislike pain a lot and only enjoy the fear leading up to it. While I still prefer the suspense, nothing really squicks me out anymore. I used to hate pet whump but now I'm a fan. 

I have started making whump art as of late, which has been a fun new adventure! I picked it up almost solely because there's so many fantastic writers in this community who deserve some good fanart. I'm having fun working through a list of my favorite creators!

Tell us about your favourite whump trope!

Dear goodness, do I love a chin tilt.

No no...hmmm.....I get to run wild with this question and there's nothing you can do to stop me! Muahhahahhaaaaaaaa~

Okay so. Picture this.

Whumpee stumbling slowly backward, breath catching in their throat and burning at their lungs. Their feet drag against the ground as they stare up at Whumper, eyes shaking and sparkling with tears that cling to their lashes, refusing to fall. Not /quite/ yet. 

Whumper strokes a knuckle down their cheek, drawing a twitch - not quite a flinch, no no, Whumpee wouldn't dare to pull away. Whumper's hand flips softly as it reaches their jaw, pressing to their throat instead.

Whumpee finally lets a sound pass their lips, a soft whimper as their back hits the wall. The momentum topples the wetness from their lashes, and Whumper's eyes roam down to follow them as they soak hot into the fabric of Whumpee's shirt. 

Whumper's hand turns up just /once/ more, curling a finger under Whumpee's chin to tip their head up, drawing hiding eyes back into place.

Then they say something whumpy, I guess - you get the picture.

LOVE that shit. 

Intimate whumpers? Slow pacing? Vivid sensation? Yes!

Absolutely loving the detail in that! It’s all about the sensations! And speaking of favourites, do you want to share a piece you've written?

Hard Question!

First one that comes to mind is The Party. It's one of my favorites because my hands were shaking so hard while writing it. It was a great way to kick off that event (@thewhumperssoiree) which I'm inadvertently yet shamelessly plugging by answering with that piece I guess! It's very very fun, I loved what that piece created. Everyone who wrote for it did such a great job! (Event is still open, I don’t know why I'm talking about it in past tense)

Do you have a standard writing style/routine or does it vary?

I absolutely change up my paragraph style depending on the intensity of the scene or the place in the scene. I'm a big fan of elaborating and writing moment to moment so the oc's sensations and emotions bleed into the reader. I don't write much on visuals at all - almost entirely on sensation, which I think works well in this medium.

When I'm writing, I kinda forget everything else exists, so I don't have food or drink or if I do, it's neglected. If anyone tries to talk to me, tough luck to them, I'm in the Write Zone and I cannot hear them!

I write solely when inspiration strikes which.......is a lot!

Is there a noticeable difference in how easily you write things? Do the words always flow or do you have to beat them out sometimes?

There's characters who don't get in my head nearly as easily, and ones that are effortless. Getting fucking Alec in my head? Impossible. He's a bitch, then does bitch things once there. Ethan? Dream. Miracle boy. So easy to write that emo little shit. For clarification, the seven chapters of Alec's series vs the thirty of Ethan's. Alec is a bitch. End of story.

But, I also do much better describing little moments rather than full scenes. I'm good at scenes, but it takes so many spoons. Hence why I have three hundred or so random drabble posts or lists, but only like fifty total from my series. It just takes more effort to have to think about plot and pacing and all that good stuff. 

Fun? Yes. 

But hard.

Is there anything you're working on at the moment? Finalising the final chapter of your series? Starting a new au? Trying a different style of writing/pov? Revisiting fanfiction? Maybe you've really gotten into poetry....

Oh dear goodness, I'm working on everything all at once and I need to stop!

I also need to roleplay less and write more for you lovelies! I’m so sorry I’m just really distractible…

Give us some writing advice. Bless us with your wisdom!

I have posts for this but:

1. Keep your descriptions to the textured senses. Less visuals, more sensation. Caretaker has brown hair? So what? Tell me about how Caretaker's hair curled at the ends, just barely tickling at the corner of their eyes until they flicked it away with a twitchy shake of the head.

2. Personify the shit out of your nouns. Whumpee bled? No. The blood soaked through Whumpee's shirt. Make it an external factor that's affecting them. Much more engaging.

3. Pacing. Whumpee got dragged into the car, then into a house and chained in the basement? That's not one scene, that's at least three. OR. It's a two sentence summary that Whumpee is musing about while already in the basement. 

4. Speaking of, don't start with the boring, just get right into the action. You can weave the 'how we got here' bits in after a few sentences, but get your reader hooked right away. Don't start with "Whumpee got out of bed, glancing at their blaring alarm". Try instead "Their hands were shaking so hard they had to try three times to dial the number, fingers as clumsy as they were that morning, trying to slap their alarm off through the fog of blissful sleep." Or just don't mention it at all! Skip to the good stuff!

Lastly, let’s hype up some of your favourite blogs! Any friends, writers or just really cool people you want to shout out?

@whumblr was like my idol before I started! It's so cool just casually knowing her now? Still not over that, to be honest.

I always tag her but @distinctlywhumpthingmpthing is so good? Seriously, you want to see some god-tier writing, go over there. (minors read tws well please, its not all for you.)

@brutal-nemesisemesis is always a delight. Castys gives me life.

And of course,  I'm gonna give a shoutout to @wormwritinging, my beloved. We met here and as much as I adore this community, they're hands down the best part of it. 

Anything you'd like to add? 

I can't think of anything but thank you for doing this. This blog is so cool!

It’s been a honor to have you here, @painsandconfusion!

And to all you folks at home, have a whump-derful day!

#whump community #whump interviews #lets talk whump

[butyoumakemesohot]

hmm maybe 💣🌻 for steddie?

thank you for your request! i also included the 🤧 prompt because i had a few requests to write that one as well - i hope that's okay :) also, this was inspired by my own post hehe

As promised, Steve calls as soon as he and Robin arrive in Nashville during the first day of their summer road trip. It’s a yearly tradition, or so they explained a couple months ago - right around the time Eddie and Steve finally crossed the line between friends and something more. Eddie was quick to assure them he wasn’t the jealous type, and Robin was quick to assure him that she was, in fact, 100% gay. 

It was a revelatory week, to say the least.

“Munson residence,” he now quips as he picks up the phone, twisting the cord around his finger. His ears pick up on the muffled sounds of city traffic and what must be the static of the TV in Steve and Robin’s hotel room.

“Eds, hey,” a garbled voice greets, followed by a small string of congested coughs.

Eddie freezes. “... Steve?”

“Yeah?” he asks, confused. A couple more coughs, then the younger man clears his throat, his voice emerging a tiny bit smoother than it was before. He still sounds awfully stuffed up, though. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, just… didn’t recognize your voice at first,” Eddie admits, listening to Steve breathe through his mouth into the receiver. After a few seconds, he cuts himself off with a sniffle so congested that Eddie’s chest tightens in realization. “Still feeling a bit hayfeverish, are we?”

“It’s dot so bad,” Steve insists. He sniffles again, and Eddie swears he can hear the other man’s sinuses squeaking in protest, as if no matter how hard he tries, no amount of air is able to pass through them. “Just deed to get - hH-! … ohhh… snnff! Sorry, mby dose is… hheh, snrf! really itchy.”

“That’s okay, sweetheart,” Eddie says gently.

“Adyways, I just deed sobe mbedicide, thed I’ll be good. Robid a’d I are about to head to the store, but I just wadted to – hHH’SSCHHHIEW!”

He’s interrupted once more, this time by an abrupt sneeze that rattles loudly in Eddie’s ear. He tries not to wince, not wanting Steve to hear it in his voice. 

“Gesundheit,” he says lightly, keeping the phone a couple inches away from his ear in case Steve surprises him again.

“Thhhhank you,” Steve replies, his breathing soft and shallow. Eddie waits, knowing that his boyfriend is gearing up for another sneeze or two. “Fuck, sorry, h-hang od - ahh-! AAESSCHHOO! ESSCHHHH’uhh… hh’snnnnf! SNF!”

Steve manages to move away from the phone this time, but Eddie can still hear how monstrous the sneezes are despite his boyfriend's best attempts to muffle them into what Eddie assumes is the collar of his shirt.

“Goodness,” he says once it seems like Steve has caught his breath. “Bless you, Stevie.”

“God,” Steve mumbles in complaint, sucking in another hard, squeaking sniffle. “Sorry. Doe mbatter what I do, I cad’t - snrf! - cad’t stop sdeezi’g.”

He pinches and rubs at the ever-present itch that’s buzzing around in his nostrils, emitting a wet, squishing sound into the receiver. Eddie’s chest aches again.

“The medicine will help,” he promises, feeling utterly helpless against Steve’s allergies and the miles of distance between them. “I thought you packed some, though? I could’ve sworn I saw it sitting on the counter this morning...”

“... I forgot,” Steve admits, letting out a sharp, sudden gasp as he moves away from the phone again. “ahH’ASCHHHHhiew! ‘TSSCHHHH! … Guhhh... snnrf, snngk!” He sniffles thickly, rubbing his nose a bit more desperately this time. His voice sounds far away when he speaks again, and Eddie realizes he must’ve set the phone down in his lap. “Robs, could you pass mbe the - snF! - the tissue box?”

Eddie hears a hard click as Steve moves the phone to the table, accompanied by the sound of Robin’s voice. She’s too far for him to make out what she’s saying, but whatever it is must be funny, because Steve’s response is another enormous sneeze immediately followed by a laugh. He blows his nose before picking up the phone, still sounding miserably congested.

“Hey,” he says, panting slightly. “Sorry about that.”

“You know that’s the third time you’ve apologized since we started talking?”

Steve pauses. “I… kind of wadt to say it agaid.”

“Don’t you dare,” Eddie says with a chuckle, shifting the phone to his other ear. “Buckley cracking jokes over there?”

“Huh? snnnfg! … Oh, yeah, she, ub - sNf! - she said mby sdeezi’g is goi’g to rupture both of your eardrumbs by the tibe allergy seasod is over.”

Eddie laughs again. “That is if it doesn’t rupture yours first.”

“Ha,” Steve deadpans. “Shit, h-hhhhang od - AHH’SSCHHIEEW! … hh! hihHH! GGKTSSCHHhh! Oh, mbad… sngk! That ode kinda hurt...”

“Sounded like it,” Eddie says, pouting sympathetically. Steve sighs, sounding so run down that Eddie wishes he could eradicate all the pollen in the universe.

He opens his mouth to say something else, but he’s cut off by a stuttering gasp as Steve succumbs to another dreadful itch in his sinuses. The sneezes are even louder this time, scraping painfully against his throat. Eddie moves the phone even further away from his ear.

“HH’EESSCHHHH! snrrf! ehhhh… EHH'SSCHHHOO! sNNf, snrrk! Jesus…”

“I know,” Eddie murmurs, pressing the phone all the way against his ear so that his soothing voice carries properly through the receiver. “Allergies are a bitch. I’m sorry, honey.”

“The bitchiest,” comes Steve’s gruff response.

The longer haired man scoffs, hearing a faint scraping of cardboard as Steve pulls out a few more tissues. He waits patiently as the younger man blows his nose, seemingly too tired to move the phone to the table this time. Eventually, the drenched, gurgling blows start to taper off, and Steve lifts the phone back up to his ear, sounding absolutely exhausted.

“Better?” Eddie asks softly.

“Mm… kind of. snngk!”

Eddie smiles, shifting the phone to his other ear. “Hey. What did you want to do?”

“Hm?”

“You were saying how you and Robin were about to go to the store, but you wanted to do something first.”

“Oh,” Steve says, clearing some more congestion from his throat. He audibly rubs at his nose again, sniffling. “I, uh… wadted to hear your voice, ‘s all.”

Does he sound… embarrassed? No way. Eddie bites his lip to keep from grinning too hard, making a mental note to check in with Robin later and ask if she saw Steve blushing at any point during their conversation.

“You did?” Eddie finds himself asking.

“Of course,” Steve says genuinely. Like he can’t believe anyone would think otherwise. 

Shit. Now Eddie’s blushing, too.

“I… I missed hearin’ yours, too,” the longer haired man says eventually, nearly cringing over the cheesiness of it all. 

He half expects Steve to tease him over it, which is why he lets out a breath of relief when Steve’s response is accompanied by a wide smile in his voice. “You wod’t mind if I - snrrk! - call you agaid later todight, thed?”

Eddie laughs softly, hoping he doesn’t sound too giddy. “I think I can probably pencil you in, babe. Now, why don’t you go take a shower, see if you can wash some of that crummy Indiana pollen off? I bet Robin won’t mind going to the store by herself. They probably even have some medicine down in the hotel lobby.”

“Yeah, okay… L-Let me just, ohh, snNF! AH-! AAEEESSCHHHOO!”

Eddie does wince this time, the deafening sneeze still ringing in his ear even as he lowers the phone. He shifts the speaker to his other ear again, just in time to hear a rough scratch and a brief, muffled exchange between Steve and Robin.

“Sorry about that,” comes Robin’s voice, a shining display of health in comparison to Steve’s. “Dingus will be right back. I’m afraid he’s currently incapacitated.”

“What, did that last sneeze rupture his spleen or something?” Eddie jokes, although they both know it’s not completely out of the question.

Before Robin can reply, Steve bursts into another fit of sneezes. Although it sounds like he’s now on the other side of the room, they’re loud enough that Eddie can hear every syllable, every frenzied, hitching breath that comes in between them.

“hHH’TSSCHHHHIEW! Oh mby fucki’g Gohhh- AHH’SSCHHHH’uhh! -ESSCHHh!” The sound of another extremely wet nose blow filters through the phone, followed by even more robust sneezing that makes Eddie start to feel bad for the people in the room next door.

Robin’s amusement is evident in her voice. “No, but those surely did.”

#is anyone even online..... probably not slfjslkfj #st/ranger th/ings #st/eddie #sh #snzblr #snz kink #snz fic #sneezefic #snzfucker #sneeze kink

[jadedrrose]

Heyy, I have no idea if this is the correct place to request so I apologize if not. I was wondering if you could write a fluffy story with Ace and the prompt “surprises” where his s/o is pregnant??? Ace as a dad is so cute to me. Anyways thank you 💕💕💕 !!

This made me wanna go back to my Ace era. Too bad I will immediately be watching more episodes with Law after posting this. (Also that is totally the right place to submit stuff!)

(I’m also leaving it up to the reader to decide the name, I can’t think of boy names for shit)

Warnings: Pregnancy, talk of child birth. Fluff overdose. Ace is adorable.

Oh god, what were you gonna do?

After feeling off for a couple weeks, unable to keep food down, and just generally feeling shitty, you had a sudden realization of what was wrong with you.

After taking a nervous trip down to Marco’s doctors office on the ship, your theory had been proven right.

You were pregnant.

How would you tell Ace? You truly couldn’t tell what his stance was on having kids. On one hand, he was amazing with them! You’d been there with him in Wano Country where the two of you spent time with that young girl, Tama. Honestly, even then you’d decided you wouldn’t be upset if you and Ace did have a little ‘happy accident’. But on the other hand, you knew how he felt about his own biological family. He hated his father, and would probably cringe at the idea of passing down that man’s blood.

Truly, you were in a massive pickle. There were barely any other women on the ship and you weren’t really friends with any of them, so you couldn’t go to them. And all Marco had told you was a simple “good luck”, with an uneasy look.

You’d been in the middle of thinking about all this when Ace entered the room.

You jumped and he definitely noticed the way you were acting. You knew he’d been worried lately, with you being seemingly sick and all. Ace was convinced that he’d given you food poisoning from when the two of you had a little romantic camping trip a week ago (he’s not good at cooking; he just held whatever meat you’d brought in his hand and lit the whole thing on fire).

“(Name)? You okay? I brought you soup.”

You grimaced, unsure if you could handle eating right now.

“I promise I didn’t cook it. It’ll taste good! And hopefully make you feel better,” he tried assuring you.

“Oh, thanks, Ace,” you had no choice in whether or not you were getting the food as Ace had placed it in your lap, handing you a spoon.

“Eat up! Well, slowly. I don’t want you to throw up into the soup,” he chuckled.

Preparing yourself for the worst, you began to eat.

Well, Ace hadn’t lied about it tasting good. It was really good, in fact.

A pleasant smile came over your face and Ace grinned at seeing you satisfied with the meal.

“Isn’t it great?! I already had a bunch before bringing it over, couldn’t help myself, ha.”

You nodded, eating more of it. “It’s really yummy,” you told him. “I’ll definitely be craving this over the next nine months,” you joked.

Wait.

“Huh? Nine months? What do you mean by that?” Your boyfriend looked extremely confused now.

“Ummm,” you weren’t sure what to say.

“Wait! Nine months… that’s how long girls are pregnant for! WAIT!”

He looked at you, eyes wide, waiting for you to confirm his suspicions.

“Uh, surprise?” You truly didn’t know what else to say. This was not at all how you planned on telling him.

“YOU’RE PREGNANT?!” Ace shouted so loud the whole ship probably heard him.

“Mhm,” you meekly answered.

Taking the soup bowl and practically throwing it aside, Ace leapt onto you, wrapping his arms around you and shoving his face into your chest.

“Ace?”

Then your chest was wet. Was he crying?!

“(Name)…. I’m so happy, I could explode,” he wailed.

You let out a sigh of relief, smiling now. Well, now you didn’t have to worry about how he felt…

—

Nine Months Later

—

The day you went into labor was very… intense. The second you’d felt the first contraction and let out a small groan, Ace was screaming and jumping up and down, grabbing you out of your spot and rushing you to Marco.

“MOVE! LADY WITH A BABY COMING THROUGH!” He yelled as he stormed through the halls and over to the office.

“Ace! Ace stop! Stop screaming,” you’d tried to reason with him.

But he was too panicked, and didn’t stop until he’d reached Marco.

“Marco! She’s gonna have the baby!” He yelled, setting you down on a cot, throwing his hands up to his head and doing an odd panic dance.

“Ace! I tried telling you, just because I’ve started feeling contractions doesn’t mean they’re coming this instant! It could be tomorrow before they’re here!” You yelled, but then hissing in pain as you felt another, stronger one come on.

“GAAAH!! Marco, see?! What do we do?!” He cried.

“Calm down yoi. She’s right, it could be a full day.”

Marco then instructed you to just change into a hospital gown so he could check how dilated you were. But then Ace screamed again.

“Ace, what now yoi?”

“You can’t look at my girlfriend’s hoo-ha! That’s weird!” He protested.

You didn’t know if you should laugh or yell at him. Instead you just smacked your hand into your face.

“Ace. He’s a doctor. How would you be able to tell? I sure as shit doubt you’d know.”

“Fuck! You’re right! Okay, Marco you can look but do not stare!”

“That makes no sense, Ace,” the doctor sighed.

—

Only a few hours later, your baby boy was delivered. Ace had begged to hold him first after being cleaned up.

And now, you stared at the sight in front of you.

Ace cradling the child against his chest, smiling fondly down at his son.

Your son.

You couldn’t believe you and Ace had a whole living child. Even with nine months to come to terms with that, you were still in awe.

“Ace… at least bring him here,” you asked. You’d only held him for a couple seconds before he was taken away to be cleaned up.

Ace carefully tip-toed over to you, not wanting to wake the boy. It was amusing how he’d stopped crying as soon as his father held him.

He leaned down so you could both clearly see him.

Even being a couple hours old, you could tell he looked exactly like his father. From the freckles to the small patches of black hair. Even the face he made while sleeping, mouth hanging open and eyes relaxed.

“He looks just like you, Ace,” you whispered.

“Really? I wouldn’t know,” Ace said.

“What, you’ve never seen a mirror?” You asked.

“Nah, I just… find it hard to see myself in such an innocent thing.”

“Well, I certainly see it,” you reassured him. “What do you wanna name him?” You asked.

Ace thought for a moment, before saying the name you’d said you really liked a few months back.

#portgas d. ace x reader #ace x reader #portgas d ace x reader #one piece fanfiction #one piece x reader #portgas d. ace #ace one piece #request

[terresdebrume]

Not gonna derail the post that prompted this bc it's about a specific person dying but also anyone that tells you bigotry is going to die with old people is either naive or lying

Yesterday I snapped at my year 8 students because I heard one too many "You're so gay 🤢" comments and I was just like 'You guys know I'm gay, how do you think it makes me feel? How do you think it'll make your gay friends feel?" The fact that I can even say it and not be worried about consequences is a privilege.

A couple weeks ago, I was rearranging the stickers I use to mark which nursery students are present/absent, and as I dealt with one of the two black kids' pictures my student Am., 6 years old, just spontaneously informed me that she did not like black people. I asked if it meant she didn't like the twins because they're black and she said yes. I had a talk with her and went around the reception & nursery teachers to let them know what happened to keep an eye out for the twins, but still. Fucking six.

And then two weeks ago, we were doing an exercise with my y7 where they asked each other about their respective families:

Si., not black: what's your father's name?

Now, I immediately scolded Si., because it wasn't the first time we'd had to have a conversation about how this class treats So. (the boys who get called out often used to automatically go 'So. also makes noise!' every time and at some point I called out the pattern) which has done her real harm already since a bunch of teachers told me she was overreacting and oversensitive, but honestly, since I got the boys to cut the shit out, she's been a lot calmer and relaxed in my class.

So., black: [answers]

Si.: I didn't think you had one.

And the irony is that Si. also suffers from general bigotry bc I'm fairly sure that he has ADHD and the fact that he is incapable of staying calm/quiet makes his life very difficult with his class, but apparently his parents refuse to consider it as a possibility.

Bigotry is not dead. Bigotry will not die, or at least not of old age. Parents teach it to their kids. Parents are doing it to their kids, which is a more insidious way of teaching it. Don't believe anyone who tells you the kids are gonna fix the world without any help or input from us.

#Matt has a life #Shit from work #Matt teaches French #Shit my students say #This one is not a happy one sorry but not sorry

[sanfangirl-cynicalromantic]

You'd Come Back to Me

We've made it to day 3 of @httydhiccstridweek! Today's prompt was 'to discover/explore' + 'braids'

Summary: Sometimes, when she watched the way he threw his head back in the wind, eyes closing and savoring the moment, she wondered if there would ever be a day he wouldn’t stop flying. Was he even a Viking, or a dragon in human form lent to them by the gods for a short time? Was she destined to fall for someone divinely unreachable? Was it selfish of her to even want to chain him down with chiefdom if only to ensure he could never escape to the heavens without her?

Or,

Astrid contemplates growing up and gives Hiccup his braids

Read on AO3:

Hiccup had missed a spot, and Astrid couldn’t take her eyes off of it. He had finally cut his hair once his bangs fell so far into his eyes it was a problem when flying. A couple days ago he had come into the academy and Astrid had had to do a double take at the entirely new silhouette of his head. It was choppy looking, but it suited him. Somehow, his bangs that used to fall into his eyes and hide the bright pigment of green from the world had decided to defy gravity and stick almost straight up. The shorter bits around his face also served to highlight the sharp cheekbones and jaw that were emerging as his baby fat dropped off of his face. Astrid hadn’t really known there was baby fat on his face. He had been skinny for so long; she’d figured he was as fatless as healthily possible. But now, with the piercing green eyes under bushy eyebrows, Hiccup’s now tall frame coupled with that new straight jawline, the concept of growing up seemed a lot more important.

She was the only one who came to the academy every day. The twins had decided the dragon academy was more schooling than adventure, and had devoted themselves to pranking the poor citizens of Berk while Hiccup was busy teaching another lesson. For a while, the lessons had been just tracking the twins and stopping them before they caused another disaster. Snotlout quickly got fed up with the routine and announced his departure from the academy. He was to spend his days testing weapons now with Gobber, but if he was looking for sorrow from his comrades at seeing him go, he was severely disappointed. He wasn’t nearly as important as he thought. When Hiccup still helped Gobber out once a week, all of the weapons he made or repaired were always perfectly balanced and tempered - there was no need to check them further. She no longer checked her axe after he sharpened it. In fact, she usually had Hiccup check it when she sharpened it, as he could tell if it had the slightest of nicks or imbalance she couldn’t sense.

Fishlegs hadn’t wanted to leave the academy, but Hiccup had grown restless with his lessons, and now wanted to explore the Archipelago for new species. Then Fishlegs had been offered a position to help teach the young children of Berk, too young to properly bond and care for a dragon of their own. The Gronckle rider had accepted and now spent every day taking the kids for a ride on Meatlug, recounting various histories of the island, pointing to warriors and speaking of their achievements.

“Bushlout Jorgenson won the Thawfest for eight years in a row,” he’d say, to his audience’s awe. “Not even Spitelout Jorgenson could beat him . . .”

Astrid was growing up, too. She was taller now and at an age where the clucking of old aunties about the length of her skirt drew a frown from her mother instead of defending her against them. She had recut her bangs shorter than before, swept to the side instead of falling straight into her face. Her hair was lighter from riding in the sun so often, and her braid fell farther down her back. She sparred with seasoned warriors when she trained instead of just normal Vikings.

“You could join the Guard,” one of them praised her, and she thanked him but brushed the suggestion aside. Her days were already spoken for. She was the Heir’s right hand, and she couldn’t leave her post.

They were still kids, she kept telling herself, desperate to keep the comradery between her and the Heir as long as she could. Once they started accepting they were growing up, she would go on to become a warrior, everyone knew that, but Hiccup would become the Heir, flying around town or sitting in on council meetings. She wouldn’t see him anymore. The chief rarely ate early, and the Berkian warriors took their meals before night patrol. Hiccup rarely saw his father before he went to bed, and he had a habit of going to bed at ungodly hours. Stoick didn’t have much time for his son, and Hiccup had accepted that, but Astrid selfishly didn’t want to have to live with the same acceptance when it came to Hiccup’s time. They wouldn’t stay friends. He had Toothless for a friend, and the rest he could do without. Astrid would become just another soldier who faithfully followed his orders and he might look upon their time together fondly, reminiscing about ‘when they were kids’ while Astrid would miss him fiercely. Toothless was his first friend, and while Astrid had Stormfly, Hiccup had been her first friend.

So now, even as the seas came up empty, the many spires of rock bare, and Hiccup’s face stoick but disappointed, she stuck to his side, praying he’d know she wasn’t leaving, begging him not to leave her.

“What?” Hiccup turned to look at her. “You keep staring at something and it’s distracting me. Is there a dragon behind me?” He twisted his neck, trying to spot the glimpse of a tail.

“I - no,” Astrid assured him. “It’s just, um, your hair.”

“Does it look bad?” he asked immediately, his eyes wide.

“No!” Astrid exclaimed. “No, it looks good. Nice, a nice change. You just, um - you missed a bit.”

“Where?” he asked, hands going to his ear.

“Not there,” she brushed his hand away. He set his hand in his lap and flexed his fingers. “Right here.” She lightly gripped a few locks under his ear. Their length stuck out quite a bit from the rest of his hair. She combed her fingers through them and - oh. When had his hair gotten so soft? She couldn’t remember the last time she had touched his head but surely she would have remembered the soft, silky slide of his reddish brown locks through her fingers. It felt so fine it was almost ticklish, and her fingers started moving automatically, parting it into sections.

“What are you doing?” Hiccup asked, trying to turn to see what she was doing, but she tugged harshly at the hair in her hands. “Ow!” he yelped.

“Hold still,” she ordered. “I’m doing something.” She was braiding his hair. She was braiding his hair. What was she thinking? How could she not, though?

“Are you braiding it?” Hiccup asked incredulously. She gave him a stern look.

“Hush, all Vikings have braids.” Then, softer, “Do you want me to stop?” Hiccup hesitated.

“No,” he admitted.

“Good,” Astrid said, focusing on the task at hand. She finished one small braid and tied it off. Hiccup reached up to touch it but she smacked his hand away again. “I’m not done,” she scolded. He grumbled but acquiesced.

“There,” she nodded, satisfied, after she finished the second one. Hiccup reached up to touch them, mulling over the feeling and probably debating over whether to take them out.

“Don’t take them out,” she said. It came out like an order, but she knew it was a plea. Don’t forget me. Let me leave you with something to remember me by. She kept waiting for him to do something to ensure their continued companionship even when their duties went separate ways, but he never said anything. The old Hofferson aunties would cluck their tongues disapprovingly when she’d come home late at night, still without a firm promise from the Haddock boy to court her or whatever. She used to hate it; she wasn’t ready for courtship, couldn’t they see that? That was the only reason Hiccup hadn’t made any moves toward her. But as she grew older, putting the extra effort to add a little side braid in her hair before she went to meet him, the slight womanly additions to her clothes, he still continued to treat her as he always had, and now Astrid would bow her head, red faced with shame when one of the old crones shook her head at Hiccup walking her chivalrously to her door, with never a secure promise to return. She wondered now if he didn’t want to court her anymore, now that he’d seen her up close for years, witnessed her hot temper and her struggles to prove herself, her constant need for validation and how she coveted people’s admiration for her strength and honor - even her looks. She knew she wasn’t the only pretty girl who had shown interest in him, and though she was sure no one could quite compare to what she was to him, was that what he wanted?

She wondered where she went wrong sometimes. Should she have let Hiccup court her while they were becoming friends? Would that have made everything better? Or would she have broken their relationship off from the pressure of being a girlfriend before she learned to treasure their friendship? Now, she was way too invested in whatever they had to leave. Even if it was just friendship and Astrid following him to the ends of Midgard just to see him turn in his saddle and grin at her with that excited smile that lit up his eyes, she would take it. He was avoiding his responsibilities, and sometimes when she watched the way he threw his head back in the wind, eyes closing and savoring the moment, she wondered if there would ever be a day he wouldn’t stop flying. Was he even a Viking, or a dragon in human form lent to them by the gods for a short time? Was she destined to fall for someone divinely unreachable? Was it selfish of her to even want to chain him down with chiefdom if only to ensure he could never escape to the heavens without her?

Hiccup didn’t say much about the braids, and they continued to fly and explore, glancing fruitlessly into coves, skimming the surface of the water, flying high into the mountainous forests. Nothing. Not even many wild dragons were found, and all were too docile to warrant any new discoveries. He was frustrated, that draconic part of him itching for satisfaction and unable to find it yet again. She wondered if that frustration was all Hiccup, or if some of it was Toothless, too. Their bond was unlike anything she had ever witnessed, it wouldn’t surprise her to find their thoughts and wanderlust were somehow connected.

As they flew back to Berk, she saw him fiddling with his braids again. She wanted to warn him away from them; what if he undid them? Then she’d have to be annoyed with the accidental difference in length of his hair. At least with the braids in it looked intentional. Or - if he undid them, she supposed she might redo them for him.

Hiccup was terrible at braiding. It was almost funny: he could sew and work leather and cook quite well, especially for someone who had grown up without a mother. But he couldn’t braid. He always passed off braiding leather cords or rope to Ruffnut or her back when they all attended the academy. He wouldn’t be able to redo his braids on his own. He’d have to come to Astrid to have her redo them now. That was - that was actually a good idea. He didn’t have any good friends to do his hair other than her. The chief would never find time to braid - his own beard wasn’t as kept as Astrid’s father’s was, with Mother’s help. He never let Ruffnut get close enough to him, and Gobber wouldn’t be able to braid such tiny ones with his hook. 

It was like that promise those old aunties kept complaining about her not having. It was a mark. Not for other girls who’d come and try to take the spot of Chieftess, but for her. That they were still friends. They could still fulfill the things no one else could for each other. It wouldn’t last, and it was stupid, but to her the braids felt like a promise to return. They were like the bonfire they kept lit on the tower to guide the ships to not break on the rocks, used to sometimes send out flares or reassurance that the coast was safe. As long as he had those, Astrid would know he’d come back to her.

And she’d dread the day he lost those trusty braids.

#HiccstridWeek2024 #day 3 #to discover/explore #braids #Hiccstrid #Astrid Hofferson #Hiccup Haddock #Pre-RTTE #Pining!Astrid #HTTYD #How To Train Your Dragon #idiots to lovers #friends to lovers #they are literally both friendzoning themselves #my writing

[liaromancewriter]

Stating the Obvious

Premise: Cassie struggles with the twins, and Ethan shows off his skills.

Book: Open Heart (post series) Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Cassie Valentine) Rating/Category: Teen. Fluff. Words: 1,470

A/N: Submission for @choicesjanuarychallenge Day 30, "Sleep". I'm also using @choicesflashfics week 15, prompt 3, which will be in bold.

Cassie Valentine had spent years studying, learning and training to become the best in her field. She wasn’t quite there yet, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

It was just a matter of time. Patience. No one became an expert overnight. Not Naveen. Not Ethan. Not her. She wasn’t going to be an anomaly in that legacy.

Still, it was frustrating, she thought with a huff. She felt like a rookie all over again, and it was not fun.

Ethan didn’t have any issues telling the twins apart, while she, who had carried them inside her for almost nine months, constantly mixed them up. What kind of mother was she?

Well, no more. Today, she was going to apply a method that had worked well during her residency and her diagnostic fellowship. And it was foolproof.

She was going to study the heck out of the girls and wouldn’t stop until she cracked the code.

The Twin Code, she snickered, repeating the phrase she and Max used about their bond.

Cassie pulled up the armchair in the nursery and lowered the crib’s railing for an uninterrupted view of the girls. The girls were awake and in a good mood. They were also engrossed in each other, which meant she could watch them without interruption.

They cooed to each other, hands patting heads, feet kicking up in the air. Their giggles and laughter sounded more like kittens mewling. But it was a happy sound, and Cassie almost forgot her mission.

The clouds outside parted then, and sunshine broke through, brightening the room. The twins’ eyes widened as they watched tiny particles swirl in the light above their heads — like pixie dust — and tried to capture them in their fists.

Did Sophie reach first or Eloise? Was one more adventurous than the other?

The girls looked identical but were, in fact, fraternal. She and Ethan had received the DNA test results a few days ago to confirm. Nucleotides and molecular structures were invisible to the human eye and of no help whatsoever in this situation.

The girls had her green eyes, and the arch of their brow was also more Valentine than Ramsey. Their hair, though, would likely darken over time. It was somewhere between blonde and brown, changing shades depending on the light.

Alan told her that Ethan’s hair had been light brown as a baby before changing to dark brown as he grew older. So, Cassie fully expected their daughters to be brunettes.

Brown-haired, green-eyed girls, she thought.

Did Eloise’s hair curl at the edges more than Sophie’s? And was one more blonde than brunette? In this light, they were indistinguishable.

Hmm. This might have been easier if she’d thought to put medical ID bracelets on them first. She couldn’t run a successful experiment without determining Subject A from Subject B. Too late for that now.

She leaned forward and rested her chin on stacked hands at the crib's edge, putting her at eye level with the girls. The movement startled them, and they stopped their play to twist their tiny heads and stare back at her.

Cassie closed her left eye, hoping a single-focused vision would help her tell the difference. A couple of minutes later, she closed her right eye instead. She flipped-flopped between both eyes, but nothing changed.

Still the same, she thought, opening both eyes. She leaned back and drummed her fingers on the armchair.

“Want to help your mom out?” she asked, quirking one brow. “Why don’t I say your name, and you raise your hand, so I know which one is which?”

Their rosebud lips rounded into an O shape. She thought she saw the twins give each other a side-eyed look of disbelief, but it might just be her imagination.

“Okay. Will the real Sophie Clara Ramsey please stand up?”

Cassie laughed when nothing happened. “I guess you’re too young to get the reference. And can’t stand up yet either, so obviously, that won’t work.”

“What are you doing?” Ethan’s voice boomed from the entrance behind her.

At the sound of his voice, the girls became animated and started cooing loudly, their tiny arms flailing to catch his attention.

“Just playing poker with the girls,” Cassie replied and threw him a laughing look over her shoulder. “What do you think I’m doing?”

Ethan rolled his eyes at her amused exasperation. Unfolding his arms, he straightened away from the doorway and walked over to stand behind the armchair.

He placed one hand on her shoulder, and Cassie reached up to entwine their fingers, savoring the warmth of his skin.

“Are those Edenbrook medical ID bracelets?”

Cassie followed his gaze to the items on the side table and grimaced. She had intended to place them on the girls before she began her experiment but forgot.

“I had Bryce pick them up for me. You know. Souvenir.”

“But these are blank,” he said, puzzled as he picked one up. “The ones the girls wore are in the safe upstairs.”

“So, that’s where they went,” Cassie mumbled under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” she said breezily.

“I think it’s about time we stop avoiding the obvious,” Ethan said in a deliberately patient tone as he moved to stand in front of her.

“I’m quite sure I don’t know what you mean,” she said with a dismissive sniff, studiously avoiding his gaze as she smoothened the already smooth crib sheet.

“You can’t tell them apart, can you?” Ethan asked, amused.

Cassie glimpsed a grin on his lips, and her brows snapped together as she tried to stare him down. His amusement was contagious, and she chuckled, shaking her head.

She shot off the armchair and started pacing. “It’s so frustrating, babe! I should know, but they look exactly the same. How do you do it?”

Cassie stopped mid-pace to throw him a questioning look.

“If you must know,” Ethan said, turning away to raise the crib’s railing and lock it in place. “I had a hard time at first, too.”

The girls were no longer paying attention to their parents anyway. They were facing each other, eyes getting drowsy as nap time approached.

“But then I applied my superior diagnostic skills,” he smirked, hooking his arm around her waist when she joined him.

“Explain,” Cassie poked his stomach with her finger when he paused.

“It’s not in their looks, but in their personalities,” he said. “Eloise is usually the first to initiate, and Sophie follows along. Sophie likes to tuck her head when falling asleep while Eloise throws out one leg from under the covers.”

“But how do you know which is which?” Cassie insisted. “For all we know, it’s Sophie leading, not Eloise.”

“I suppose we don’t,” Ethan admitted in a reasonable tone. “Perhaps we should let the girls figure out which is which when they’re older.”

He laughed when Cassie swatted his shoulder. “Not funny, Ethan. I need to solve this mystery! You know how I get.”

“Fine, Dr. Valentine. I’ll share my diagnostic wisdom with you one more time,” he said magnanimously, folding her in his arms.

“Eloise favors her left hand while Sophie is right-handed. Sophie has three tiny freckles on her left hipbone, barely visible, but Eloise has none,” Ethan said, his blue eyes softening with each word.

“And unlike her sister, Eloise has dimples in her cheeks when she laughs. They still wore ID bracelets when I discovered the freckles, so it was just a matter of keeping track afterward. ”

Cassie stared unseeing at his shirt, a considering look in her eyes as she processed his diagnosis.

Now that she thought back, she had noticed the dimples and freckles. And the hand preference, too. During Tummy Time, Eloise often reached with her left hand first.

“Looks like you still had something left to teach me, Dr. Ramsey,” Cassie said eventually, grazing her lips along his jaw.

Ethan just smiled and took her hand in his.

They watched their girls yawn and struggle against sleep. But soon, their eyes started to drift close, and they snuggled close. Sophie did indeed tuck her head on her sister’s shoulder while Eloise threw her leg out, bending it slightly at the knee.

Cassie adjusted the blanket around the twins while Ethan lowered the window shade, and shadows filled the room. She switched on the mobile above the crib, and a soothing melody filled the air.

She followed Ethan out of the nursery and closed the door halfway.

“Got time to discuss more diagnostic principles?” Cassie said, gazing up at him coquettishly.

He pretended to check his wristwatch and then tugged at her. “You know I always have time for you, Rookie.”

When his lips brushed hers, Cassie deepened the kiss and proceeded to show him that, in this matter, she was no rookie.

-----------------

All Fics & Edits: @a-crepusculo @annfg8 @bex-la-get @bluebelle08 @cariantha @choicesaddict5 @coffeeheartaddict2 @crazy-loca-blog @doriopenheart @genevievemd @headoverheelsforramsey @lucy-268 @jamespotterthefirst @jerzwriter @mysticalgalaxysstuff @openheartforeverinmyheart @peonierose @takemyopenheart @potionsprefect @queencarb @quixoticdreamer16 @rookiemartin @tessa-liam @trappedinfanfiction @vi-writes-stuff @zahrachoices

Submissions: @choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics

Ethan & Cassie only: @custaroonie @lady-calypso @hopelessromantic1352 @mrs-ramsey

#ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #open heart #choices open heart #choices fanfics #open heart fanfics #open heart fanfiction #choices fanfiction #choices fic writers creations #cfwc fics of the week #short story #ethan ramsey x cassie valentine #writers on tumblr

[acacia-may]

There Is Happiness (OMORI Kelbrey Fanfiction)

Description: Aubrey hadn’t always been this way. She could still remember a younger, less jaded version of herself who was actually excited about the idea of prom. A happier Aubrey who had used to giggle with Mari over the gowns in store catalogs and dream about all of her friends getting dressed up and going dancing together one day. A more innocent Aubrey who used to spend hours making plans for a future that would never get to happen. Her friends never got to go to a prom, and neither did she…Until now that is...

OR

Nearly a decade after the bad ending of OMORI, Kel and Hero plan a fake "prom" to surprise Sally, drudging up bittersweet memories for Aubrey about her friends--both the ones she had lost and, especially, the ones, who like her, had been left behind to pick up the pieces. Will confronting the past lead her to a brighter future?

Kelbrey Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, & How Their (Functional) Relationship Developed Over Time After the Bad Ending of OMORI. (Note: This is a standalone one shot that is a completely different bad end AU than my other really angsty bad end AU fic).

Relationships: KELBREY (Romantic Kel x Aubrey) CENTRIC (Functional, Healthy, Slow Burn Kelbrey). There are also important platonic friendships discussed & depicted in flashbacks: Aubrey & Hero & Kel friendship, Aubrey & Kel & Sally friendship, Aubrey & Mari friendship, Aubrey & Kel & Sunny & Basil & Hero & Mari friendship [Aubrey & Kel's friendships with Basil, Sunny, & Mari are a recurring & important theme]. Past Romantic Hero x Mari is referenced/heavily implied.

Characters: Aubrey (POV Character), Kel, Hero, Sally, and Mari (Sunny & Basil also appear briefly and are mentioned).

Genre: Slow Burn Romance, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Developing Romance Through the Years, Angst With A Hopeful Ending, Post-Bad Ending, Many Flashback Sequences, Prom

Word Count: 12,748

Rating: T for some heavy themes and thematic elements (i.e. grief & healing from grief and trauma. Implied/Referenced Canonical Character Death & Implied/Referenced Mental Health Issues including depression & suicide).

Warnings: Major Spoilers for OMORI! Heavy themes and thematic elements (i.e. grief & healing from grief and trauma. Implied/Referenced Canonical Character Death & Implied/Referenced Mental Health Issues including depression & suicide). Kissing.

Link to original post on AO3. Please do not repost to another website.

A/N: Unfortunately, I missed Kelbrey Week because I did not know the ship even existed at the time (and had never played OMORI back in the dark ages of a couple of months ago), but I saw the prompts on Tumblr and was really inspired by the Prom prompt. Not only did the idea of "Kelbrey Prom" get a bunch of wheels turning in my brain, it also just so happened to be the prompt on my birthday, so I felt like it was it was just meant to be and I needed to write this story as soon as I had the idea. So I just wanted to offer a word of many, many thanks to @kelbreyweek for the prompt & inspiration for this story. 💕

Story below the cut. Thank you for reading!

Aubrey slammed her foot on the brake. She had lived in Faraway Town her whole life and still forgot about that stop sign. She probably always would.

The intersection was bustling today, and there was far more traffic than usual for a Saturday night. Aubrey supposed that was to be expected seeing as it was their local high school’s prom tonight, and the streets and sidewalks were filled with gussied-up teenagers in suits and poofy, colorful dresses. Aubrey rolled her eyes, conveniently ignoring the fact that she was in a pink prom dress herself—but at the very least it wasn’t that poofy.

Aubrey didn’t understand all the prom hype, especially now that she was trying to drive with teens darting in and out of the road and the straps of her dress uncomfortably digging into her arms whenever she tried to turn her steering wheel. She sighed. She sounded like such a grouchy old woman.

She hadn’t always been like that. The memories were hazy now, but she could still remember a younger less weathered, less jaded version of herself who was actually excited about the idea of prom.

*-*-*

“They’re so lucky,” sighed Aubrey glancing up from her pizza to watch the group of teenagers who had just walked into Gino’s dressed up in their finest suits and prettiest dresses for the prom.

Mari chuckled but patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry. That’ll be you too soon enough.”

“It’ll be you sooner,” Aubrey insisted with a widening smile. “You’ll get to go in just a couple of years, right?” She paused, then giggled teasingly. “With Hero.”

Hero’s face flushed, and he grew suddenly interested in his piece of pizza. Mari’s expression softened—something affectionate passing over her eyes as she chuckled at him behind her hand. She shrugged her shoulders then teased, “I don’t know. I might have to think about it,” but she winked at him and the blush in his cheeks deepened.

“Why do you even need a date to the prom anyway? Can’t you just go with your friends?” asked Kel as he practically shoveled pizza into his mouth.

Aubrey rolled her eyes and huffed. “Don’t talk with food in your mouth. It’s so gross.”

“You’re gross,” bantered Kel, sticking his tongue out at her before shoving the rest of his piece of pizza into his mouth.   

Aubrey huffed again, but Hero gently interrupted changing the subject. “I think people do go to prom in groups with their friends. You don’t have to take a date like in the movies.” He paused before turning to his brother with a dry, bantering smile. “But if you want someone to take you, I’m sure Kel can.”

“No way! I’m not going to the prom with her. Basil can take her.”

“Wha—what? Why me?” stumbled Basil, bright red in the face.

“Because they always have those flower bracelets at the prom in the movies and you know all about flowers and stuff.”

“That’s called a corsage, moron,” bantered Aubrey. “And don’t worry, I’d rather go to prom with Hector than you.”

With a confused tilt of his head, Kel blinked at her. “Can we take dogs to prom? Awesome!” Kel beamed, and Aubrey rolled her eyes. “I’ll take Hector then, and Basil can take Aubrey.”

Basil’s blush deepened as he twisted his hands. “Well…um…I mean…” He paused, swallowing hard. “Well…maybe Sunny can take you…? He’s probably better at dancing.”

“Sunny will take you,” agreed Mari with a warm smile. “Won’t you, Sunny?”

Sunny pursued his lips together and pensively stared at his hands. Aubrey wasn’t sure but his face seemed a little more flushed than usual. He finally nodded briskly and quietly said, “Okay” though he wouldn’t look up from his plate.

Mari’s smile widened, and she chuckled. “See, problem solved.”

“I don’t understand why we can’t just all go to prom together,” sighed Kel. “You, me, Sunny, Basil, and Hector, and Hero and Mari too even though they’ll be older. We can all just go as friends.”

“That sounds nice,” said Sunny so quietly he was difficult to hear over the low roar and ruckus of the restaurant patrons.

“See!” exclaimed Kel triumphantly. “Sunny agrees with me. We should all just plan to go together as friends.”

“You might change your mind when you get older, Kel,” teased Hero with a dry but affectionate smile. Kel grimaced, sticking his tongue out at his older brother.

“No way!” He huffed then turned to Basil. “You think this sounds like a good idea, right Basil?”

“Wha—what? Oh…uh…yeah okay…” he stammered unsurely.

“Aubrey?”

Kel crossed his arms and glared at her, but Aubrey sighed and conceded, “Alright, but only because Sunny likes the idea. It might be nice for all of us to go as friends, but if I get a date, he’s coming with us too, okay?”

Mari started laughing behind her hand as Kel exaggeratedly rolled his eyes and huffed, “Whatever.”

*-*-*

A bittersweet smile tugged at Aubrey’s mouth. How silly they were then—how innocent. There was a pang in her chest, even now, so many years later as she remembered how they had spent hours together talking and laughing—making plans for a future that would never get to happen. She remembered how she used to giggle with Mari over the evening gowns in department store catalogs, sighing wistfully at the billboards advertising that year’s prom theme at the local high school, and dreaming of the day they’d get to go to one themselves. Aubrey’s chest ached as she sighed. Mari never got to go to a prom, and neither did she…

*-*-*

Tears prickled in Aubrey’s eyes as she glanced over the unworn prom dress still hanging up on the back of the closet door. She would probably feel better if she just shoved it into the back of her closet, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She had worked so hard for that dress—picking up extra shifts at Gino’s to afford such a luxury. She had justified it by reminding herself it was probably the only time in her life that she would get to wear such a dress, and this one was exactly what she had always dreamed: deep pink, floor-length chiffon. As soon as she saw it in the department store, a real, genuine smile had tugged at her mouth for the first time in so long that the sensation had felt almost foreign to her. And when she had finally bought the dress and tried it on for her friends to see, Charlene had quietly said she looked happy in it. She didn’t need to add that Aubrey hadn’t looked happy for a very long time.

A tear streamed down Aubrey’s cheek. She had wanted to wear that dress and go to the prom, but she just couldn’t—not today. Not now. Not without them.

Aubrey sniffled—rubbing her hand across her throbbing forehead. Her headache was so severe that she was actually starting to hear the pounding of her head. Or at least she thought she was until her mother called in a slurred, irritated voice,   

“Aubrey! Get the door.”

Aubrey quickly wiped her eyes and scurried downstairs.

“Tell them whatever they’re selling we don’t want it,” her mother added with a dismissive wave of her hand as Aubrey walked by the couch carefully tiptoeing around the empty liquor bottles which littered the ground.

Aubrey wasn’t sure who was at their front door, but she doubted a salesman would be bothering them at this time of night. Still she mumbled, “Okay” as she turned the bolts of the lock and opened the door.

“Hey, Aubrey,” said Kel with a slight wave of his hand and a friendly smile. “How’s it going?”

Aubrey could only blink at him. He was dressed in a nice, dark suit with an unexpected bright pink tie. If she had been feeling better, she probably would’ve thought of a dry quip to tease him about it but instead she just sighed, ushering him out onto the porch before her mother got irritated by the noise.

“Kel, what are you doing here?” she asked through her teeth. “Aren’t you supposed to be at prom?”

Kel shrugged. “I was there for a while, but you weren’t there so I thought I’d come check on you.”

“Sorry…”—Aubrey’s face flushed—“I tried to call you…”

“I know,” he interrupted. “I got your message. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just…I…uh…wasn’t feeling up to it.” Aubrey sighed, hoping that Kel wouldn’t read too much into it.

“Oh…are you feeling sick? The pharmacy should still be open. I can run down to—”

“No, Kel,” she cut him off, placing her hand on his arm. “That is…uh…I’m fine. You should go back to the prom. I don’t want to ruin your night.”

Kel’s expression softened, and he smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it. The prom was kind of boring without you anyway.” He paused. “You sure you don’t want to—?”

“Yeah,” she cut him off just a little too forcefully, trying her best to frown despite her flushed face.

“Okay…” he said quietly. “Then…do you mind if I hang out here for a little while?”

Aubrey’s face grew warm with guilt and embarrassment. Just because she had ruined her own night didn’t mean she had to ruin Kel’s as well. “You really don’t have to do that.”

“Nah. I want to. I’d rather spend tonight with you than at the dumb prom anyway.”

“Kel, I can’t let you do that,” she insisted, but he smiled at her.

“It’s just a bunch of people dancing and stuff—and sure that’s fun and all but it’s not as cool as everyone acts like it is.” He shrugged his shoulders. “They did hang all these Christmas lights from the ceiling though and that was kinda cool—since the theme is ‘A Night Under the Stars.’” Sighing, Kel took a seat on the porch—leaning back on his hands and looking up at the sky. “But there are real stars out here which are better anyway.”

“Kel…” Aubrey began to argue, but she wasn’t sure what to say. “You can’t just miss your prom.”

“Sure I can,” he shrugged with matter-of-fact nonchalance. “You are, aren’t you? And the prom always mattered way more to you. You were really looking forward to it…” Kel’s brow furrowed thoughtfully. “Did someone break your heart or something so you didn’t want to come anymore?”

Aubrey stifled a breathy chuckle but shook her head. “No. Nothing like that. I wasn’t even planning on going with a date.” She paused, glancing over at Kel’s pink tie. “Won’t your date be upset that you left?”

“Oh uh…” chuckled Kel awkwardly, fidgeting with his tie. “I didn’t go with one.”

“Really?” The question slipped out before Aubrey could think to stop it, but Kel just shrugged his shoulders.

“Yep.” He paused and sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “To tell you the truth, I—I kind of wanted to ask this one girl, but it didn’t work out. Oh well…”

Aubrey paused. While he was one of her best friends, they never really discussed their love lives or lack thereof. She didn’t even know Kel was romantically interested in anyone and couldn’t even begin to guess who it was. She supposed it was none of her business, but if Kel had left prom early because of this girl rather than just to check on her, it would certainly help her feel better about things.

“Is she the reason you left?” asked Aubrey taking a seat next to him on the porch.

Kel froze, and his cheeks flushed. “Wha—what?” he stumbled, more awkward than she ever would’ve expected from the happy-go-lucky Kel. He chuckled lightly but didn’t say no.

“It’s okay if she is. I wasn’t going to tease you or anything. I just—” She stopped. “I just don’t want to you miss out,” she said in a shaky voice. “Especially not because of me.”

“I already said don’t worry about it. I’d rather spend prom night with you, even if we don’t actually go to the prom.” Aubrey’s mouth twitched, she could almost hear the smile in his voice, but she frowned with a heavy sigh.

“But you already missed the last one…”

“Because Basil—” Kel’s voice cracked. He didn’t finish that statement, but he didn’t have to. Basil had died just a few weeks before their Junior Prom and the last thing either of them had wanted to do was go to some big party, especially one that Basil should have been attending himself, and instead they had spent prom night at the spot in the park where they had always had picnics with their friends, then sitting around Kel’s kitchen table looking through Basil’s old photo albums.

Aubrey had never told Kel that she had been considering skipping prom months before Basil’s death anyway, too saddened by the idea of having to go without Sunny and of Mari having never been able to go to hers. Basil’s death and the note he left behind for them was the final straw. She wouldn’t have blamed Kel if he had still wanted to go himself, but he had told her he was just too sad. She could understand that. Back then, it really felt like neither of them would ever be happy again.

But this year… she had been so determined, so set on going and trying to have to good time because she knew her friends wouldn’t want her to miss out on it on their account. Aubrey’s insides twisted, and her eyes burned, tears prickling behind them again.

“Aubrey?” When she turned to look at him, the faint flush of red had faded from his cheeks and his expression had softened but a look of concern quickly passed over his eyes. “Have you been crying?”

Aubrey’s face grew hot, and she swallowed hard as she frantically swiped at her eyes again. How red and puffy were they that Kel had noticed? “You can’t just ask someone that, Kel,” she replied with a shaky, bantering huff, but Kel only blinked at her.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, and Aubrey bit her lip. She couldn’t believe him—skipping over the ‘are you sure you’re okay?’ questions and straight to the ‘do you want to talk?’ Aubrey sighed though she felt a blush fill her cheeks and she fidgeted. She should probably expect it by now, given how many deep conversations she and Kel had been having over the past two years ever since Sunny and Basil had passed away. Her chest ached at the thought. Kel was giving her that look now—like he could see right through her, knew something was wrong and knew she was hurting even if she didn’t have the words to say it. She could see his pain too—that hollowness that crept into his smiles, that bittersweet sadness in his eyes. Kel’s eyes reflected the same pain that ached in her chest whenever she thought of Mari or Sunny or Basil. She was sure he could see his own grief in her as well, and perhaps that’s what had led them to find each other in the first place, in the wake of the loss of their friends—clinging to each other like two lost souls, sharing things with each other they could never even begin to tell anyone else.

“You can talk to me,” he gently encouraged her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Aubrey took a deep breath. She didn’t know if she wanted to unpack this, and she certainly didn’t want to dump it all onto Kel. She already felt guilty enough that he had left the prom to check up on her. But the look on Kel’s face was so warm and so kind, and the words, the painful truth was eating away at her waiting to be told to someone.

“You remember how we’d all promised we’d go to prom together someday?”

Kel’s brow furrowed. “Not really, but my memories of everyone are getting fuzzy…” There was a painful sadness cutting through his words as he said them.

“It’s okay. It wasn’t a big moment or anything. We were just at Gino’s joking around about it once, after a group of teenagers dressed for prom came in.” She paused. “You said you wanted to bring your dog.”

“Oh yeah…” said Kel with the slight twitch of a smile. “I remember that now. Mari was teasing Hero about taking her someday, and Sunny agreed with me that it would be nice if all of us could go together as friends.” Sighing, Kel paused—something bittersweet passing over his eyes. “You’re sad you couldn’t go with them, aren’t you?”

It wasn’t really a question.

Aubrey sniffled and nodded, and Kel cut her off reaching out to her. “Oh Aubrey, I…”

“It’s not just that. I was actually planning on going. I wanted to go. I bought a dress and everything. I knew it was going to be a hard day, but I was determined to do this. I knew they wouldn’t want me to miss out—would’ve wanted to me to go, even if I was sad they couldn’t be there with me.” Her voice cracked, and Kel nodded solemnly, understandingly.

“But…but…” she stumbled over her words as her eyes burned. “I was out of hairspray and knew I needed some for tonight, so I was riding my bike down to The Other Mart, and I saw there was a group of kids in the park and…” The tears started to pool in Aubrey’s eyes, and she took a deep, shaky breath, barely managing to choke out, “They were making flower crowns…”

She swiped at the tears that began to splash down her cheeks as she stumbled in the bits and pieces of sentences she could manage despite the panging ache in her chest, “I just—I just froze. I…I couldn’t stop thinking about…I turned around and came straight home and I just haven’t been able to stop crying…” She sniffled, wiping her eyes. “I know it’s so silly…to let something like that ruin my whole day, especially when it’s the prom, but I just started thinking about them and how they never got to go to prom and all the things they never got to do and will never get to do and…” Her voice trailed, as her words got choked by a sob in the back of her throat.

“I know,” sighed Kel quietly, giving her a reassuring pat on the back and pulling her into a hug. Aubrey took a few deep shaky breaths as she pressed her chin to Kel’s shoulder.

“It’s so stupid…” she mumbled, angry with herself as she pulled away from him.

“It’s not stupid at all.” He sighed heavily. “You know the other day I was supposed to be picking up a couple of groceries for my mom, and I was in that aisle in The Other Mart where they keep all the soups and sauces and stuff, and there was this lady there with her kids and the one kid dropped this big jar of spaghetti sauce—made a huge mess”—he paused as his breath hitched—”And I remembered that time we all tried to make spaghetti to surprise Hero, and I dropped the jar on the counter and the sauce splattered everywhere—it got in Basil’s hair and… Sunny was blinking at me with sauce all over his face and you were so mad but Mari just laughed…” He paused, swallowing hard. “It was like I couldn’t breathe. I ran out of there—totally forgot about the groceries.”

“Kel…” Aubrey began as she hugged him more tightly.

“I guess the moral of the story is neither one of us should be going shopping at the Other Mart, huh?” Kel chuckled lightly, but he sniffled and Aubrey could feel his shoulders trembling like he was trying not to cry.

They just sat there holding each other for a long time. No words were spoken, but they didn’t have to be. They understood—shared this pain of being the ones left behind. Kel sniffled, and Aubrey wondered if he was crying. It wouldn’t be the first time he had cried in front of her, and she knew—they both probably knew—that it wouldn’t be the last.

“You know, sometimes I think, I’m okay,” Kel managed in a wavering voice. “I still miss them, of course, but I’m not going to just start crying in the grocery store…but then…something like that happens and I just…I don’t know if I’m ever going to be okay. Like there was this whole life that I had before, but it’s all over and now I have this new life and even if things get better and it doesn’t hurt as much all the time, that sadness is always going to be there. There’s always going to be something missing, and I’m never going to not miss them.”

Aubrey sniffled and pulled away from him to look in his face, but that deep, indescribable pain in his misty eyes made her forget her words. She supposed it didn’t really matter. There was nothing she could possibly say that would make him feel better—she knew that better than anyone.

“Sorry,” he said hurriedly as he wiped his tears away. “I didn’t mean to make this about me. I feel really bad for dumping all that on you, especially when you were already upset.”

“No. I’m…I’m glad you told me, Kel,” she said hugging him again. “It’s…nice to know I’m not the only one…”

“You’re definitely not the only one—but it really does feel like you and me against the world sometimes, right?”

A kind, bittersweet smile pulled at the corners of Aubrey’s mouth as Kel wrapped an arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Sometimes.”

“Hero too, but…” Kel paused, fidgeting. Aubrey nodded in understanding. He didn’t have to explain. She knew Hero worried especially about his younger brother which made it more difficult to open up to him about all of this sometimes, plus he was away at school and neither one of them wanted to bother him, especially when he was suffering a lot on his own.

“He missed his prom, too, didn’t he?” asked Aubrey quietly, changing the subject. Kel hummed, and she could feel him nod in response.

“But it’s overrated anyway…”

*-*-*

Kel was probably right, and the prom was overrated. That didn’t mean that she didn’t have the occasional regret about not going to hers, however. It wasn’t something she ever really talked about, but if she didn’t know better she would have thought that the fact she had skipped out on hers was part of the reason that Kel had invited her over tonight for the “prom” he and Hero had been putting together to surprise their younger sister, Sally.

Even though Sally was far too young to go to a prom, she was fairly vocal about the fact that she desperately wanted to. Though Aubrey thought it was a little odd to throw a prom for a little kid, she supposed there was no harm to it, and it was sweet that Hero and Kel were always trying to do such nice things for their little sister. She had also offered to help put it all together though she reminded Kel that she had never actually been to a prom so what would she possibly know about it? He said it wasn’t anything too fancy, but still insisted they should all dress up nicely. Just luckily Aubrey had had her unused prom dress from her own senior prom still hanging up in the back of her closet collecting dust. She supposed it was nice to finally get the chance to wear it, even if that meant getting stuck in stop-and-go traffic for half an hour.

Aubrey sighed. There was never any traffic on the way to prom in the movies. The people just got into their car—or their limo—and whipped right to the school without another car on the road. It was more than little unfair. Though she supposed she should know better than thinking of movies, especially teen rom coms, as real life.

*-*-*

“Okay, okay. I know we watch this movie every year, but I still don’t understand: can everybody at this school afford a limo? And where do the limos go when they’re all at prom?” asked Kel between bites of what had to be his third or fourth piece of birthday cake. Hero had been apologizing profusely for the fact it was store bought this year, but they understood he was extremely busy in medical school. They tried to reassure him that Mari would understand too, but Aubrey wasn’t sure if he had believed them. “How do all the limos even fit in the parking lot?”

“I don’t know, Kel,” Aubrey sighed, setting her piece of cake on the coffee table. “Just don’t think about it too much.”

“Listen, I went to prom—well part of it, and nobody came in a limo. Nobody,” Kel insisted forcefully, gesturing emphatically at her with his fork and flinging cake and frosting onto her face.

Aubrey huffed. “Kel!”

“Oh, you’ve got something on your nose,” he teased before playing poking at it with his finger.

“Here’s some napkins,” said Hero, handing her a stack of napkins with that said ‘Happy Birthday’ surrounded by balloons.

“Thank you.” Aubrey nodded at Hero then rolled her eyes at Kel shaking her head, but his attention was transfixed on the movie again, probably still wondering about the limos.

Aubrey sighed. Every year they watched Mari’s favorite movie for her birthday, and every year Kel found something else about it that didn’t make sense to him. Last year, it was how nobody in the school had worn anything even close to the same outfit. The year before that it was how the main character who was supposed to be smart hadn’t ever questioned her love interest’s obviously complicated motivations in asking her to the prom in the first place. This year it was the limos.

Aubrey sometimes wondered if Kel had only started this tradition of chattering away during the movie in the hopes that it would keep her and Hero’s spirits up and prevent them from being too sad that Mari wasn’t there to celebrate her birthday with them. But other times—like now, when she watched him pick up his piece of cake with his hands and shove it into his mouth as the icing squished into his face, she thought it was probably more likely that it was just Kel being Kel.

A smile tugged her lips in spite of herself, but she pushed the thought away. She’d never admit that she was glad Kel was around to ask dumb questions about the movie, and as she watched the small smile in the corners of Hero’s mouth, she was sure he felt the same way.

When the credits began to roll, Hero started cleaning up the cake, plates, and napkins, and Kel started prattling away again. “Why do movies make prom into such a big deal, anyway? They act like it’s the most important thing that will ever happen to you.”

“Well…” Hero sighed, his brow furrowing thoughtfully. “I think they need a climatic moment for the story, and when the characters are teenagers, they can’t have a wedding or something like that so they use the prom.”

“It’s really not as cool as all that though. I was honestly kind of let down.” Kel’s mouth curved into a teasing, lopsided grin before he chuckled, seemingly getting distracted once again by his cake. “This cake was great, by the way!”

“You can thank Aubrey for that. She picked it up from Nona’s.”

Aubrey shrugged. “It’s no big deal. I was in there anyway.” She stopped, not quite ready to admit that she was in that bakery a lot. It was one of her favorite places in their college town, and she liked to treat herself with a pastry every now and again after exams, if she did well on them of course.

“Sorry I couldn’t make one this year…” Hero apologized again with red, apologetic cheeks. “Neuroanatomy is just kicking my tushie.”

Aubrey and Kel broke into raucous laughter. “Your tushie? Really, Hero?” teased Kel.  

“What are you—five?” Aubrey bantered.

“You know what I mean,” sighed Hero. Though his cheeks were flushed, he was smiling in spite of himself. “Medical school is hard.” He sighed again. “I’m sure Aubrey understands being in nursing and all.”

“I’m glad I’m going to be a nurse and not a doctor—there’s too much memorizing. I’m not smart enough for that.”

“Don’t say that, Aubrey,” chimed Kel. “You and Hero are both super smart—you know all kinds of medical stuff. I could never do what you do.”

“Well I’m sure neither of us could ever do what you do either, Kel,” Aubrey insisted, and Hero nodded in agreement. “You can fix anything, and I wouldn’t even know what to do with a welding torch if my life depended on it.”

Kel chuckled his face brightening. “I can show you sometime if you want. It’s really not that hard.”

“Says the ‘Welder of the Year,’” bantered Aubrey.  

“It was only ‘of the month,’ and…”  

“I still have the newsletter hanging up on our refrigerator,” interjected Hero with a proud smile. Kel scratched the back of his neck as his face flushed.

“You can take that down, you know? It’s really not that big of a deal…” He sighed. “I only fix engines and stuff. I don’t save lives or anything like you guys.”

Aubrey sighed, shaking her head. “I’ve never saved a life.”

“I’ve barely even left my classroom,” said Hero. “So you’ve at least got one up on me. You’re in clinicals now, aren’t you?”

Aubrey nodded. “Yeah. I’m trying to get a job as a student nurse too. I just interviewed in behavioral health and psychiatry.”

She stopped abruptly as Kel and Hero’s eyes widened, a certain sadness in them that Aubrey had used to see all the time but which hadn’t been in their expressions in a while. A silence spread through the room, and Aubrey sighed, wishing she hadn’t mentioned it. She was about to apologize for bringing it up and ruining the mood of everyone’s evening, but then she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders and a gentle hand patting her back.

“That’s great, Aubrey,” said Kel with a kind smile and soft expression. “I hope you get it and help a lot of people.”

“Me too,” said Hero. “I think you’ll be great at that.”

“Thanks,” Aubrey mumbled, her face feeling suddenly warm.

“Well, I think this deserves a toast.” Kel stood up from his seat and poured some cups of coffee from the coffee maker for them.

Aubrey quirked an eyebrow at him. “We’re toasting coffee?”

“Yes,” he answered, completely unphased as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He held up his coffee cup. “To Aubrey, soon to be ‘World’s Greatest Nurse.’”

He winked at her, and Aubrey shook her head but bantered, holding up her own cup, “And to Kel—Welder of the Year,”

“Would you stop it with that?” he teased under his breath as a flush of red filled his cheeks. He shook his head and turned to Hero. “And to Hero—who can do anything!”

“And everything,” added Aubrey as Hero turned away from them blushing a bright red.

“You guys…” he mumbled.

“And let’s toast Mari too,” said Kel. “Happy Birthday, Mari!”

“Happy Birthday, Mari,” Hero and Aubrey replied with kind, bittersweet smiles.

As they took sips of their coffee, Aubrey’s lips puckered, and her face contorted as she resisted the urge to spit hers out. Even Hero grimaced.

“What in the world is this, Kel?” She reached for her water to try to rinse out the taste.

“Oh you’re never gonna believe it, but Orange Joe makes ground coffee now.”

“Why?” groaned Aubrey.

“You really should warn us first,” Hero quipped dryly with a slight smile, but Kel just shrugged.

“What? I thought it was pretty good.”

“I don’t know how you drink this garbage. It tastes like rotten oranges,” Aubrey bantered. “It would’ve been better if we toasted with broccoli juice or something.”

“I have some soda in the pantry. Let’s just use that.” Hero, always the peace-maker, got up from his seat and made his way to the kitchen with a gentle smile. Once he was gone, Kel finished off his cup of coffee and turned to her with a soft expression in his eyes.

“Hey Aubrey?”

“Yeah?” she asked, her brow furrowing.

“I think it’s really great that you want to be a psych nurse and everything.”

Aubrey sighed. “I don’t know if it’ll work out, Kel. I mean I just interviewed so…”

“It’ll work out,” he cut her off with a reassuring smile. “I know it will, and when it does, I know you’re gonna be great. I…”—he paused and glanced away from her—"I think you’re really great—at everything.”

Aubrey’s cheeks grew warm from the compliment. “Thank you, Kel. I think you’re—”

She didn’t get to finish that thought, however, as Kel wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into an unexpected but welcomed hug. Aubrey pressed her chin to his shoulder and gave him a pat on the back. She waited for him to let go of her, but he held her far longer than usual.

Finally, he whispered so quietly she almost couldn’t hear him. “Do a good job, okay? For all of us…”

Aubrey nodded. She contemplated pulling away from him, but he ran his hand through the ends of her long hair mumbling, “And Aubrey…Uh…I was wondering…”

“Yeah?” she shivered, in spite of herself.

“Uh…” he began again, and she could feel his hands begin to shake as they gently held onto her.

“Do you want diet or regular? I also have a few cherry—” Hero’s voice stopped abruptly. “Oh sorry… I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Kel and Aubrey quickly pulled away from each other. Aubrey could only hope she wasn’t blushing as much as she feared. Her cheeks burned, but she and Kel hurriedly talked over each other, reassuring Hero it was fine, and he wasn’t interrupting anything. Aubrey’s head reeled, but Kel seemed completely unphased, politely declining Hero’s soda and pouring himself another cup of Orange Joe.

As Kel stood up from his seat beside her on the sofa, Aubrey could have sworn that Hero shot her a knowing, somewhat teasing smile that made her stomach twist. She bit her lip and tried her best to push the thought away—nervously, reaching for her coffee cup in an attempt at nonchalance and unfortunately failing to remembered it was still full of Orange Joe until she had actually taken a sip. Aubrey grimaced at the bitter taste, but her cheeks burned as she watched Hero’s mouth twitched in the corners at her.

*-*-*

Aubrey wished she could say that was the last time she ever accidentally tried Orange Joe. It wasn’t, but both her and Hero did get much better at predicting whether or not Kel was trying to pawn the drink off onto them. It had a distinctively putrid citrusy odor that, eventually, made it much easier to identify. If she knew Kel, there would probably be a whole pitcher full of it at the “prom” he was putting together even though Hero had insisted multiple times that Sally was much too young for coffee.

It was nice to hear that Hero was going to get to come tonight, too. He had been so busy with his residency that they didn’t get to see too much of them these days. Even Kel who was his roommate said he was lucky if he occasionally managed to catch Hero as he was heading to the hospital when Kel himself was getting home from his third shift at the manufacturing plant where he worked. Hero promised them that he was happy, just very busy, and they respected his need for rest, even if it was starting to feel a little bit like her and Kel against the world again.

That reminded her, she ought to give him a call about the traffic—letting him know she was going to be late.

“Hey Kel,” she began, but his voice, muffled and staticky from what Aubrey presumed was a bad connection, cut her off.

“Hi Aubrey. What’s up?”

“Well, I’m on my way, but I’m stuck in traffic. You would not believe how many cars are out here right now.” Aubrey sighed wearily. “On their way to prom probably”

“Have you seen any limos?”

Aubrey laughed. “No, Kel. No limos. I really don’t think we even have those in Faraway Town.”

“That’s probably true.” He chuckled before changing the subject. “It’s no big deal if you’re late or anything. Just drive safely, and you can let yourself in through the fence to the backyard.”

“Oh, are you having it outside?”

Kel hummed. “Yeah, it was such a nice night that I thought it would be fun to dance out on the porch and stuff. I’ve been practicing my dancing, and I think I’m a lot better than the last time you danced with me so…”

Aubrey’s face grew suddenly hot, but she took a deep breath, trying and failing not to think of the last night Kel had danced with her…

*-*-*

“Okay, explain to me again how you came to win dancing lessons?” quipped Aubrey, quirking an eyebrow at Kel, but he merely shrugged at her.

“Well I bought a bunch of raffle tickets because I wanted this ceramic chicken.” He paused before adding hurriedly with a sheepish smile, “And, you know, to support the hospital and everything too.”

Aubrey sighed and shook her head, but Kel didn’t seem to notice. It was very nice of Kel to come with her to her hospital’s charity benefit. They were raising money to build a new wing which would mean more beds in the juvenile behavioral health ward where she worked as a nurse. She had told Kel that the gala was mostly for the really big donors, and she was just inviting him for his company so he shouldn’t feel obligated to donate anything. Even so, it was sweet of him to try to buy some raffle tickets for some of the less expensive items.

A smile twitched in the corners of her mouth. It was just like Kel to do something thoughtful like that—especially for a dumb reason like wanting a ceramic chicken he could probably buy for himself half-as-cheap at a local home goods store.

“I was going to put all the tickets in the drawing for the basket with the chicken,” Kel prattled on. “But then some of the other people were giving me these weird looks, so I started to put them in the drawing for some of the other raffle baskets too, and I guess I won the one with the dancing lessons.” With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Kel frowned disappointedly. “Didn’t win the chicken though. I was pretty bummed about that.”

“What would you even do with a ceramic chicken?” Aubrey teased dryly.

“I don’t know, but I’d probably get more use out of it than dance lessons.”

A chuckle escaped Aubrey’s mouth as she barely stifled a laugh—turning back to the stove where she was frying some potatoes as they waited for the lasagna they were making for dinner to be finished cooking in the oven. It wouldn’t be nearly as good as Hero’s, but he was far too busy with his residency to cook for even himself these days. They were making this meal to surprise him when he got home and to celebrate his first weekend off in months.

“Do you want to take them with me?” asked Kel as he absent-mindedly stirred the pudding they were making for dessert.

Aubrey tilted her head at him. “The dance lessons?”

“Yeah. It’s for two people, and I didn’t really know who else to bring.”

“What about Hero?” She didn’t realize how silly that suggestion sounded until Kel laughed.

“Hero is a great dancer already, and he’s super busy right now anyway.”

With a conceding shrug of her shoulders, Aubrey sighed. “Isn’t there someone else you’d rather bring, Kel?”

“Nope,” he replied immediately, clearly not understanding the meaning behind her words. “Why would there be?”

“Well…you know…some people think that dancing can have a more romantic connotation, so I was just thinking that if you were interested in someone you might want to bring…” Her voice trailed as she tilted her head confused and inquisitively at the unreadable expression on Kel’s face.

“Oh…uh…well…” Kel chuckled though he rubbed his hand sheepishly across the back of his neck. “Actually, I’d rather take you, but if you don’t want to come, you can just say...”

“It’s fine, Kel.” With a shrug, Aubrey stared down at the potatoes, put the lid over the pan, and turned the stove down to low heat so they could simmer. Her mouth twitched into a bantering smile. “I just meant, you should probably be careful going around asking other girls to go dancing with you. They might get the wrong idea.”

“Is it really that much of a romantic thing?” asked Kel blinking at her.

Aubrey shrugged again. “It is in the movies.”

“But that’s just the movies. They make everything romantic, especially when it doesn’t have to be. Like how they always make it seem like prom is the best night of your life or when the couple dances together there one time, they’re suddenly desperately in love forever.” Kel laughed, but Aubrey frowned.

“I didn’t mean it like—” She huffed, shaking her head. “And what would you know about prom anyway, you barely even went to ours?”

“I went to enough of it to know that it wasn’t super magical or anything, and yeah, I danced with a few girls, but it’s not like I’m just pining for them forever now.” Kel paused, chuckling to himself, and Aubrey’s face flushed but her brow furrowed. Was he making fun of her?

“That’s not the same thing. For some girls it’s different. They romanticize it in their heads”—she sighed—“not me but…”

“That’s because you’re a cynic,” teased Kel.

“And you’re a moron—especially if you think that another girl wouldn’t take your invitation to dancing lessons in a romantic way.”

Kel just shrugged and admitted, “I don’t get it.”

“Well…what if you had danced with that girl, the one you actually wanted to take as your prom date? Don’t you think that would’ve been special?”

“I didn’t get to dance with her—ever actually, but I don’t think it would’ve changed anything. A dance is just dance, isn’t it?” He tilted his head as a bantering smile tugged at his lips. “You’re acting like if I just started dancing with you right now, you’d—?”

“K—Kel?” Aubrey’s breath hitched as he slipped his arms around her waist. “What are you doing?”

“Proving a point,” he insisted with a shrug.

Aubrey huffed. “There isn’t even any music.”

“Oh.” Kel absentmindedly tilted his head before pulling out his phone, presumably choosing a song to play. As the song’s intro began to play, he set his phone on the counter and held out his hand to her.

“Can I have this dance?” he asked with a playfully melodramatic bow, and Aubrey sighed with a somewhat affectionate roll of her eyes.

“Fine,” she sighed. “Whatever will get you to focus on cooking again.”

Kel smiled brightly as he wrapped his arms around her waist again. As he met her eyes, she looked away abruptly—clearing her throat as she snaked her arms around his neck. He was so close to her. Her cheeks felt warm, and she swallowed hard, pushing the thought away. ‘It’s just Kel,’ she reminded herself.

He began swaying—Aubrey shook her head—off tempo with the music. “You really can use those dance lessons,” she teased though there was a certain, uncharacteristic shakiness that seeped into her words. She pursed her lips and mentally kicked herself. What was wrong with her all of a sudden?

She could almost feel Kel’s chuckle reverberating in his chest. “Yeah, well I guess it’s good I won them then.” He smiled at her, and as he met her eyes, Aubrey shuddered in spite of herself.

Kel pulled her closer to him—almost pressing his cheek against hers and began to quietly sing along to the music. Aubrey’s face flushed. Knowing Kel he probably wasn’t even aware that he was singing, but she could feel his warm breath, those affectionate words almost whispered in her ear. For the life of her she couldn’t even begin to guess why Kel had picked what was probably one of the most romantic songs in the universe. The slow crooning of the melody alone screamed romance, but there was so much devotion, so much longing in the lyrics—and to hear them in Kel’s voice... Aubrey inhaled sharply—hoping her face wasn’t nearly as red as she feared.

“How”—her voice hitched, and she pulled away from him—“How do you even know this song?”

Kel just shrugged. “Hero showed it to me. He likes all those old songs, you know? And I thought it would be good for this.” He paused. “Why? Do you like it?”

“It’s fine,” shrugged Aubrey though she found she couldn’t look at Kel for some reason.

When she finally met his gaze again, there was something so warm, so gentle in his expression, and his dark eyes seemed to glisten with an emotion that she couldn’t begin to describe but which made her heart pound all the same. He lifted his hand from her waist and gently pressed his palm to her cheek.

“If this was a movie, this is probably the point when I’d say something corny like…” Kel paused, blinking at her with heavy-lidded eyes before he continued with a gentle sincerity that made her breath catch in her throat, ”‘You are so beautiful.’” He stroked her cheek with his thumb, and as his eyes fluttered closed, he sighed, “‘I’ve wanted this for a long time.’”

Aubrey swallowed hard. She tried to frown even though she was sure her face was bright red from that…that pining underscoring his voice. ‘This is just a game,’ she reminded herself—one that Kel seemed to be getting extremely into, but a game all the same. Still... the way his voice faltered, the earnestness in his eyes made it easy to forget.

“You’ve been watching too many romance movies with Hero…” she quipped, but her voice wavered.

Kel chuckled lightly. “Maybe…”

His hand softly stroked the side of her cheek until the tips of his long fingers began to tangle in her hair. She shivered as she took a long, shaky breath. His lips parted slightly as his mouth relaxed. She bit her lip and watched as Kel did the same.

“Aubrey…” he whispered as she tangled her trembling hand in the hair at the nape of his neck and gently pulled him towards her in slow, deliberate movements that didn’t feel like her own. His long, dark eyelashes fluttered. He was close enough to her now that she could almost feel them against her skin.

Her heart pounded. Her hands shook. He hovered in front of her mere inches away from her face. When he whispered her name again, she realized they had stopped dancing.

As Kel’s eyes fluttered closed, he tilted his head and cupped her face with his hands. His breath was warm against her skin, so close Aubrey could almost taste the coffee and citrus lingering from that awful Orange Joe he loved so much. As she began to lean closer to him, her hand curled around the unruly strands of his hair, and she pressed her palm to the back of his head—pulling him in. Closer. Closer.

He began to lean forward. That space between them was almost non-existent now. Aubrey froze—unable to move, unable to breath. Her heartbeat raced, and she could almost feel Kel’s heart pounding as he stopped, a breath away from her. She gripped the soft fabric of his shirt and shut her eyes tightly. Waiting. Waiting until…

BEEP! BEEP! The sound of the oven timer rang through the living room. Aubrey exhaled deeply though her cheeks flushed. What had just happened?

Kel startled, pulling away from her abruptly. “Oh! The lasagna!” he exclaimed with a bright smile, seemingly, completely unphased by what had just happened, by the fact that they had almost…

Aubrey inhaled sharply, then took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She bit down hard on her lip. It was just a game to him. Of course it was.

“Alright fine, Kel…” she laughed it off with as much of a frown as she could muster as the music stopped. Her racing heartbeat and wavering tone of voice didn’t seemed to get the memo, however. “You’re right.”

His face beamed. “Seriously?” He chuckled, playfully poking her in the arm. “See, I told you that you didn’t miss out on anything at the prom.”

Aubrey sighed—willing that blush she could still feel in her face away. “Yeah… It’s just a dance—nothing necessarily romantic about that. But you know I agreed with you from the beginning, right? So don’t get too excited about it. I just meant a lot of other girls might get the wrong impression.” ‘Especially if you dance with them like that,’ she mentally added, barely managing to stop herself before the words tumbled out of her mouth.

“Yeah, alright. You know, honestly, I actually kinda see your point now too.” Kel tilted his head and chuckled breathily though his expression was unreadable. Aubrey’s heart raced in spite of herself as she tried to push these thoughts, these feelings, whatever they were away for good.

*-*-*

Aubrey let out a long and heavy sigh. She could feel the blush in her cheeks even now just thinking about it. She hadn’t done a very good job of pushing the memory away. Even though they had never talked about that dance, about that almost-kiss ever again, Aubrey had mulled it over in her mind more times than she could count, until she could almost believe that she had been imagining things, that she had just gotten caught up in the music and dancing and that nothing had actually almost happened. But…—Aubrey sighed—the way he had looked at her…

She swallowed hard and pushed the thought away. This was Kel. Kel—dopey, happy-go-lucky Kel who used to eat spray cheese directly out of the can until she and Hero staged an intervention to ask him to stop and who once got a popsicle stick stuck up his nose because he wanted to see if he could touch his brain with it. Granted he was seven at the time, but still… this was Kel, and Kel was…was…

Aubrey sighed. Kel was sweet and thoughtful. He’d do anything to make his friends and family happy, and he loved making people laugh. He could make friends anywhere he went, and he always found things to smile about. And yeah, he could be awkward sometimes, airheaded, oblivious, and occasionally stubborn, but he had a big heart and even if his words didn’t always come out the way he wanted them to, she never doubted how much he cared. He was a great friend—her best friend, probably if she was being honest, but she wasn’t about to waste another minute of her life sitting around analyzing whether she may or may not have almost kissed him once. And she especially wasn’t going to sit around analyzing whether or not she should have or, worst of all, whether she had wanted to.

“You will dance with me again, won’t you?” asked Kel’s voice through the phone. “I gave those dancing lessons to my parents as a gift, but Hero was helping me practice a little bit, so I think I’ve gotten a lot better.”

“Uh…yeah…sure Kel…” stumbled Aubrey trying her best not to think anything of it.

“Okay, great! I’ve got to go now, but I’ll see you soon, okay? Bye.”

“…Bye…” mumbled Aubrey. She let out a long and heavy sigh, shaking her head and mentally kicking herself for getting so flustered about Kel of all people. It was nothing, clearly…given the way he could mention it so nonchalantly like that. She should just stop thinking about it and worrying that it was something that it wasn’t.

She pushed the thought away—trying her best to think about something else, anything else. What was everyone going to wear tonight? Sally would probably look adorable all dressed up in party dress or a costume if she wanted to be an actual princess—though Aubrey supposed Kel had specifically used the word “prom” rather than “ball” so Sally might not want a princess dress. Would Kel and Hero go all out and rent tuxes or just wear nice suits? Maybe Kel would bring back that bright pink tie from their prom…

Aubrey stopped. That tie. She hadn’t thought about it in years until it got brought up a couple of weeks ago when she and Kel were going shopping at the outlet mall with Sally.

*-*-*

“They’re so pretty,” Sally sighed wistfully with a little twirl as they passed some of the clothing racks filled with sparkly prom dresses. “I can’t wait ‘til I’m old enough to go to the prom.” She giggled and squeezed Aubrey’s hand. “What was it like? Did you get to wear a pretty dress like that, Aubbie?”

Aubrey smiled. Sally had given her that nickname years ago when she was a little toddler who struggled with her “r”s, and it made it happy to think that it had somehow stuck all these years. Her smile quickly faded however, as she awkwardly replied, “Well…Sally…I didn’t actually go to my prom.”

“Oh…” Sally’s eyes widened sadly, and she tilted her head. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay,” she reassured her, giving her a gentle smile and a reassuring pat on the head. “Your brother went though—to part of it. He wore this bright pink tie.”

Kel laughed and playfully poked her in the arm. “You remember my tie?”

Aubrey’s face flushed, but she bantered. “It was kind of hard to forget. Why’d you pick a color like that anyway?”

“Oh uh…” Chuckling, he scratched the back of his neck. “I never told you?”

“No…” Aubrey quirked an eyebrow at him, but Sally giggled.

“I wanna hear about it.”

“Well, okay, just for you Sally,” Kel’s expression softened, but he shrugged his shoulders. “But I’m warning you, it’s…kind of silly now that I’m thinking about it…” He sighed. “There was this girl…She was really amazing. I wanted to ask her to prom, but I was really afraid she would say ‘no’ so I kind of chickened out. But she really liked pink so…I thought maybe she’d like that pink tie. Kind of silly, right?” He laughed it off, but his cheeks flushed.

“Did she like it?” asked Sally, curiously blinking up at her older brother.

Kel’s mouth curved into a smile, and—Aubrey blushed—she could have almost sworn he glanced over at her when he said, “Yeah. I think she did…”

“You know, you never told me—that girl, did she go with someone else?” The question slipped out before Aubrey could stop it. She had spent years wondering, worrying if she had ruined Kel’s prom with her own problems or if he was nursing a broken heart of his own that had nothing to do with her grief. It was probably selfish to be bringing it up now after all these years, but she couldn’t give up the opportunity to find out for sure if Kel would have left the prom early anyway, even if she had been there.

“Nope,” Kel shook his head with a sigh, and Aubrey swallowed hard.

“Did you get to dance with her, then?”

A smile twitched in the corners of Kel’s mouth—something unreadable but undeniably affectionate flashing across his eyes. “Eventually…”

“Was she a good dancer?” giggled Sally.

“Better than me.” Kel shrugged, but he reached out to take Sally’s hand and gave his sister a little twirl. “But I am getting better.”

He flashed Aubrey a teasing smile, and she shook her head at him as she stifled a laugh. She knew it was a sign that this conversation was over, but it nagged at the back of her brain for the rest of the day as they absentmindedly wandered from store to store, eventually stopping for soft pretzels at the food court and surprising Sally with a bright yellow bow for her hair. There was no more talk of prom.

When it started storming, they decided to call it a day and headed back to Faraway Town. It wasn’t long before Sally fell asleep in the back seat of her car, exhausted from the long and exciting day of shopping. Aubrey dreaded the silence left by the absence of Sally and Kel’s cheerful prattling, but she was grateful for the opportunity to focus on driving rather than on mulling Kel’s words over in her head. That guilt she had been feeling ever since he had had to skip out on their prom on her account was suddenly fresh again, gnawing at her, getting harder and harder to push away.

“Hey…uh…Aubrey? Are you okay?” asked Kel quietly enough so as not to wake up the napping Sally. “You’ve been kind of quiet…”

“Well Sally’s asleep Kel,” she replied with a tilt of her head as she glanced in her rearview mirror.

“Yeah, but I meant before that…Ever since we were in that department store…”

Aubrey took a deep breath and tried to muster a, “Yeah…I’m just…”

She stopped abruptly. Even if she didn’t take her eyes off the road, she could almost picture Kel’s reassuring smile, encouraging her that she could tell him anything. Maybe it would be best to ask him now when she didn’t have to look in his face...

Before she could decide, however, she pulled into the driveway of Kel’s parents’ house. Grabbing a nearby umbrella, Kel got out of the car and gently lifted a sleeping Sally, draping his jacket over her head so her face wouldn’t get wet from his attempts to carry her and the umbrella.

Kel fidgeted until he was shielding Sally completely with the umbrella, getting himself soaked in the process. Aubrey sighed and shook her head with a somewhat affectionate smile. He was going to be sopping wet by the time he got back to the car, but if Aubrey was being honest, she didn’t mind. It was sweet how much Kel cared about his sister. Aubrey supposed that was really just Kel—he always thought about everybody else and how to make them happy. He’d give a stranger his umbrella if they needed it, even if that meant he’d get himself soaked. It was something Aubrey admired most about him.

Her face felt suddenly warm, and she pushed the thought away, watching as Kel handed Sally off to his mom on the porch. She gave Aubrey a bright smile and a cheerful wave as Kel rushed back across yard. Aubrey waved back.

Sure enough, when Kel got back inside the car, he was dripping water. He ran his hand through his sopping hair.

“Sorry, Aubrey. I’ll clean it up when you drop me off,” he insisted with a sheepish smile, but Aubrey waved her hand.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s just water.”

Chuckling, Kel’s mouth twitched into a lopsided grin, and he shrugged his shoulders, “Okay, now that Sally’s inside…what’s up? Something’s bugging you.”

“I’m fine,” Aubrey said, but she knew Kel knew her too well to believe that.

He sighed, a look of concern passing over his eyes. “Are you sure? Is it something I said…?”

“No…” She bit her lip. “It’s not you. It’s just…”

“You’ll feel better if you just tell me. I know you will,” he teased with a kind smile.

Aubrey huffed. He was right, of course, but she didn’t really want to admit that.

“Why did you leave our prom?”

Kel’s brow furrowed, and his eyes widened in confusion. “What?”

“You know…was it for that girl you wanted to take but didn’t end up asking or was it for…?” She stopped and cleared her throat.

“Well…actually…” Kel stumbled, his face flushing. Aubrey sighed guiltily. She didn’t mean to fluster him like this—it wasn’t fair.

“I just…I know it’s none of my business, and I feel bad asking but I just don’t want to be reason that you had to skip out on our prom, you know? So if you left because you were heartbroken or…”

“Oh,” Kel interrupted. Clearing his throat, he rubbed his hand across the nape of his neck. “Uh…I wasn’t heartbroken or anything, but…yeah, I did leave because of that girl—the one I wanted to ask…”

Aubrey sighed. She didn’t feel as relieved to hear this as she had always imagined she would. She felt almost…sad…

“Do you regret it?” she asked quietly, staring at her hands. “Leaving her there at the prom?”

“What?”

“You know, you could’ve stayed. You didn’t have to miss out on it, especially not to just waste the whole night sitting on my porch…” She cleared her throat though she twisted her hands around the steering wheel, staring intently at the swaying windshield wipers. “Do you ever wish that…things had been different?”

“I mean…I guess sometimes, maybe, but only to wish that you had been there and that everyone had been there to come with us.” Sighing bittersweetly, Kel paused. “Why? Do you?”

Aubrey sighed, adjusting her grip on the steering wheel even though the car was still parked. “Sometimes…” she admitted. “But for the same reason as you, I guess, and…” Her voice trailed, and she could feel Kel shift next to her.

“And what?”

“I’ve just…” Her face flushed as she took a deep breath. “I always felt guilty for making you miss it. I really am sorry about that.”

Kel chuckled lightly and placed his hand on her shoulder until she turned to look at him. “Aubrey, don’t worry about it. I already told you. I wanted to spend it with you.”

His smile was warm, and the look in his eyes was so tender that Aubrey’s hands began to shake as her cheeks blushed rose. She turned away from him, and he shrugged his shoulders and admitted, “I think about that night a lot, actually…in a good way. I don’t have regrets.”

He gently pushed a piece of hair out of her face, and Aubrey shivered but not from the cold and wet of the rain on his fingers. “Aubrey, I…There’s actually…” He stopped and pulled his hand away from her abruptly as water began to drip into her face. “Oh shoot. I’m sorry,” he stumbled, panicking over the damp streaks in her hair.

“It’s okay, Kel…” Aubrey sighed—politely failing to mention that his panicking over dripping water everywhere was just spraying water and making everything wetter. “Let’s just…get you home.”

“Okay…” Kel nodded, but his face was flushed. Aubrey was sure hers was bright red. She could only hope he wouldn’t notice.

*-*-*

Taking a deep breath, Aubrey parked her car on the street in front of Kel’s house. This was probably the worst possible thing she could have been thinking of right now. Why did she do this to herself?

She sighed heavily, burying her face in her hands before she composed herself, pushing all those thoughts away. She didn’t even know where they were coming from, and even if she did, now was definitely not the time to be thinking about any of that. She could almost guarantee that Kel certainly wasn’t. There was no way he was sitting around wondering what would have happened if the timer hadn’t gone off when they were dancing or if water hadn’t started to drip into her face when he was running his hand through her hair. These were just things Kel did without thinking—it didn’t mean anything more to him than that they were just friends, so why should it mean anything more to her? And…perhaps more importantly, why would she even want it to? Why would she want affection for him that would never be returned?  

Her shoes clicked across the pavement as she made her way down the sidewalk and up the driveway to the house where Kel lived with his brother, at least until Hero finished his final year of residency and paid off enough student loans to afford his own place. There was the faint sound of music echoing from the backyard and lights shimmering from what she assumed was probably their decorated porch. As soon as she walked through the gate to the yard, however, she realized she was wrong. There was a beautiful trellis canopy covered in Christmas lights with twinkling icicle lights hanging from the ceiling—underneath it was Hero’s record player, playing classic love songs.

Aubrey froze just staring at it—how it beautiful it was. She didn’t even notice Kel until he chuckled beside her.  

“Aubrey, you made it!” He paused, his expression softening. “You look beautiful. I’m glad I finally got to see your prom dress.”

Aubrey’s face flushed, and she curled her toes in her shoes both at the compliment,  and at the fact that Kel didn’t look too shabby himself dressed in his dark suit with combed hair and shiny dress shoes. “You look nice too, Kel. I see you’re wearing that tie—” she tried to tease him, but her voice cracked. Kel, however, just chuckled lightly.

“Oh yeah…well, you know…” With a slight shrug of his shoulders, he paused fidgeting with the bright pink tie around his neck. “Do you like it?”

Aubrey somehow managed a playful roll of her eyes. “It’s great, Kel.”

“I got you this,” he exclaimed excitedly, holding out a plastic container with a corsage inside.

“Wow, thank you,” she stumbled as he helped her slip it onto her wrist. “You really did go all out, huh?”

Kel hummed and nodded enthusiastically, but Aubrey’s brow furrowed as she glanced around. “So, uh…where are Hero and Sally?”

A faint flush of rose filled Kel’s cheeks. “Oh. Uh…well…about that. They’re not here.”

“Why not?”

“It wasn’t really a lie,” he tripped over his words. “I was just trying to surprise you, but I…I didn’t do this for Sally…”

As he met her eyes, Aubrey shivered and swallowed hard. Kel chuckled sheepishly. “I knew you were kind of upset that you missed your prom, and so I thought I’d make you your own prom. Surprise!”

Aubrey looked around the yard—at the twinkling lights, the trellis, Hero’s record player, then at Kel, all dressed up in his best suit with his pink tie, the kindest look in his eyes and the brightest, beaming smile on his face.

“You...”—she inhaled sharply—“You did all this…for me?”

“Yeah…Is it overboard? I was worried it might be a little overboard.”

Aubrey could scarcely put coherent sentences together—her head was spinning. Kel…Kel had done all of this…for her…? “Why?”

“Why?” Kel repeated with wide eyes. “Well…because it’s a lot…with the music and the fancy clothes and the decorations…”

“No, uh—” she stumbled. “Why did you do this for me, Kel?”

“Oh…well I thought you were upset about our prom ever since we went to the outlet mall, and I thought maybe a ‘do-over’ prom would make you happy.”

Aubrey’s blush deepened as she stared down at her feet. “You…you really didn’t have to do this Kel. Especially since I’m the one who basically ruined your prom in the first place.”

“Aubrey…” He pressed his palm to her cheek—smiling, waiting until she finally looked up at him. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you this whole time. You didn’t ruin my prom—not at all. I wanted to spend it with you. I know I probably should’ve just asked you, but I don’t know, I was just…I had never felt so close to anybody in my whole life, and I thought you were so amazing, I didn’t know what to do with myself…” He paused, chuckling awkwardly with a sheepish shrug of his shoulders.

“Wait…you…you…” she stammered trying to make sense of what she was hearing. He couldn’t have possibly just said…? “You wanted to take me to our prom? I’m the girl?”

Kel’s cheeks blushed red, but he nodded. “You’re the girl.” Aubrey could only blink at him as he chuckled lightly, awkwardly again and joked as he fidgeted with his hands, “You know…if this was a movie, this is probably the part where I’d say something really corny like ‘You’ve always been the girl.’”

As he met her eyes, Aubrey froze. His words may have been corny, but the look in his eyes was so sincere, so…affectionate. She swallowed hard—sure her face must be bright red by now, but she couldn’t move, couldn’t think. She tried her best to take a deep breath and shakily tease him but her voice was wavering, breathy—it almost didn’t sound like her. “Yeah…that’s—that’s really corny…”

“Yeah, I’m no Hero…” Kel chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I’m really not good at any of this stuff…” He bit his lip and looked back up at her with a gaze that made her shiver. “But I really do think you’re great—probably the most amazing person I’ve ever met. I’m sorry for not saying it before.”

“Kel, I…” Her voice hitched. “I had no idea you felt this way…”

“That’s okay,” shrugged Kel. “To be honest, I didn’t even know I felt this way for a long time. It took me a while to figure it out…I was just kind of dense, I guess.” He laughed with a sheepish grin. “When I finally mentioned it to Hero, he gave me this look like ‘it’s about time…’ Then he was the one who was really encouraging me to tell you, but I just never really could figure out how and…then I was worried I was going to mess up our friendship and I didn’t want to make things awkward…But I guess this is kinda awkward, huh? All the movies make it look so easy…”

Aubrey blushed. If one of them should be feeling dense right now, it really should be her. Kel was…Was he really…?

“Listen, uh…you’re really quiet right now. You don’t have to say anything. We can just pretend that I never said anything,” he began to ramble quickly, nervously. “I didn’t want to put you on the spot, I just—I thought that was something you should probably know about me, er, about you, er how I feel about you because I—I really like you and I think you are really great and if you ever talk to me again after this, I would really like to take you to dinner and…”

Aubrey could only blink at him, unable to get a word in edgewise as he let out a long heavy sigh. “And I am totally messing this up…” Sighing heavily again, he ran his hand through his hair, before he met her eyes. “Aubrey…I’m sorry—”

“Don’t be…” Aubrey interrupted, reaching up to stroke Kel’s cheek with her hand. “I know it’s not an easy thing to say…”

“No, but you don’t understand. I tried to practice and everything. I was going to say all kinds of really nice stuff like that you’re probably the most important person in the world to me, and I don’t know what I’d do without you. After Mari and Sunny and Basil…”—his voice hitched—”Things were so dark and so sad…it was probably one of the worst times in my life, and I felt so alone, but then, you found me…and you showed me that even if this world without them is always going to be a little sadder than it was, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still good things in it too. And a lot of those good things were because of you—when we tease each other and we’re throwing popcorn at each other or I’m wiping frosting on your nose or splashing water at you at the beach—when we laugh about corny movies or dance in the kitchen or when we just talk for hours and completely forget about the time…or when your face turns all red when you’re trying not to smile or the way your nose wrinkles when you laugh. And you”—he cupped her face in his hands—“You’re the best thing.”

“Kel—I…I…” Aubrey began to trip over her words, unsure what she even wanted to say.

Kel sighed, his face blushing red as he pulled his hands away from her, and mumbled, “I don’t even know if that makes sense…”

“No, it…it does,” Aubrey said with a reassuring smile. “I…I completely…” She stopped. “Back then, I…I never thought I could ever be happy again, but you showed me I could be, that there’s still…happiness…” Her voice trailed, but Kel wrapped his arms around her and pulled into a tight hug.  

“Aubrey…I’m…I’m so glad…I…”—Kel’s voice hitched—“I just want you to be happy. I want you to be so, so happy. I just never thought I’d ever be lucky enough that you could be happy with me.”

“I am happy, Kel,” Aubrey whispered, unable to think, unable to breath. Something she couldn’t even begin to describe seemed to propel her forward—her whole body almost moving on its own as she pulled back from him just enough to close her eyes and brush her lips against his.

“A—Aubrey?” stumbled Kel with a look more akin to having been whacked on the back of the head rather than kissed.

“Kel, uh…sorry…” she began staring off over his shoulder. “I just um…”

“No, I’m sorry, I just…I wasn’t ready.” Aubrey’s eyes widened, but Kel hurriedly added, “Ready as in prepared not as in ready like I—I didn’t want…because I—I do…”

A playful smile tugged at Aubrey’s lips, but she was blushing too much to actually tease him.

“I—I…” Kel began to stumble again, and Aubrey could have sworn she heard him mumble, “Oh forget it…” under his breath before he finally just threw his arms around her neck and kissed her. His hands tangled in her hair as hers gripped the collar of his suit pulling him even closer to her. She could taste that sickeningly sweet Orange Joe on his breath, but she didn’t even care.

When they finally broke apart from each other, red-faced and breathless. Kel chuckled teasingly, “I guess I should probably ask you to dance now, huh?”

As that familiar song began to play, Kel wrapped his arms around her, and Aubrey slipped her hands around his neck. They swayed in time to the music, and neither one of them could hold back their smiles.

As Aubrey nestled into Kel’s chest, she could feel him chuckling lightly to himself.

“What?” she asked quietly.  

“Nothing it’s just…” Kel pulled away just enough to look at her and meet her eyes as his mouth twitched into a soft, playful smile. “Maybe it really is true what everyone says about prom after all…”

#kelbrey #omori baseball bat #omori baseball #baseball omori #omori kelbrey #cries about kelbrey #kelbrey prom #i want out of kelbrey hell #send help #can acacia actually write romance? let's see... #i can't believe i wrote this #omori spoilers #my omori fanfiction #thank you so much for reading