#Because we spent SO MUCH TIME dismantling the boys | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

youkiyoh · 2 years

Text

your (my) happy ending | l.dh

pairing : lee donghyuck x fem! reader

genre : slight fluff, lots of angst, best friends to lovers

warnings : cursing, slight making out, mentions of character’s death, mentions of sickness, mentions of disabilities

word count : 7k

summary : Lee Donghyuck represents the sun, and you mean the world to him. What happens when the world stops spinning? He’s left to write your his happy ending.

disclaimer : everything written in this story is purely fiction!! I’ve tried to do as much research as possible and may have overlooked some details, so I may not have done a good job at embodying the actual situation of someone actually suffering from illness or disabilities (I apologize in advance!)

song recs : love you to death - chord overstreet // dear me, - gentle bones

14.7.2009

You’ve been fighting for as long as you can remember.

“Your daughter has been diagnosed with leukemia.”

The word itself sounded foreign to you. You were about to turn to ask your Mom what it meant, your face falling when you see her hand over her mouth, holding back a sob as fresh tears seep from her eyes.

What was a 7 year old girl going to know about dying?

Hospital trips became a norm. School was no longer your second home, the doctor’s office was. Your parents were told that you wouldn’t make it past the age of 10.

Yet here you are, a month away from your eighteenth birthday, getting weaker as time progresses, but still alive nevertheless.

You first met Donghyuck at the hospital. You remember it hurting so bad. You’ve never been so tired in your entire life, fever never seeming to subside even after three days. You had asked the nurse if you could go to the playground, sick of being coped up in a hospital room all day long.

You never thought that you will one day be jealous of children who plays tag with their friends, who can climb up obstacles effortlessly to reach the top of slides, sliding down with the biggest grin on their faces. You used to be able to do all that.

“Are you not going to play?”

You were surprised by the sudden presence beside you, turning your attention towards the owner of the voice. A boy your age.

You shake your head. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” He asks, smile disappearing from his face as he tilts his head with a frown. “They don’t want to play with you?”

“No..” You reply, suddenly feeling shy about sharing details about yourself with a stranger. “I just get tired easily.”

“Oh.”

“What happened to your legs?”

“Oh this?” The boy looks down at himself on the wheelchair, shrugging slightly. “I got into an accident.”

“So you can’t walk anymore?” 7 year old you didn’t think before you speak.

The boy however was nowhere near offended. He instead beams up at you, his smile so hopeful that you can’t help your lips from curling up. “My doctor says I’m getting better. I’ll be able to play soon. Like them!”

“That must be nice.” You nod, wondering when you’ll be able to hear those words from your doctor. It was always “Your next appointment is on...” never “You’re getting better.”

“I’m Donghyuck.” He says. “We can play together after I get my legs back. I can’t go fast, so you won’t be tired.”

“I’m Y/N.” You say. “I’ll like that.”

Lee Donghyuck. That name ended up being one that you’ll say often. The boy who you later end up calling your best friend. The boy who never fails to brighten up your days when you feel exhausted after therapy. The boy who spent 2 months assembling his lego set, only to dismantle it so that you can build it with him again because you were too weak to play outside.

Lee Donghyuck, the boy that you fell in love with but is too afraid to tell him.

Like he said, Donghyuck did get better. You didn’t.

07.10.2020

“There’s a new bookstore that opened recently. You want to visit it?”

“I still have 4 books I’ve yet to read.” You look at the boy sitting beside your hospital bed, motioning towards the stack of books on the table. “Should probably read them before I get new ones.”

“I didn’t ask you to buy anymore.” He rolls his eyes, his palms folded behind his head as he leans back against them. “It’s really pretty. There’s even a reading corner. Besides, you’ll finish your books in what, three days? I’m just preparing in advance before you pester me to get more with you again.”

I don’t think I’ll be able to finish reading all of them.

“Hyuck.” You call out, earning a low hum from him. This was harder than you thought. Were you not able to say it because you’re afraid it’ll hurt him, or did you not want to hear it to spare yourself?

“The doctor came before you.” You whisper, eyes trained on your lap as you toyed with your blanket. From the corner of your eye, you see him straighten up. He keeps quiet, silently urging you to continue.

“I told him I didn’t want to continue this anymore.”

This. No more words were needed for him to understand what you mean. Too much of your time was spent at the hospital. Too much time wasted on treatment that didn’t seem to make you feel any better. All those time that can be meant for something more.

The room fell silent, the only sound being yours and Donghyuck’s breathing and the ticking of the clock, mocking you of the limited unknown time you have left.

“Didn’t he tell you that when you were 10? You’re still here isn’t it?” He smiles softly and you decide right there and then that you hate it. You hate how his smile doesn’t reach his eyes. You hate how you can’t have more time with him, with your parents, with anyone. “You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met.”

“I don’t know if I can fight it any longer.” You shrug, blankly staring as Donghyuck’s hand slides into yours, squeezing it tightly. “I’ve been getting more restless recently.”

“Did he say when you can leave?”

“In two days.” You interlock your fingers with his, relishing in the way his thumb rubbed soothing circles against the back of your hand. “I told my Mom I didn’t want to spend the last of my days in this stupid room.”

“Hey don’t say that.” He chuckles lightly. “You still want to visit the bookstore then? I’ll buy you all the books you want.”

The afternoon sun seeps through the curtains, yellow hue illuminating his caramel skin. You didn’t know what was brighter, the sunlight or the sheer presence of your best friend. It hits you then that throughout the years of knowing Donghyuck, you’ve never once seen him cry. His smile alone could brighten up the dullest room, you genuinely believe that it puts the sun to shame. Yet here he was, sitting beside you with tears brimming the corner of his eyes, doing everything he can to keep them from rolling down his cheeks.

You smile. “Let’s visit the bookstore.”

18 things I’ll do with you

There’s a park a couple minutes away from your house. Ironically enough, you almost forgot what the view there looks like. You remember spending time with Donghyuck at this particular spot that overlooks the entire lake, the scenery so beautiful it looks like it came out straight of a fairytale. That period might have been the happiest you’ve been, because you did actually get better for awhile. You did get to play with Hyuck at the playground after he got his prosthetics fitted.

“What’s this?” You ask, looking down at the pen and paper your best friend shoved into your hands. 18 things I want to do.

“I don’t remember blind being one of your side effects.” He jokes, earning a glare from you. “I’m kidding. Fill it in.”

“18 is a lot Hyuck. I don’t think I-”

“Just... fill it in.” He pleads, staring straight ahead. “Doesn’t matter if we can’t complete it, I just want to know. Of course, if that’s okay with you.”

“Okay.” You agree, uncapping the pen. “I need some time though.”

“We have the whole afternoon.” He says, leaning down to rest his head on your shoulder. You let him, waiting for him to shift comfortably before you rest your own on top of his. “Besides, it’s been awhile since we last sat here.”

You start writing, 18 spaces not enough for you to pen down everything you want to experience. You feel yourself grow ambitious the more you scribble down your thoughts, the last few being things you know that you’ll never be able to do.

“I’m done.” You whisper, scanning over the paper before passing it back to Donghyuck. He reads it silently, folds it and place it into his pocket.

“Y/N?”

“Hmm?”

“I promise, this will be the happiest month of your life.”

You chuckle. “I don’t have much to compare, but I’ll hold you to that. It better be.”

5. go to the bookstore

Donghyuck was right. You love the newly open bookstore. The moment the door swings open, you were greeted with the smell of woods and coffee beans. Not a smell you expected, but not invading either. It was almost the perfect combination.

“I told you.” Hyuck teases, tapping your chin lightly that had fell open in awe. “It’s nice huh?”

“Yeah.” You can almost feel the excitement bubbling in the pit of your stomach, looking at the endless amount of books that you can’t wait to explore. Potted plants hang from the ceiling, acting as decorations. People scattered all around the comforting space, some looking for a new novel to satisfy their late night readings, students rushing homework, others sitting near the window with a coffee in hand, people watching.

“Matcha?” The boy asks, pointing towards the small cafe space at the corner. You nod at the mention of your go-to beverage, leaving Hyuck to order for the both of you as you make your way towards the shelves. God, you already knew you’re about to spend the whole day here.

Reading had always been your favourite hobby. There wasn’t much to do anyways, given your condition, so you settled on the one thing that you could do without having to leave the comfort of your bed. You fell in in love with reading because of its endless possibilities. You’re no longer a girl who’s sick. You become a warrior, fighting for the safety of your people. You become a detective, trying to figure out who exactly murdered your neighbour’s husband. You become an average college student, trying to balance between adulting and getting good grades.

“Thought you said you’re going to finish those you have at home first?” Donghyuck asks, watching you place 3 new books on the table he manage to secure at the far end of the store. “Let me guess, you’re already done with them.”

“Bingo.” You smile, taking a sip of your drink. “They weren’t very good though.”

He gasps offendedly, placing a hand against his chest. “You’re insulting my taste?”

“You’ll insult your own taste when you actually read them.” You sigh, recalling the contents of the novels that either had a weak plot or zero character development. “I know you only got them because the cover was pretty.”

“Maybe I’ll read them one day.” Donghyuck picks up the first book in your pile, flipping aimlessly through the pages. “I don’t know how you do this. I don’t think I can sit all day to read.”

“You can if it’s the only thing you can do.”

The boy freezes at your words, the novel dangling between his fingertips. “Y/N, that’s not what I meant.”

“I know.” You laugh, letting him know that you weren’t upset. He sighs in relief, the book plopping down into his lap.

“What will your story be like if you can write?”

“It’ll be about adventure.” You reply without hesitation, having thought about too many times. “Just 2 people travelling the world and their diary entries. The type of people they encounter. Different cultures of the countries they visit. Whether the landmarks are worth the visit. If they enjoy the food served there. I’ll write something along those lines.”

“That’s simple. And effective.” Donghyuck grins. “I might actually be interested in it.”

“Please. You’re never interested in anything I recommend you.” You roll your eyes. Getting your best friend to read is as hard as getting pigs to fly. Maybe even harder.

“I will if you wrote it though.” He shrugs. You don’t miss the hint of sadness that accompanies his voice. “You want to know what I’ll write if I ever become an author?”

“In another universe maybe, but sure. What will your story be?”

“The world will be set just like ours is now. Only difference is that technology is advanced. Way more advanced than what we have now, and people will only suffer from old age. Nothing else.” You tear your gaze away from Hyuck, looking out the tinted windows. “2 people will meet in school. They’re the main characters. They become best friends. They’ll spend their entire teenage years with each other and their group of friends. And they’ll end up realizing they’ve been in love with each other all along.” You feel him staring at you, a lump starting to form at the back of your throat. “They’ll live happily ever after.”

“You’ll make a great author.” You whisper, not caring if he notice the redness of your eyes. “Maybe you can consider that as an occupation choice in college.”

“Do you want me to?” He asks. “Because I’ll do it in a heartbeat. I’ll do anything for you.”

“Hyuck, that’s your own choice to make. I’ve told you before, I don’t need anyone to live for me.” You can’t hold it back any longer. Your first tear falls. “I don’t want sympathy.”

“This isn’t sympathy. I just want you to be happy.” He frowns, moving forward to wipe your tears away, his palm resting against your cheek. “You deserve the world, more than anyone else. You deserve to be able to see the world.”

“I am happy.” You sniffle, leaning into the warmth of his skin. “You, my parents, all of you make me so happy. And I will be. Please don’t start treating me differently.”

“Of course not.” He shakes his head profusely. “We still have so much to do you know? And we’re going to finish it. I don’t care how weak you get.”

You giggle, a genuine one that erupts from your lips. One that Donghyuck so desperately wishes he can hear for the rest of his life. “I don’t remember this being first on the list though. It’s the fifth isn’t it?”

“Where’s the fun if we go in order?” A playful expression taking over his features. “There’s no surprise in that.”

“Anyways, we should go. You spent almost 2 hours looking through those shelves.” He stands, quickly snatching the 3 books you have in your grasp. “I’ll pay. I promised your Dad I’ll have you home by dinner.”

11. teach me how to skate

For someone with prosthetics, your best friend is frighteningly good at ice skating. Not at the level that he can make it into the school team, but good enough to do tricks that can amaze a regular person. (Or maybe just you.)

You dropped out of school when you became too occupied with treatment and started home schooling. Donghyuck invited you to the rink to skate with him but you were too afraid back then, opting to watch him from the seats instead.

“I can’t believe this made it to your list.” You can hear the evident smile in his voice as he laces his skates. “I’ve been trying to get you to skate for years.”

You shrug. “I had a clear deadline of my apparent death date back then.”

You hear his breath hitch.

“Sorry. Too soon?”

“I hate how you joke about it to cope with it.” Donghyuck deadpans. “You’re crazily optimistic for someone who’s dying you know?”

“Okay,” You huff, jabbing a finger into his forearm. “Look who’s speaking now.”

He smirks, extending his arm out in which you gingerly slide your hand into his and you let him to pull you to your feet. You manage to get a clear view of the rink, the sudden emptiness of it making you feel giddy. “Does no one come here on Thursday nights?”

“The guys are usually here with me.” He replies, leading you towards the rink, and your mind immediately drifts to the group of friends from Hyuck’s school, having met them once. “I asked them not to come today though, we don’t want them seeing you fall on ice right?”

“How gentleman of you.” You scoff. “Just say that you want me all for yourself Lee Donghyuck, I swear I won’t tease.”

He turns towards you abruptly, face only inches away from yours and the proximity had you tilting your head back. “I do want you all to myself. Sharing’s not really my thing.”

Bold of you to think you can match Donghyuck’s flirty personality.

“We’re here to skate.” You clear your throat, pushing him towards the rink to avoid him seeing the red hue creeping up your neck.

He moves first, stepping onto the ice. He reaches out his arms towards you and you gladly latch yourself onto him, testing the waters carefully with one skate.

“You said this will be easy.” You huff, starting to balance slowly once you’re fully on the ice. “I can’t even stand properly.”

“I’ve never lied to you.” Donghyuck starts moving backwards slowly, stopping when you look up at him with panic in your eyes. “I got you, I’ll hold onto you okay?”

“Just small steps. Try bending your knees more. And then we can start going faster.” He instructs patiently, allowing you to move across the ice. You march pathetically, trying to match his movements. Donghyuck can’t help the laughter from escaping his mouth, watching you waddle after him like a baby penguin chasing its mother. A sight he’s been dying to see for years.

It didn’t take you too long before you tell your best friend that you’re comfortable enough to start going faster. He silently obliges, guiding you with your glides until you make the entire stretch.

“Not as bad as you thought huh?” Donghyuck asks, grinning proudly at you. “You did great, considering it’s your first time on ice. Even better than me actually, but then again your legs are real.”

“And you said joking about it was my way of coping?” You narrow your eyes at Donghyuck. “Look who’s talking.”

Donghyuck throws you a sheepish smile, starting to glide again. You start getting the hang of it, gliding faster than you thought you could, high off the exhilaration you felt. You finally understood why Donghyuck loves the sport so much. The cold wind hitting your skin as you move carefreely was almost addictive.

“I’m letting go.” You whisper. Donghyuck nods, settling you at the edge of the rink before skating to the other end himself. He shouts, voice echoing throughout the entire space. “Skate over!”

Perhaps it’s the confidence laced in his voice, or the fact that there was nothing left for you lose. What’s the most that’s going to happen? You fall and pick yourself back up. You start skating without your best friend holding you, your knees bucking initially but you manage to steady yourself, his figure getting bigger and bigger until you reach him. “I did it.” You felt giddy with excitement, something you haven’t felt in a very long time. “Hyuck I did it.”

“You did it.” Donghyuck praises, pulling you into his chest as he gives you the biggest bone crushing hug. “Felt good?”

“Yeah.” You nod, slinging you arms around his neck as you return the affection. “I think I finally understand why you like it so much.”

Donghyuck pulls away, about to hit you with a “I told you so” when he looks at you and you can almost feel the moment the happiness leaves his body. It was then did you feel the slow trickle of warm liquid down your nose.

“Fuck, it’s okay.” You shake your head, holding your hand over the area. “Uh, I have tissues in my bag, can we go back?”

“Come on.” Donghyuck frowns, his fingers interlace with yours like two puzzle pieces fitted just for each other. Luckily for you, the skate back to the entrance wasn’t too far away and you were able to quickly press a tissue against your nose before your blood stained anything in the rink.

“Has it been happening more often?” Donghyuck asks, his brows furrowed together in concern.

“After I stopped therapy, yes.” You say, watching as his shoulders visibly sag and he busies himself with untying the laces of your skates.

“It’s not painful right?” He asks, pulling your feet out and sliding your sneakers back on. “You’re not in pain right?”

“No. It’s not painful at all.” You place a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it lightly. “I just get them more regularly than I used to. That’s it.”

Donghyuck shifts back up to look at you. For a moment, you just sit there, running your eyes across his entire face until he brushes his hand across your forehead, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “You’re going to be okay.”

I’m going to be okay.

His gaze travels down to your lips momentarily before he looks into your eyes again. You feel him leaning forward, your own breath getting caught in your throat. You hear your heart pounding against your chest, the buzzing in your ears getting louder and louder the closer he got. Lee Donghyuck, the boy that barged into your life with every shade of yellow trailing behind him when you were at your lowest, your best friend of years, was about to kiss you.

He doesn’t.

He settles for a kiss on your cheeks instead, his lips lingering not longer than 3 seconds.

“You’re going to be okay.”

3. sing to me

Your body starts failing on you.

Walks begin feeling a little more breathless. You had to pause once in awhile, lowering yourself on a nearby bench to rest before you can continue. So when your Mom cancelled dinner with Donghyuck, saying that you’re too tired this particular day to leave the house despite your protests, you best believe the boy is going to appear on your front porch with two platters of sushi in hand.

“You can take us out of the sushi bar but you can’t take sushi bar out of us!” Donghyuck exclaims, kicking at your door with his leg, announcing his arrival. “What’re you doing? Your Mom said you’re asleep.”

“What’re you doing here?”

“You stood me up and I was starving to death.” Your best friend sighs dramatically, dropping the bag of food on your table before flopping onto your bed. Donghyuck turns his head to look at you, all curled up under your pile of blankets, hair resembling that of a bird’s nest, lips slightly pale.

Under your bedroom lights, Donghyuck believes you’re the prettiest thing he’s ever laid eyes on.

“So what were you doing?” He asks, moving closer to you under the blankets with his eyes focused on the screen, an episode of Mr Bean softly playing in the background. Sushi platter long discarded on the floor of your room.

“Writing.”

“Writing?” Donghyuck turns to you, his brown orbs glistening in delight. “That story?”

“Well I was trying.” You smile sheepishly, picking at your nails. “I don’t know how to start it though.”

“You’re experiencing a writer’s block without even starting?”

You shrug. “I don’t know what Paris looks like.”

You shouldn’t have said that, because you hate the way Donghyuck’s smile falls from his face.

“That’s okay.” He pokes his tongue against his inner cheek, something he’s always done out of habit. “We can go there together next time. I’ll even plan the itinerary. And you’re welcome, because you know I hate planning.”

“You’re crazily optimistic you know?” You mock his words, shaking your head softly.

“I learn from the best.”

Silence isn’t something that’s foreign between you two. There’s the silence that’s awkward, and then there’s the silence that’s comfortable. The one you had with Donghyuck was something way more than comfortable.

It felt like home.

There was no need for words. He’s just there. He always has been.

“Hyuck.” You call softly. “It’s cold.”

“Come here.”

If only death is as peaceful as it is right now, being engulfed in the warmth of the one person you held so close to heart, you would welcome it with open arms.

You feel yourself sinking into a hole. Never knowing when you’ll reach the ground, darkness taking over with every passing second.

Hyuck.

His face getting blurry. All the memories you had with him slowly disappearing.

You don’t want to forget them.

You never want to forget them.

“Can you sing?”

“What do you want to hear?”

“Anything.” You whisper, eyes fluttering shut, head buried into Donghyuck’s chest. “I just want to hear you.”

And he starts. His voice was like honey. Sweet, smooth. Addictive. You never want to stop hearing him sing. He can be singing the ugliest song you’ve ever heard, yet he manages to turn it angelic.

You remember him talking about music. The burning passion in his eyes whenever he speaks about it. How he’ll major in music when he goes off to college. The way his eyes closes, the way his nose scrunches, the way his body sways to the melody.

The world will be a better place if people could hear Donghyuck sing.

You hope that people will be able to hear him one day.

There wasn’t a need to be jealous. So what if you won’t be there? He’s here, in your room. His lips beside your ear, hands playing with your hair, lulling you to sleep.

Donghyuck feels his first tear fall. You don’t, chest heaving up and down peacefully.

He’s home.

His prosthetics sit next to your bedside table. Your empty medicine bottles decorating the top of it.

A disabled boy. A dying girl.

He’s home.

“I love you.”

He loves you

8. watch the sunset from your rooftop

1. can i kiss you?

There is one thing that you love about Donghyuck’s house. (apart from the boy living in it) It’s the rooftop.

You can see the sunset from there. His house sits at the last of the stretch, so there was no need to worry about getting blocked.

You’ve only ever seen it once when you stayed over as a kid, and your friend had dragged you up the flight of stairs hurriedly, way faster than your little legs could go back then.

You would run a marathon for that view.

It was breathtaking.

Thankfully, there was no need to actually run a marathon to be able to experience it again.

“You know, I’ve been up here countless times.” Donghyuck says, looking up at the sky. “Never as pretty as that one time you saw it with me.”

“I’m honored.” You laugh, tucking your knees to your chest, head resting between them. “Maybe pretty views just like me more than you.”

“You’re my view though.”

“Don’t say that.” You roll your eyes playfully, pushing his shoulder to hide the growing blush on your cheeks.

“I mean it, Y/N.” He smiles softly, looking at you with utmost sincerity. “I mean every fucking word I said.”

“Okay.” You breathe out, heart pounding relentlessly. “Well...thank you.”

Donghyuck reaches into his back pocket. “Actually, I have a list too.”

“Oh?”

“There’s only one thing though.” He shakily hands you the piece of paper, and the action itself seems endearing.

Lee Donghyuck is nervous.

“This is something you want to do?” You ask, carefully opening the note. “We’re doing it together?”

“Yeah.” He nods, tugging his bottom lip between his teeth. “Just read it first.”

His eyes dart nervously between you and your hands, and he feels like exploding.

You read it.

You read it again.

Oh god, why are you not saying anything?

“Y/N?”

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to.” He mumbles nervously, repeatedly rubbing the back of his neck. “Shit, I didn’t make you uncomfortable did I? This was a stupid idea, I’m so-”

You kiss him.

One second.

Two seconds.

Five seconds.

You pull away. His eyes wide, staring at you. You can’t help giggling at his face.

“I didn’t say no though.”

It takes him two seconds to register that you had kissed him before he was leaning back down, chasing after your lips.

You thought you were home with Donghyuck before, but this, this feels right.

You felt drunk kissing Donghyuck. His lips slightly chapped, but so was yours. His hands pressed against your cheeks warmly, holding you as if afraid that you’re going to slip away beneath his fingertips. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you tug him unbearably close until all your senses were clouded with him and him only.

He deepens the kiss, tongue brushing over your own, lips hot against yours. You feel dizzy in that moment. Dizzy with the overflowing passion he’s throwing at you.

You pull away first, lungs desperately begging for air. Panting heavily, you rest your forehead against his, eyes closed, a shy smile tugging at your lips.

“Hyuck.”

A raw sob escapes his lips.

You freeze. You never thought you’ll ever witness Lee Donghyuck crying. You don’t even think he cried after the accident that took his legs.

He was sobbing uncontrollably, head buried in your neck, tears spilling down onto your skin. His entire frame shakes, hands bunching up the fabric of your shirt around your waist.

“I hate you.” He cries.

“I hate you so fucking much.”

He loves you.

“It’s okay.” You whisper. Funny enough, your tears don’t fall.

“It’s not okay. You’re dying. You’re fucking dying and it hurts.”

“Just a little earlier.”

“A little?” He sniffs, looking at you with bloodshot eyes. “Our story hasn’t even started yet and you’re leaving. That’s not how it works Y/N. That’s not what writers do.”

“I know you’ll write it.”

“I don’t want to do it alone.” He hiccups, a whole new wave of tears threatening to spill again. “I’m a selfish person.”

You smile endearingly, endeared by him. This time, you’re the one reaching out to wipe his tears away. “I guess that’s why we go so well together.”

“I’m a selfish person too.”

He remains silent, his breath steadying slowly. “You really are.”

His head find solace in the crook of your neck once again, breathing in your scent. You smell like peaches, the ever so subtle smell of tiger balm wafting into his nose.

“Hyuck.” You call out, your hand tangled in his mop of brown hair. “Look.”

He looks.

The view really does favor you over him. For the second time in his life, the sunset from his rooftop was beautiful.

Red, orange, yellow, every single shade blended together to create a hue so warm, so perfect he thought it was a painting. Was this what you’ve always compared him to?

He’s the sun, and you’re his world. What happens when the world stops spinning?

He doesn’t want to find out.

For now, he’ll settle for looking at you.

The sunset may be the view you came to the rooftop looking for. But it wasn’t his.

He came up looking for you.

To Lee Donghyuck, you’ve always been the view.

He leans in, pressing a chaste kiss against your temple.

“Stay with me.”

“I’d love to.”

#. detour

Donghyuck gets a call from your Mom and it feels like his world is collapsing.

Almost.

All he heard was ‘hospital’ and ‘passed out’ and he had ran out of the classroom before the teacher could even yell at him. His stupid chemistry test can wait.

You couldn’t.

He rushes to the hospital, heart heavy as he searches for your room. He almost slips after seeing your parents sitting outside the emergency room.

“Is she okay?”

“Oh Hyuck, you’re here.” Your Mom sniffs, rubbing her nose. “I’m sorry, you must be having school now right? I should have-”

“No, that’s fine.” He pants, eyes flickering between the parental figures he has grown so accustomed to and the unlit emergency sign. “Y/N, she’s okay right? Please, please tell me she’s okay.”

“She is.”

All this while he felt like he was running with a mountain attached to him. Pulling him back from reaching you.

He was so afraid that he had been too late. He was so afraid that he’ll never be able to hear your voice again.

“Oh thank god.” He closes his eyes, hunching over as he breathes deeply.

“Her chances aren’t good.” Your Dad says softly and Donghyuck feels the mountain reattaching itself back to him. “The doctor says we should be prepared.”

How can anyone be prepared to lose someone? How can anyone be prepared to lose you?

“Can I have some time with her? Is she awake?” Donghyuck gulps, wiping his palms against the fabric of his jeans.

Your Mom smiles at the boy. “Go on in. She took a nap just now.” He bows, pushing open the door quietly, stepping into your room.

“Y/N?”

“Hyuck?”

He doesn’t say anything else, marching over to your bed in 3 large strides before wrapping his arms around you.

“Don’t ever scare me like this again.” He sighs, breath tickling your ear. “I thought the worst.”

“Did my Mom tell you?” You ask, rubbing his back soothingly. “I told her I’ll call you myself.”

Donghyuck scoffs, pulling away to look at you. “You’d only call me when you get home.”

“That’s an accusation.” You hiss, narrowing your eyes at him. “I can sue you for that you know?”

He smiles, a bright one, eyes curling up into crescents, his nose slightly scrunched up. “Go ahead.” His head dips down, and you let out a noise in surprise. “I’ll let you win the case.”

“Since when did I let you kiss me?”

You were smiling nevertheless.

Donghyuck kisses you again, lingering a little longer than the last time. He tasted like apple cobbler, and you find yourself unconsciously leaning up to reach him.

“No one said anything about the list having an expiration date.” You can feel him smile against your lips.

“You’re still quite warm.” He mumbles, pressing his palm to your forehead. “Your fever hasn’t gone down?”

“It got better.” You shrug, shifting slightly so that he can comfortably sit on your bed. “You might have burned yourself when you touched me yesterday.”

“And you didn’t tell anyone?” Donghyuck lectures, frowning disapprovingly. “Can you please listen to your body?”

“I don’t want to come back here.” You whine, throwing your hands up in frustration. “This sucks so bad. I want to be outside.

“I know.” He says, brushing the stray hairs out of your face. “Is there anything on your list I should prioritize first?”

You think back over the list you wrote down, mentally going through all of them. 2. i’ve never been to a carnival (you don’t think you have the capacity to even sit the carousel right now) 9. go on a road trip (can be done, but hard. too tiring) 17. go to Paris (why was this even on the list?)

“Remember where we went to celebrate when you turned 15?” You ask, turning up to look Donghyuck. “You said it was the best birthday you’ve ever had?”

“Yeah.” He smiles back, the memories flooding back to him. “That was truly the best birthday ever.”

“So, number 7?”

You nod. “Number 7.”

7. my happy ending

You insisted on taking the 2 hour walk to the beach despite your parents (and Donghyuck’s) protests.

“The weather is beautiful today.” You argue.

“I don’t know when it’ll ever be as nice as this again.”

And so they let you.

Donghyuck knocked on your door when the sky was still dark, waiting until you were ready to leave.

You should have known better that this is going to tire your best friend.

“I’m sorry.” You apologize, bottom lip tugged between your teeth as you wait for him to catch his breath. God, Donghyuck was right. You really are selfish.

“Don’t apologize.” He breathes out, his grip on your hand tightening. “I’m okay, we’re almost there. Maybe even catch the sunrise.”

The two of you continue your journey in silence, accompanied by the low hums from the early wind and the soft, distant chirping of birds. You faintly hear the sound of waves crashing and look towards your friend, already finding him smiling back at you.

“There.” You whisper, pointing towards the small bench sitting alone at the edge of the pavement. The bench that you and Donghyuck first discovered gave the best view of the entire beach. The bench that you surprised Donghyuck with his favourite chocolate cake on his 15th birthday. “It’s still there.”

Donghyuck lets go of your hand, bending down slightly in front of you. “Come on.”

“Hyuck,” You start, shaking your head in disapproval. “No, you’re tired.”

“I’m not.” He argues, patting his back. “Quick, the sun is rising. You already made me walk 2 hours to get here. What more harm can a piggyback ride do?”

And because you can never say no to Lee Donghyuck, you hesitantly climb onto his back, surprised by how he’s able to hoist you up with ease.

You sigh softly, resting your head comfortably against his shoulder. If the world didn’t want to give you a healthy body, could it give you the ability to stop time?

You love him. You’ve been in love with him ever since he offered to play with you. You fell in love with the way he manages to live life to the fullest despite his limitations. You fell in love with the way he treated you as Y/N.

You’re in love with Lee Donghyuck and you never ever want to stop loving him.

“Lee Donghyuck.”

You feel him tense up. “Oh no.” He chuckles nervously. “My full name?”

“I love you.”

It takes a while for him to respond. “I love you too.”

He loves you back.

Donghyuck sets you down slowly on the bench. He’s panting heavily at this point, falling down next to you as he tilts his head back to catch his breath.

“I told you you didn’t need to.” You frown, brushing the hair out of his face. A smile tugs at his lips from your affection, and he feels the energy flowing back into his body.

“I wanted to.” He gently grabs your hand, pressing his lips to your palm. “You loved it that one time I did it.”

Your heart twists. He’s giving you so much.

And you can never give them back.

Coming to the beach in the early morning will forever remain one of yours and Donghyuck’s little secret. It was just the two of you crazy enough to sit here in the wee hours of the morning, waiting for the big golden yolk to start its work that day.

You felt transported to another world sitting here. The saltiness of the beach, the low crashing of waves, the occasional cool breeze against your skin that had you tugging your sweater closer to your body.

You imagine building a house here. A window next to your shared bed. Waking up in the morning pressed up next to him. Just the two of you watching the world in silence before starting your day.

If only.

“What’re you thinking about?” He asks, sliding an arm around your shoulders and pulling you into him. You hum contentedly, head nestled in the crook of his neck.

“Just how nice it’ll be if I can live by the beach.”

“You want to live by the beach?”

You nod. “It’s so beautiful.”

“You didn’t write it on your list though.”

You giggle softly. You feel the low vibrations coming from Donghyuck’s chest.

“Hyuck?”

“Hmm?”

“Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“Go write your own story.”

His breath hitches. His thumb stops drawing circles on your arm.

“But you’re my ending.”

“No. Find your own ending.” You plead, holding out your pinky. “Please?”

He shakily lifts his free hand up, interlocking your finger with his.

“I promise.”

“Thank you.”

You feel tired. Why are you so tired?

“Remember when you smashed my face into my birthday cake here?” Donghyuck asks. “And then I threw it down your shirt?”

You close your eyes, picturing the scenario. “Yeah. My Mom scolded me for the rest of the day. She just bought that shirt and you ruined it.”

He laughs. “How was I suppose to know?”

You’re struggling to breathe.

“I should have hugged my parents a little longer just now.” You whisper softly, a single tear escaping your eye.

A whimper escapes Donghyuck’s lips. “Do you want to leave?”

“No. No, it’s okay. I can do that when I get home.”

“Tell me when you want them to pick us up okay? I don’t think I can carry you back.” Donghyuck feels his voice coming out shaky. “You’re pretty heavy.”

“Okay.”

It didn’t take long for the sky to light up.

“Y/N, look.”

The sun peeks between the clouds, so warm, so yellow.

You didn’t look.

“It’s pretty huh?” Donghyuck says again, squeezing you tighter against him. “Is this what you imagined?”

Donghyuck’s heart races.

“Y/N?”

Lee Donghyuck cries. This time, you don’t see it.

“Fuck.” He shakes. “Fuck, it’s okay. You’re okay.”

The waves drown out his sobs. He hugs you so tight it physically hurts. He didn’t know how long it was until your parents came.

“I love you.”

“Go find your happy ending.”

The sun became a little duller after that day.

16.11.2034

“Mr Lee, thank you so much for accepting our interview.”

Lee Donghyuck smiles at the man sitting across from him. “You’re welcome, I’m more than willing.”

Lee Donghyuck, the singer-songwriter whose songs have touched the hearts of many. Lee Donghyuck, the boy who pursued a music career after graduating college and succeeded.

Lee Donghyuck, the guy who recently published a book that someone didn’t get to finish.

The last thing on the list.

“What would you say is the biggest difference between writing a novel and songwriting?”

“Writing a novel is hard.” He laughs, relaxing against the chair he’s seated on. “There’s so much more to consider. Every sentence has to mean something. There must be a correlation for your beginning and end. Whereas for songwriting, it just flows naturally to me. Maybe I’m just not a good writer. I’ll just stick to what I know I’m good at, music.”

“So you won’t be writing another novel anytime soon I suppose?”

“No.” Donghyuck shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Was travelling the inspiration behind your book?”

“Partly. Someone... actually gave me the inspiration for the book.” He admits, drumming his fingers on his knees. “Her dream was to see the world, and hopefully turn it into a story.”

“She’s a friend I assume?”

“Yeah.”

“And what did she think about your novel? Did she like it?”

Lee Donghyuck closes his eyes and smile.

“I really hope she did.”

18. write my own story

543 notes · View notes

weirdoldmanhoho · 2 years

Note

I was gonna say, give me a list of ways Al completely outclasses Ed, but that might never end... howabout some thoughts on how the Resembool kids would spend their days? What kind of Calvin & Hobbs shenanigans did they get up to? How much did all the other kids fear/hate them. etc.

jafkldjafljdlsa you know me too well

(Look, I do love Ed a lot, I just feel like Al gets overlooked in some ways with Ed as the main character, so I just feel the need to sing his praises lol)

Oh my gosh, pure unadulterated insanity is what they got up to.

You have three incredibly brilliant child prodigies living in a very small town that likely has one school and a handful of teachers if not just one . They were probably SO BORED in class. Actually, we KNOW they didn't pay attention in class because that's actually canon lol. Ed and Al spent all their time reading alchemy books under the table and Winry literally slept through classes because she'd stayed up all night dismantling her radio to see how it worked or helping Pinako in the shop. They were so far ahead of the material being taught and so under-stimulated I bet they were absolutely terrible to teach. The only reason they didn't start skipping school completely is because none of them wanted to disappoint their parental guardians.

And then the chaos they got up to OUT of class - oh boy. The combination of skilled but not quite polished alchemy and engineering genius sounds like a wild combination.

How many weird things did they try to create? Ed reads one sci-fi book about robots and that's the whole afternoon right there. It never does start working, but it does manage to absolutely terrorize the neighbor's cat.

One time there's a new house being built and there's all this leftover scrap material and the three of them decide to build their own house because honestly, how hard can it be, right?? They construct a full fort and while it's not the prettiest thing ever, it does stand upright and attracts basically every other kid in the neighborhood to come play mock battles and sieges in it until one concerned parent demands Trisha make them tear it down before someone gets hurt. Every kid in Resembool mourns Fort Elricbell. Or Fort Rainbow. Or Fort Dragon. No one could agree on a name.

(And I know young Winry is depicted as being scared of alchemy, but I have to imagine that she got used to it growing up next to them. It became normal, and then it became a tool for shenanigans, and then it didn't become scary again until, well, you know. Afterwards.)

You know Winry tries to take apart like every piece of machinery in her house. Pinako is a terrible influence on this habit, because she completely understands the obsession, and she wants to encourage Winry to figure out how things work on her own. The only rule is that she has to figure out how to put it back together when she does.

Hohenheim is also, surprisingly, a big encourager of this because he loves encouraging learning and he's just so proud to see his best friend's granddaughter take after her.

Winry has one really faded memory she barely remembers of Ed and Al's kind of scary dad approaching her when she was over for dinner one night and telling her her grandma had said she's really interested in machines, then revealing a tiny wind-up automaton he found at the same kind of place he went shopping for vintage armor. (Winry still has it. It's been buried in a drawer in her room ever since Ed and Al's weird dad left and they got sad about it.)

They went on SO MANY adventures. They were certain that they were going to trek to the capitol once, packed bags full of snacks and chalk and clothes, and set off in the general direction and when it got dark, Trisha and Yuriy gathered them up and helped them set up a tent in the Rockbell's backyard, promising they could start up their journey to the capitol as soon as the sun was up. Ed tried to tell ghost stories and scare Winry, but he and Al both ended up being too scared to spend the entire night outside, and in the morning Winry smugly told them she won.

I think the other kids of Resembool maybe thought they were a little odd, but also loved them, because if you hung out with the Elrics and Winry for the day, YOU KNEW you were going to have the most fun and most crazy day of shenanigans ever. Al would go up to a group of kids at recess and be like hey, after school we're gonna try to dig a tunnel all the way to Aerugo because Winry told me it isn't possible, but Ed and I think that if you made sure to reinforce the structure of the walls so it doesn't collapse, and had enough people to dig, you absolutely could, so we're gonna prove her wrong, wanna help? Everyone would be like hell YES we do that sounds amazing. And then Trisha would have 15 kids in her backyard trying to dig a tunnel with Alphonse standing over them ordering them all around in a nicely organized system while Ed tries to figure out what the right alchemical circle would be for this situation and Winry tells them loudly several times that it wasn't going to work.

They were crazy smart kids with too much curiosity for their own good who grew up in a small country town where they could run free and if they did anything REALLY wild, Ms. Hart down the road would definitely let Trisha know, they got up to SO MUCH insanity.

(And when things go weird, the rest of the kids in town think, huh, it would be the Elrics, wouldn't it?)

Fantastic ask, thank you!! I loved thinking about this!! Also the association of young Resembool trio and Calvin & Hobbes is perfect.

#some of these were inspired by real life lol #alphonse elric #edward elric #winry rockbell #fullmetal alchemist #fma #resembool trio #c: alphonse elric #c: winry rockbell #c: edward elric #ask

224 notes · View notes

everplaythisgame · 2 years

Text

IRIS: I…. guess?

PUPIL: FLIP YES

CEREBELLE: ….

MR. MAXILLA: Okaaay!~ That’s a yes and a guess! That’ll suffice just fine!

Mr. Maxilla reaches up and pulls down a projector screen. He takes a big breath, revving up for his massive blast from the past.

MR. MAXILLA: So the situation behind the wish is really quite obstructed if you view it as somebody new! It’s hard to believe even for me that there was a time before the president and bastions had any say in anything - BUT THERE WAS! And I was there! Before we had any systems in place there was just this one object, a glowing beacon of light called THE WISH, and as its name suggests it could grant anyone’s wildest desires! But because this fine land of Frayzend had no interference in the wish or who used it, it was chaos! Chaos everywhere! Entire different areas being created left and right! Anyone who was anyone could have as much power as they want, which at first sounds REALLY FUN if you have no idea how a little thorn in your side called Mutually Ensured Destruction works! So BASICALLY one day an oodle honeybunch of fine folks banded together and decided it was enough of chaos and time for something new - introducing AN ELECTION SYSTEM. Everyone would vote for a president to be elected who from then on would, by the guidance of The Wish, put into place the existence of BASTIONS. Basically simply people who governed over the areas that were originally created in The Wish’s chaos days who’d serve as ambassadors of their zones, who’d go up to the pres and speak for what them and those within their confines needed so their wishes could be granted in a safer way - and I was one of them!

MR. MAXILLA: There were a bunch of other bastions, uh - Ciliary and Palmar from Uptown, Thala-whatsit-thermostat from that pretentious Imaginaria place, boy am I sure glad she lost the election - Larynx of Wildside was a big one, what a thrillseeker that guy used to be. ME, of course~, andddd…whatsherface from Wheresville!

MR. MAXILLA: As for the PRESIDENNTTT~, he spent most his time in the capital of Frayzend, Cell City, in that big Nerve Center home-government building of his….he was elected, so on and so forth, the bastions were chosen, The Wish was kept nice and neat in the Nerve Center, so forth and so on, everything went well for a long long time but….

IRIS: But what?

MR. MAXILLA: Well, you’re probably aware of the President’s disappearance, but also on that dark fateful day, his brother and his advisor went equally missing-without-a-trace as well. Nobody could track them down, unfortunately, and that left us bastions with no clue as what to do.

PUPIL: SO WHAT HAPPENED?

MR. MAXILLA: So in our search for the president, we came across in his files a …’contingency’.

MR. MAXILLA: It stated that in the presidents absence we were not to re-elect, but instead to dismantle The Wish - as if left along with someone not directly entrusted, we could be flung into chaos once more. It went on to say that though it should be dismantled, each Bastion should try to preserve each fragment to the best of their ability, saying very vaguely that the “right one” would come to remedy this all, traveling from Bastion to Bastion, and only they, someone pure of mind, could put The Wish back together, and that only they ‘knew what to wish for’.

MR. MAXILLA: But, when we all went to go take apart that Wish, we found something.

MR. MAXILLA: The Wish was somehow still echoing someone else’s’ voice, presumably someone who’d used it prior.

MR. MAXILLA: And the voice that repeated from inside…kept on saying….

MR. MAXILLA: “Show me the truth.”

MR. MAXILLA: …

MR. MAXILLA: Soooo~ NATURALLY we took it apart without second hesitation and got the pieces like we were ordered to and now we’ve never spoken to each other from that day forward! Any questions?!

103 notes · View notes

violetarks · 2 years

Text

"you should've never gotten involved."

anime: tokyo revengers

character: sano 'mikey' manjiro, mitsuya takashi

summary: the battle had begun and y/n's main focus is to bring down clair de lune's leader lemaire, who is fully responsible for the death of her sister.

taglist: @chaoticyuna @eriskaitto @kenmas-xbox @chosoisbaby @rinsie @kamikoii @achoomoos @netzukochannn @tomanprincess @ultraviolencezs @rqnslut @sugusshi @kenkenmaaa

a/n: check masterlist here for overview of spoilers, fighting, gory details??? idk dude. i also don't know some ages for the characters lmao, 'éloignez-vous de lui!' - 'get away from him!'

"They're calling me what?"

A newly 14-year-old Y/N looks up from the dinner table, where Sanzu was trying to teach her how to clean her new gun. She glances towards the still 15- and 14-year-old Mitsuya and Chifuyu, who are sitting on the bench stools with coffee and tea as Draken prepares another drink for the two on the table. While turning in her chair, she watches as the three at the kitchen island look between them.

"Y'know, every commander and great captain get their own names." Chifuyu points out, placing his mug down, "Smiley and Angry used to be the Twin Devils. Although it's not really a title, the Haitani brothers—and man, did Angry go off on them. Even Sanzu is called the 'Loyal Mad Dog' because he was always following after Muto before the fallout."

Sanzu puts down the trigger bar. He sighs out, a smile on his face as he tilts his head, "That guy never deserved my loyalty."

Mitsuya raises a brow and gestures towards their new Commander of nearly a year now. "And how about Y/N?" He hums.

The pink-haired 15-year-old boy glances to Y/N. She looks like she's awaiting a response she desperately wanted to hear for her own conscious.

"Yeah." He huffs, reaching over and ruffling her hair. She gives a small smile. Mitsuya grins. "Only because she pisses off Draken and that's hilarious to see after boring and long-ass meetings."

She stares at the table as he lifts his hand.

Sanzu used to be quiet and introverted. Always at Muto's side and doing whatever he wanted. But when a fight between the Haitani Brothers, Hanma, Kisaki and Muto, against Takemichi (who was helping the Acting Commander Draken), Draken, Angry, Hakkai, and Sanzu. It was a scheme to get the Haitani Brothers to take over Toman while they had no real leader, but when Muto shared the plan with Sanzu to get him over to their side, Toman found out immediately and Muto was kicked out. Sanzu took the Fifth Division Captain spot and appointed his own Vice.

He had proven his loyalty to Toman, and a few days after the brawl between the two sides, to Y/N. She was decided as Commander, after the Captains voted. Sanzu was the one who took more convincing, because the rest had already spent time with Y/N even before Toman became big. Even Smiley had his fair share of moments with her.

As soon as Sanzu met her, and found out just how much she cared about Mikey and what he left — even hoping that he'd come back and that everything needed to be perfect for when he did — Sanzu knew this girl was perfect for the role. She knew all there was about any threats to Toman, and especially how each Division worked. And with some training and precision, Y/N could be exactly what Toman needed.

She allowed him to be loose and become extraverted. Sanzu enjoyed being like that.

"So what are they calling me now?" Y/N questions, looking at the barrel of her dismantled gun, "They... haven't found out my real name yet, right?"

It was kind of a longshot trying to cover up her identity. She did it in small ways; changing the way she stood and spoke, her tone, the mask and even trying to appear in different areas of the town as different people. So she needed to be cautious.

"No, your secret is still safe within Toman." Chifuyu states, giving a reassuring wave, "We just heard some of our men mentioning how other gangs have riled up a title for you. It's spreading rather quickly."

She raises a brow, taking the handle frame and wiping away some dirt off the side. "And what title is it?" She questions, "Why?"

Draken nods his head, his blonde hair now fading into his natural colour. "Toman's lowest point was after Valhalla was defeated on Halloween and we had no leader. So when we finally got together again after you came along, people started calling it our new 'arc'."

"Imagine if this was like a manga." Chifuyu smiles, looking happily at Y/N.

Mitsuya stirs his drink, tilting his head towards her. He speaks up, "You're known around as 'Toman's Redemption', because you made us strong. Since you're strong."

She looks back down the barrel of her gun.

"You can only go up from a fall." She sighs out, cleaning it how Sanzu was teaching her to.

17-year-old Y/N now feels like she doesn't know any lower of a fall than Emma.

Her hand brushes against her pistol at her hip, the Tokyo Manji Gang jacket swishing as she hastily turns around to throw another kick to a Clair de Lune member. She is pissed off. It's only been a few minutes since the brawl began, and Y/N was never seen leaving Draken's side.

As Vice-Commander and a good friend, he keeps an on Y/N. She looks collected and strong, but she is going crazy. She has taken down more people than any of the Captains would've ever guessed. She's gotten stronger. She's gotten better.

"You have eyes on Lemaire?" Mitsuya asks Mikey behind him, seeing the old Commander take down a few more men.

"No, the fucker disappeared as soon as his gang ran forward." Mikey retorts, pulling himself back up.

"This isn't going to be finished until he is taken down." Chifuyu calls, pushing a guy back and tripping him over. Mitsuya and Mikey look to him. "What about Kisaki and Hanma?"

Mitsuya nods off to the side. "Over there." He points out, squinting his eyes at the taller of the two, "More like Hanma protecting that wimp."

Draken throws an enemy over his shoulder, into another crowd of people. He turns around, landing a quick gaze on his superior. Y/N is huffing, drawing back a kick and landing her heel against the other. Once he drops, she jumps on top of him and gives a turning kick to another now in front of her.

"Don't tell me you're tired out now." Draken scoffs, furrowed brows as she pushes off the Clair de Lune fighter with a grunt, "We just started, Commander, if you burn out, you won't be able to fight to the end."

Y/N responds, tugging on her collar, "Yeah right, I'd never hear the end of it from you if I left this to the rest of Toman." She stands up fully, turning towards the rest of the crowd, "Lemaire isn't anywhere to be seen and Lèmieux is taking out our newest recruits from Ketsu-gang. Once we find Lemaire, we waste no time. Take him out quickly. From what we know, his Vice will come running as soon as he sees his Commander in trouble."

Draken nods his head, dodging a punch and throwing one of his own. Just as he finishes, he lifts a leg and pushes it into a man behind Y/N. She leans away, steadying herself.

"He's like you." She states, tightening her fists.

"Don't compare me to scumbags like them." He scowls, taking back his stance. Y/N shrugs her shoulders behind him. "Sanzu said he had fun dealing with those traitors from last month. Did you hear about what one of them said when he came across them again?"

Y/N furrows her brows. "No. Why bring it up now?" She questions, dodging another punch and breaking the opponents arm.

"Because one of those fuckers were two-timing with Clair de Lune." He explains, turning his head to nod towards another enemy, "Remember the guy that you broke the nose of? He's standing right over there."

Her eyes widen when her gaze lands on a familiar face, just disfigured because his nose hadn't healed properly. She scoffs, "We'll burn him to the ground."

"That's a bit extreme." Draken chuckles.

"Figure of speech." Y/N mumbles.

"It's really not."

She goes to respond to that when a hefty punch lands on her cheek. A breath draws out of her as she faces the other way, her skin stinging at the strike. Draken is finishing up with another Clair de Lune member when he turns around to see Y/N.

He goes to help, when a kick is sent to his back, making him turn around and hold his arms up to block another upcoming attack.

Lèmieux pulls back his fist, eyes on Draken as he glares. "Play by the rules, kid." He scoffs, rushing forward to attack once again, "You should never lay a hand on someone who is your superior once the fight begins." Draken clicks his tongue. Y/N would have to hold off.

She looks back up, wiping her mouth as she glares at Lemaire. His chin is lifted. "You're children. The oldest in your gang isn't even in their twenties yet. Not to mention, you aren't even one of the founding members, only an ex-fling. You're not the oldest, or the strongest, or the wisest." Lemaire claims, "What do you know of leadership?"

The white belts wrapped around her shoulders and back flow with the wind as she stands up. She huffs back, furrowed brows, "Why? Do you need some tips?"

Lemaire chuckles once before striking forward, drawing a punch back with all his might and moving his fist towards her face again. Y/N brings her arm up to block and pulls a leg out, pushing her heel into his waist. But Lemaire wraps his fingers around her ankle at impact, quickly tossing her to the side.

She lands with a grunt, boots scraping the floor. That catches the attention of the other captains.

"Hakkai!" Mitsuya calls, in the middle of a fight against three other guys, "Y/N needs help!"

The Vice-Captain looks towards their commander. He blinks before replying, "Taka... I—I think Y/N's alright."

The First Division Captain takes a second to glance at her. And sure enough, Hakkai is correct. Y/N is sprinting towards the other commander, swinging herself up and axe-kicking Lemaire in the shoulder. He gives an annoyed smile as she push-kicks him away from her, gaining more distance.

Y/N stares him down from where she stands, foot slowly resting in front of her. Lemaire clicks his tongue, holding his chest.

"I am strong. Real strong." She states, pulling the back of her jacket and throwing it to a safe place by the bikes, "None of you come close."

Lemaire watches her carefully. This is no frail young girl. She is strong. She is no longer shaking in her boots at the thought of fighting someone stronger than her. Y/N has no intention of losing, and she will not, as far as she is concerned.

She huffs out, shoulders held strong, "And what the Hell do you know of me? Just because I'm younger than most of my fighters, you think I'm bad at leading them?" She shakes her head. "You're only three years older than me, yet you haven't even turned 20 yet. You talk about me being too young, when you're just like me."

She points to Lèmieux, who is fighting off Draken. "Your Vice Commander is older than you, just as mine is. So don't speak about how my age affects my rank." Y/N scowls out, "I've kept tabs on you since I was 14. I know you were handed this gang down to you after your older brother was murdered. Unlike you, I stepped to the occasion myself, I wasn't forced to do this. I chose to."

Lemaire glares harder at her. Because while he knew all there was about Y/N, she did the same for her. There was a rumour around for a year or two after Mikey left, saying that he told his little girlfriend everything about Toman and the other gangs they needed to keep tabs on.

This made her one of the most well-informed people within their business, and some even tried to buy details off of her.

But she declined every time, soon making them fall under her leadership.

"If you think for even a second that you are better than me," Y/N says, eyes trained on him with disgust, "I pray that you recovers soon."

"People like you are dangerous." Lemaire informs her, standing up tall and clenching his fist against his heart, "People who think gaining power is easy. Which is why I'll crush you beneath my shoe."

As the two strike each other hard, Draken pushes Lèmieux off of him.

The Clair de Lune Vice-Commander sports a smirk. "Y'know, I have heard many things of you and the Tokyo Manji Gang. The downfall and the major events you have been associated with." He explains, wiping blood from his mouth, "You're the reason the Haitani Brothers weren't able to join, having been held in prison after the conflict between them and Toman. It's a shame."

Draken spits out some red from his mouth, rolling his shoulder. "Trust me, those brothers are the last ones you want to turn to." He grunts.

"And we've heard a lot about Toman's Redemption." Lèmieux adds on, making Draken furrow his brows. How did they find out about Y/N's identity? "It's taken about four of our stationed teams to figure out just who she was. But our group sent here did a lot of the work."

He doesn't get a chance to question it when Sanzu comes up from behind the other Vice-Commander, whacking him in the back of his head with a... is that a baton?

As Lèmieux scowls, falling to the side as he holds the back of his head, Draken knits his brows. "Where the Hell did you get that thing?" He asks. He had a lot of bad memories. "I thought it was lost."

"Remember when Haitani Ran tried to use this to beat the shit out of Takemichi and then you took it and threw it away?" Sanzu hums out, waving the object around. Draken nods with a lifted brow. "Yeah, well, I took it and kept it with me. Kinda' fun, ain't it? I've been using it to deal with traitors and keep Ketsu-gang in their place when they act out against Mikey. This thing is pretty convincing, ya'know."

Lèmeiux groans in his spot, sitting up on his knees as his blood drips down his neck. It's not deep enough to really knock him out, but it did hurt more than he'd like to admit.

Sanzu kneels in front of him, a smirk showing on his lips. "Aren't you embarrassed to lose to a child?" He taunts, tilting his head as he pokes him with the baton, "For God's sake, you're adults, put up a real fight."

Draken glances around, seeing a now even amount of fighters on both sides. Nearly 150 Clair de Lune members are on the floor, writhing in pain. In the middle of the fallen bodies, stands Smiley, Angry and Chifuyu. A grin appears on Draken's face. It seems like they were able to hold their own against these full-grown men.

Behind him, Y/N is throwing another flurry of punches, aiming towards Lemaire's stomach and face before he finally catches both of her fists. She grits her teeth, pushing harder towards him. Her hair was a mess and her breathing was laboured. Lemaire notes to himself how his subordinates gave him old news about how strong she really was.

It was obvious she had gained more muscle and trained more throughout the last month.

"What do you aim to have gained by not joining us?" Lemaire questions, a bit more frustrated with how everything was playing out, "Clair de Lune is rising to the top, and we plan on staying. What does the Tokyo Manji Gang have to offer more than we do?"

Y/N retorts, "We have morale and honour. You work under cruel and shameful conditions and rules." She pulls him down, grounding a knee harshly into his stomach once. She is determined to make him bleed. "I would never let the people I trust be associated with the likes of Clair de Lune."

"You have a little more growing up to do, Hanemiya." He informs the 17-year-old girl, who in return grits her teeth. A swift movement has Y/N ducking beneath his punch as kicking herself away from him. Lemaire, able to stand up straight again, gives her a wild grin. "Morale and honour won't get you far when you're in this business."

She clenches a hand at her side. She hated people who wanted to make the new era filled with death and despair.

"If we can't make it in this business, then we'll make our own." She says, "We're not afraid of people like you."

"Is that why you bought a gun to a fist fight?" Lemaire chuckles, raising a brow. Y/N stands taller, arm brushing against her holster. She doesn't say anything back at that. "An unnecessary precaution. Or perhaps you're thinking of killing me off so you can rule alone?"

She rolls her eyes, a scoff emitting from her, "It would be easier if you just surrender now."

Lemaire doesn't respond to that. Instead, lets himself calm down. He takes a deep, deep breath in, and lets it out slow. "I would like to ask why you are not letting Toman join us, even after a compromise." He states, Y/N lifting her head a little, "I understand why you would feel to go against it at first, but you would later see that Clair de Lune has a lot to offer. Tell me, what is so bad about my gang?"

She glares harder, hands clenched at her sides and watching as Draken comes up beside him and punches the leader square in the face. Lemaire is thrown back, covering his now bleeding nose as he stares at the Second-in-Command. Over a few feet away, Lèmieux is holding his own against Sanzu, who is waving the baton around like a near maniac. A grunt leaves Lemaire's lips as he turns back to Draken and Y/N.

"You want to know why I don't fucking like you?" The leader says, walking closer to Lemaire with tight fists. The wind blows against her skin with each step she takes. She could swear that she's seeing red at this point. "Because you're basically running like the mafia. You cheat and spend all your cash just to have things go your way, even if it means that countless of people will be wasted to get that. I will die keeping my men away from you."

He almost can't believe it, the decision she's making. All that time and effort she put in to become stronger and more known, only for her to reject the chance to expand.

Lemaire chuckles, wiping his blood on his jacket, "If that's what you're worried about, then you should look around, Hanemiya! Organisations like ours need to adapt to the world, and Clair de Lune has. Toman will shrivel out into nothing if they don't join us." He tilts his head up to her, arm spread out as if to say 'look at the world, this is how it truly works', "I advise you to think again about your decision, you don't know what you're doing—"

"We're not stupid, Lemaire." Draken scowls, distaste living on his tongue, "We will not be overtaken by some assholes who think they can just throw us around. Toman will not lose to you."

Y/N lifts her leg, sending a kick to the side of Lemaire's head. He lets out a groggy sound, head aching now. She looks disgusted by him. "You're never going to have Toman." She states, "For as long as I'm their leader."

Lemaire coughs up some more blood. The cement is covered by his red. Y/N and Draken show no remorse for what they've caused.

"And that is not all I am worried about." She kneels down, grabbing his head by the hair and pulling him to look her straight in the eyes. His headache is pounding and his nose is aching. But in her gaze, is something cold and unusual. It's different to how she looked at him with such hatred before. "You won't ever be forgiven for what you've done."

Draken lowers his eyes to the floor. He whole-heartedly agrees with Y/N. But he knows that he should stop her at some point. This was not that point. At least, he didn't think so. But Draken was also filled with anger towards him.

Lemaire coughs out some more blood, dripping from the cut in the side of his head to the floor, "You're going to have to be more specific. I've done plenty of terrible things." A smile appears on his lips. Sinister and unregretful. It makes her more furious. "You'd be astounded by how many bodies I've had hidden throughout my years as Clair de Lune's leader."

Y/N doesn't say anything to that at first. Because she thinks that, if he is as honest as some have claimed he is, then he will know and explain himself. But he doesn't. She grits her teeth, slamming his head down into the concrete floor with a loud yell of anger.

That catches the attention of plenty people around them, stopping their fights to see the two leaders going against each other. Mitsuya punches one last person in the stomach and pushes them away, spotting his Vice-Captain stopping as well. He goes to ask what was wrong when he turns the same way as him. Mikey's opponent halts all movement as well, making the ex-commander watch as well.

The brawl is suddenly paused, eying the middle of the circle, where Y/N is slamming Lemaire's head into the ground repeatedly, blood spraying everywhere. Draken stands behind her, not tearing his eyes away from the scene, because he wants to witness all of this. People are unable to speak, too much in awe of the 17-year-old punishing this 19-year-old who wanted to overtake her gang.

Even Sanzu, who was punishing Lèmieux with his baton, stops to watch the whole thing go down. The Vice-Commander widens his eyes in horror, taking this time to knock Sanzu off of him and dashing towards the Commander.

"Lemaire!" He shouts out, trying to wipe the blood from his face to see better, "Éloignez-vous de lui!"

Draken soon knocks him to the ground with a shove, making the older man blink is surprise. Toman's Vice-Commander scowls out, "You should never lay a hand on someone who is your superior once the fight begins. Isn't that right?"

Lèmieux growls back at him, "You children are so bratty."

"Tell us that when you're cleaning up Clair de Lune's bodies." Sanzu says, kicking the back of his shoulder with a smile. But when he looks towards the Second-in-Command, he grows serious. "Y/N." Is all he says.

"I know." Draken responds, shaking his head and turning to where Y/N is pushing Lemaire's face into the rough floor again. Each time is harder than the last. "But I won't allow her to stop until he explains himself."

Chifuyu is standing beside Takemichi, jaw dropped at what is presented. Blood covering Y/N's boots and her pants, some even getting on the white bandages around her stomach. He mumbles, "This... is too familiar."

Takemichi gulps, "It's Halloween all over again."

"Mikey." Mitsuya mutters to the man beside him, "Mikey, she might kill him."

"She will." He responds, watching with such a normal gaze that it kind of scares Mitsuya, "He killed Emma. No way she will let him off easy."

He goes to say something, but then he watches his leader pull Lemaire up by his hair again. Y/N is glaring harder, leaning back with an enraged expression. Blood drips from Lemaire's chin, his forehead and eyebrow scraped and cut. Red lines cover his face, a scowl accompanying it.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" He grunts, panting out. His eye was closed, blood dripping over it.

Y/N retorts, unimpressed look on her face, "Your superior."

He only glares harder, hands placed on the concrete to try and hold himself up. But he can't focus on it, he can only think of the amount of treatment he'd need for his face.

"Now tell me, Lemaire." She sighs, gripping harder onto his strands, "Do you apologise for what you've done? Or will I have to beat it out of you myself?" His chin is lifted as she pulls him up further, resulting in him sitting back on his knees, hands on his lap. His breaths are laboured and spaced out, one eye open and watching her with knitted brows. "If you don't believe me, I'll show you just how true to my word I can be."

She lets go of his hair, standing up again. Lemaire drops a little, facing the floor with his strands laying over. He takes a few more deep breaths and then looks up to Toman's leader, who still looks aggravated. He spits out, "You're fucking crazy..."

A part of her is disappointed, because he is still choosing not to tell the truth. But the other part is fine with it. Because she doesn't mind beating the fuck out of this guy.

She rubs the side of her neck. "Maybe I am."

And launches another kick towards his face, making him cut his tongue and let out a cry of pain.

"Hey, shouldn't you stop that?" A Toman member asks onother, dropping the Clair de Lune man to the ground.

In response, he runs fingers through his hair and begins his way over to the two leaders. "She gets out of hand, just like her brother." He scoffs, pushing through the crowd with his friend following behind.

Y/N lifts her boot, annoyed by the blood covering it before she slams her heel into the side of Lemaire's jaw. He stays on his knees, unable to fight back as Sanzu keeps Clair de Lune's Vice-Commander on the floor, yelling out to his leader. Y/N scowls out, "Do you remember yet? Huh, Lemaire?" Another kick onto the back of his neck. "Does this jog your memory? Or should I work more harder?"

"This is getting personal..." Some gang member says, rubbing their arm in discomfort. But two people push past them into the circle.

"That's enough, Y/N."

She looks up from her opponent, hard gaze landing on one of the people she hated. "What do you want?" She sighs, letting her foot rest on the floor. She kneels down and tugs on Lemaire's collar. "I'm busy, Kisaki."

He and Hanma both stand a good safe distance from behind Lemaire, getting a good look at Toman's Commander. He's nervous now, at what she's doing to the other leader of the two gangs. He fixes his glasses on his face, staring at Y/N, who is still looking at Lemaire.

"Go easy on the guy, Boss." Hanma says, small smile on his lips. He tugs on his closed jacket.

"You have no business interrupting them." Draken claims, standing beside Y/N.

Hanma then smiles wider, pointing to Lemaire. He is nearly passed out, only lifted by Y/N's hand. "But she's punishing a man who's done no crime." He claims.

She stops, slowly letting go of Lemaire. She watches him carefully.

"Toman is nothing better than trash with you at the wheel, and I knew that if Clair de Lune wasn't aiming to destroy Toman as a whole, then they would've never grown." Kisaki states, sounding harsh and aiming it at Y/N, "You needed to have that same mentality, to kill of Clair de Lune, you just needed a stimulus."

Y/N stands up eyes now on Kisaki. Her heart is racing. And her head is pounding with all these thoughts.

Draken is the same, except his eyes widen with horror. He is holding his breath at the words that leave Kisaki's lips.

He goes on, spreading his arms out, "You didn't care about anybody other than her, she was your first priority all of the time." Frantic and angered. "There was no other way, and it was... it was the only way we could do it."

Silent whispers sound around the two gangs in the area. Some of Toman understand, but it leaves Clair de Lune confused. But nobody ever steps forward, nobody dares to.

Hanma pulls off his jacket, readying to get into a fight with both Y/N and Draken. "I'll admit it, she was a nice girl." He sighs, placing a hand on his shoulder, "But we didn't have any other choice. Kisaki is smart for thinking of this one. He played both you and Lemaire pretty good, didn't he?"

Y/N and Draken's eyes fall onto the bandages around Hanma's shoulder, notably the same shoulder that Y/N should've shot that day that Emma was killed by two Clair de Lune members. There is still some blood covering the centre. It was true. It was definitely them. No doubt about it.

Draken takes one small step towards them. "You two aren't leaving here alive." He shouts.

"We had to intervene before you killed Lemaire." Kisaki interrupts, shaking his head and throwing another hand out, "He is the only other person suited for leading Toman, if it can not be Mikey. He has the assets that Toman needs to grow stronger. He can be the face of the new age. You should've never gotten involved."

Y/N shoots Kisaki.

#self-control #sano mikey manjiro #sano mikey manjiro x reader #sano mikey #sano mikey x reader #mikey #mikey x reader #mitsuya takashi #mitsuya takashi x reader #mitsuya #mitsuya x reader #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo rev #tokyo rev x reader #anime #anime x reader

123 notes · View notes

khaleesiofalicante · 3 years

Text

“Mom!” Alec hissed.

His mother didn’t turn back.

“Mooooom,” he called her again – and this time she turned back. “I want to go home."

“Alec, we just got here!” his mother said incredulously as they checked their coats into the coakroom.

The guy in the cloakroom gave Alec a token for their coats.

Jesus Fucking Christ. What kind of house has a cloakroom?

His mother was right. They had barely been here for 10 minutes. But Alec already wanted to leave.

“I’m feeling sick,” Alec said. “I should go back home.”

He coughed awkwardly. He was a decent liar.

“What’s wrong?” his mother looked momentarily concerned.

“Uh,” Alec said, not prepared at all. “I got my period.”

Yeah, so that ‘decent liar’ bit might have been an exaggeration.

“Alec,” his mother sighed. “You think I want to do this? This family is one of our largest donors to the university. As the dean, I have to be here. So do you.”

Alec groaned.

As the president of the queer alliance at Idris University, Alec knew he had to talk to people to get the funding they needed. But Alec hated people and he hated talking. He wished Lily or Maia were here instead.

“I know you have your own ways,” his mother said through her teeth as she smiled at one of the guests who was waving at her. “But you need their support. It’s how the game is played.”

“I hate playing the game,” Alec said through his teeth as he cheerily waved at one of the lecturers.

“You know the rules,” she turned to him and adjusted his bowtie. “Just smile and play nice.”

“But-”

“Be charming ,” she interrupted. “That's how fundraising works.”

Alec pouted and then gave her tight nod.

“Albert!” she shouted at one of the guests and made her way towards the old man.

Alec was about to let out a dramatic sigh when a waiter emerged from nowhere.

“Champagne, sir?”

“Thank you,” Alec picked up the flute. “Damn, this is heavy.”

“Crystal, sir,” the waiter pointed.

Alec’s hands suddenly felt very sweaty. He wiped them clumsily on his suit jacket and held the champagne flute carefully.

Another waiter emerged upon him, holding a tray of hors d’oeuvres.

“What’s that?” Alec pointed at the tray.

“Caviar, sir,” the waiter replied.

“Is that cinnamon?” Alec asked at the sprinkled dust on top of the caviar thingies.

If it was cinnamon, he could maybe eat it and have an instant allergic reaction.

Then maybe his mother would let him go home. He hoped.

“Not cinnamon, sir,” the waiter said as Alec took one and popped into his mouth. “It’s edible gold.”

“What?” Alec asked, his mouth full of caviar.

And gold apparently.

“It’s a caviar and crème fraîche tartlet,” the waiter announced in a surprisingly perfect French accent. “Topped with edible gold.”

“You are telling me this is gold?” Alec asked, chewing the food self-consciously. “I’m eating actual gold?”

“Uh, yes sir,” the waiter said awkwardly.

“But why?” Alec demanded, chewing his food angrily now. “Does it improve the taste?”

“No, sir,” the waiter looked embarrassed. “It’s…pretty.”

Alec looked around in disbelief as the waiter made his escape.

Here he was trying to find a couple of thousand dollars to raise funds for his alliance and these people were sprinkling gold on their food for aesthetic.

“Fuck the rich,” Alec muttered.

“Pardon?” someone said from behind him.

Ah, shit! Alec really hoped it was not one of the professors at the university – or worse, one of the donors.

But when he turned around, it was neither.

It was in fact the most beautiful man Alec had ever seen.

“Uh,” Alec said eloquently.

“You were saying something about fucking the rich,” the man smiled. “If it’s a cult, I’m very much interested.”

“Not a cult,” Alec clarified – when he managed to find his voice. Jesus! “Just a personal motto of mine.”

“Very interesting motto you have there…”

“Alec,” he finished. “Alexander.”

Why did he say his full name? He never did that. Alec could be such a weirdo in front of gorgeous men.

“Nice to meet you, Alexander,” the other man said, and Alec’s momentary regret vanished instantly.

He suddenly loved his name. Maybe a little too much.

“I’m Magnus,” the man held out a hand and Alec shook it – and hoped his palm wasn’t as sweaty as before. “Are you here to donate?”

“Pfft,” Alec couldn’t help but snort. “Right. Cause these people need more money.”

“Don’t roll your eyes at charity, Alexander,” Magnus chided. “It’s not very gentlemanly of you.”

“What’s this charity for anyway?” Alec asked, because he hadn’t even bothered to ask his mom and spent the whole drive here complaining about the university budget allocations instead.

“The rowing club,” Magnus replied.

“The rowing club?” Alec demanded angrily.

They were a bunch of elite dude bros and were the last people that needed charity.

“They are hoping to purchase new equipment,” Magnus pointed out.

“This is fucking ridiculous,” Alec complained. “They don’t even need a fundraiser. They can afford that shit in so many other ways. Like ask them sell one of their Rolexes or Lamborghinis. Charity is for people who don’t have alternatives.”

Magnus blinked and Alec realized he had lost his cool a little.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “It’s just…it isn’t fair.”

“The rowing club boys are right there,” Magnus whispered as he pointed at the buffet. “They might hear you and think you are jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” Alec replied. “I’m outraged that we live in a society that prioritizes the needs of the marginalized over the wants of the privileged.”

Usually this was the point when the other person would give him an awkward smile and escaped immediately from Alec’s boring rants.

But Magnus didn’t look awkward or bored. In fact, his lips curved a little as he gestured Alec to one of the banquet tables.

“Tell me more,” Magnus said as he sat down.

Alec wasn’t really sure what to say. He wasn’t used to reaching this stage of the conversation.

“Fancy new rowing equipment is a want. They can live without their latest gadget and just make do with the equipment they have,” Alec elaborated. “But the safety of queer youth in our university is definitely a need. It’s not something they should have to compromise.”

“The safety of the queer youth?” Magnus frowned. “How are they at risk?”

“There has been increased reporting of cyber bullying by queer students at the university,” Alec sighed. “Our existing reporting mechanisms don’t work.”

“Well, they could complain to HR and-”

“Magnus, when has HR got anything done?” Alec asked.

Magnus frowned again.

“Our data shows that over 60% of the victims of cyber bullying at the university are not only queer, but also people of colour,” Alec elabored. “So, these attacks are racially motivated too.”

“Why isn’t the university doing anything about it?” Magnus demanded, now sounding angry too. “The dean-”

“She is doing the best she can,” Alec intervened – because he knew that to be true. “We have a zero tolerance policy and that works at campus. But on social media..Well, that’s a whole other thing, isn’t it? You can’t really control what other people say or do.”

Magnus frowned again.

Alec realized that he liked it better when the other man smiled. Maybe he was as boring and depressing as everyone said.

“So, what do we do?” Magnus asked.

“We?” Alec blinked.

“I’m a student at the university too,” Magnus said. “Well, I just transferred from London. But still. As a bisexual man and a person of color, I need to be a part of this.”

Alec was beyond happy that someone understood the importance of his cause. It was hard enough to find people who supported the alliance.

But instead of thanking Magnus for his support, Alec’s mouth said “You’re bisexual?”

“And part-Indonesian,” Magnus replied. “So, what do we do, Alexander?”

Alec blinked. “Well, uh, the alliance has been trying to create an app that provides counseling support for queer youth who face bullying online. We can’t really completely get rid of the bullying. That might never happen. But the least we can do is give support for the victims, right?”

Magnus smiled. And yeah, Alec definitely liked it better.

“That’s an excellent idea,” Magnus said.

“Well, it’s just an idea,” Alec shrugged. “We still need to find the funding.”

“Well, why haven’t you?” Magnus asked.

“Because the donors obviously have other priorities,” Alec rolled his eyes, gesturing at the party.

“Oh,” Magnus said.

“But I think if we steal a plate of those caviar thingies, we might be able to scrap off the gold dust and gather a few hundred dollars,” Alec joked.

But Magnus didn’t laugh. Instead he leaped off his chair, ran towards the stage and grabbed the mic.

First of all, why was there a stage? Second of all, what was Magnus doing?

Third of all, who was he? Was he performer for the fundraiser or something?

He did have a really nice voice, Alec noted to himself. Among other nice things.

“Excuse me, everyone!” Magnus called into the mic and everyone turned their attention to him. “I’m Magnus Bane. My father and I are absolutely thrilled to have you at our home this evening.”

Alec, who was sipping on his champagne, most certainly did not choke at that. This was…Magnus’ home?

He was the biggest donor to the university? Or his father was…But whatever.

Alec’s ‘fuck the rich’ motto seemed a little too ironic - maybe even appropriate - right now.

“As the captain of the rowing team,” Magnus said, and Alec did not choke again. “I’ve just heard word from my brothers that there has been a change of plans.”

The rowing club, still standing by the buffet and hogging all the food, looked very confused.

“The rowing club has officially decided to throw a car wash at the university,” Magnus announced and the crowd started whispering around.

“Dude, isn’t that what chicks do?” one of the dude bros laughed.

“Exactly, Chad!” Magnus yelled. “We will be raising money and dismantling the patriarchy at the same time. It’s a win-win!”

A loud cheer went through the room but some people still looked confused.

“But what about the fundraiser?” a woman who was wearing too many pearly necklaces asked. “Are we not making donations today?”

“Yes, we are Mrs. Morgenstern,” Magnus winked at her. “But all donations from today’s event will go the queer alliance of the Idris University. They are raising money to fund an app to provide psychosocial support to victims of cyber bullying.”

Alec noticed his mother turn to look at him in disbelief. Alec shrugged helplessly.

“Is it really necessary though?” an old man from one of the tables asked and Alec had half a mind to dump his champagne on the man’s head. “Can’t they just have one of those support groups where they sit in a circle and talk to each other?”

“They are victims of targeted harassment, Mr. Starkweather,” Magnus replied politely. “They need support that is consistent, reliable and professional. It seems rather unfair to ask victims to support themselves instead of providing them with the required resources.”

“But aren’t they asking for too much?” a blonde woman asked.

“The app will ensure their safety and mental health. They are asking for the bare minimum,” Magnus answered, and Alec noticed the flash of anger in his eyes.

“But if the problem is cyber bullying,” another man in a suit demanded. “Why can’t we just ask them to stay off the internet?”

“Because that would be homophobic,” Magnus said through gritted teeth - but still smiling. Alec knew that look. “The queer students are not the problem. The internet is not at fault either. It’s people and their privilege. It’s people and their inability to treat others with respect – online and offline. These are students. We can’t restrict their access to the internet. For many queer youth, the internet is the only place that is safe enough to express themselves without fear or judgment. So, instead of asking them to stay off the internet, maybe we should consider asking the bullies and homophobes to practice basic human decency.”

“Damn, son!” someone whistled impressively.

Alec knew that whistle. He was going to hug the hell out of his mother later.

There was a moment of silence in the room, then a man approached the stage and pulled Magnus into a hug.

“What an excellent idea, Magnus!” the man who looked very much like Magnus beamed.

“It’s not my idea,” Magnus said. “All the credit goes to the alliance.”

“Well, I can’t wait to meet this alliance!” Mr. Bane nodded in approval. “Ladies and Gentlemen! What a fine cause! What an important change in action! Allow me to be the first to support these brave and inspiring group of young people.”

“Thank you, Bapa!” Magnus smiled sweetly. “It’s so wonderful to see you supporting this cause. This is going to go viral on the internet.”

The moment Magnus said the words viral and internet, multiple guests got off their seats and started heading towards the donations table.

“He knows how to play the game,” Alec's mother said as she walked up to him. “He would make a fine addition to your alliance, Alec. You should ask him to join.”

“I will. He is bisexual,” Alec replied.

“He is also very handsome,” his mother pointed out innocently.

“Don't even!” Alec pointed a finger at her as she chuckled and joined the crowd.

By the end of the night, the fundraiser had gatherd thrice the amount the alliance needed to create the app.

“So…” he said as he approached Magnus. “I wanted to say thank you.”

“I was wondering maybe you could say it on Saturday,” Magnus suggested.

“Saturday?” Alec raised an eyebrow.

“The car wash, Alexander!” Magnus pouted. “I was here for your fundraiser. It’s only fair that you come for mine.”

“Well, that depends,” Alec said. “Will you be wearing a bikini?”

“Nah,” Magnus chuckled. “I was hoping to go shirtless.”

“In that case, you’ll definitely see me there,” Alec said seriously.

He didn’t even have a car. But he could always egg Jace’s car and take it.

“You want to get out of here?” Magnus asked, pointing at the crowd.

“Uh, isn’t this like your party or something?” Alec asked. “Shouldn’t you be here to entertain the guests?”

Magnus looked around and shrugged. “Fuck the rich.”

Alec couldn’t help but grin at that. He took Magnus’ hand as they ran towards the garden.

Fuck the rich indeed.

- For @radisv for being amazing. Always. Happy Birthday. ILY!

#this is a crack fic and I will not apologise :)#malec fics #malec #dani writes stuff #HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEBE I LOVE YOU

124 notes · View notes

hufflepuffhollander · 3 years

Text

drive-in: tom holland one-shot

a/n | in honor of hitting 700 followers and also getting my real life heart broken and needing my unproblematic fictional boyfriend back, here’s an oldie from the drafts.✌🏻 enjoy kiddos

cw | language, angst, a lil smut, teasing banter, fluff! 1.5k words.

“Mmm, darling, let me at you,” Tom mumbled against your lips as you lightly squeezed his shoulders, his hands fidgeting with the hem of your shorts, trying to wriggle them down. Just as he’d made some progress, you heard a loud snicker on the other side of your door.

You pulled your face away from Tom’s and averted your gaze to the front of the room, where you could see two pairs of socks in the crevice between the floor and the door, standing on the other side. Without letting you dismantle from him, he grabbed the nearest pillow and flung it at the wall. “Fuck off, you pervs!” The kid-like chuckles coming from the socks continued.

The sudden interruption had killed the mood, so you just sat in Tom’s lap on his bed and laid your head against his chest, sighing. “Can’t they get a job?”

Tom combed a hand of fingers through your hair. “They do have jobs; they’re professional cockblocks.”

“And they need to work from home?”

“Everybody does, baby. We’re all stuck inside.”

“...right.”

You had to keep shifting around on Tom’s lap, uncomfortable from the sudden lack of pressure of his hands wandering over you. He had just gotten back from a press tour, you’d barely had any alone time with him since—and you were both getting pretty tired of not being able to rip each other’s clothes off like you’d wanted to since the moment he walked through the front door. Finally, you have a couple minutes to sneak away from the roommates you’re stuck quarantining with, and what do they do but follow you to Tom’s bedroom like absolute creeps. Creeps that seem to have a vendetta against you getting off. You’d spent too much time hanging out with them while Tom was gone, and now they were far too comfortable meddling in your personal life.

“How long do you think it’ll be til we’re actually alone again?” you asked, tracing over the freckles on his shoulders.

“I have no idea,” he sighed, falling back onto the pillows. “Who knows how long this will all last.”

“We might have to get pretty creative then, because I’m getting a little-”

“Thirsty?”

You smacked Tom’s arm as he giggled at you.

“I was going to say impatient.”

“So...horny.”

You pouted at him. “Can you blame me for missing you?”

He kissed your cheek and then your nose. “No, love, I missed you too. And if those idiots weren’t within earshot, I would’ve already had you screaming my name three times over by now.”

You kissed him back. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”

Long, countless days went by, the two of you stuck inside with Harrison, Tuwaine and Harry, trying to find a balance between friend time and couple time but failing miserably. The boys had made a bet behind your back on how long they could go before hearing you and Tom having sex through the walls, and they took their gambling way too seriously. It had been too long.

Seeing an ad for a distanced drive-in movie night being hosted at a nearby park, you jumped on the opportunity, convincing Tom to come with just so you could get out of the house. The night finally came, and you flicked off the group of boys as they shouted after you for leaving the bubble, more than ready for a good old fashioned date night.

“They really do hate us,” you chuckled as you zoomed away.

“Nah, babe, they love us—they’re just jealous we didn’t invite them.” He placed his hand on your own and squeezed it, playing with your fingers for the extent of the drive to the park, just as excited as you to get some one-on-one time.

You cozied up in the backseat of the car with Tom, wrapped in fuzzy blankets you’d brought with and watching Titanic on the large screen set up in the grass in front of where you parked. You were intently focused on the movie, as it was one of your favorites, but Tom spent half the time looking at you, feeling you breathe, smiling at the top of your head nestled into his arms.

Up on the screen, Jack and Rose were in that carriage car on the boat, finally getting their big sex scene, starting to steam up the windows. You turned to Tom as you felt him laughing and shaking his head at the movie.

“What’s so funny?”

He pointed at the screen like the characters would be able to hear him. “So unrealistic, isn’t it?”

“Not really, people have sex in cars all the time.”

“No, no, I mean the windows. How did they get so foggy so fast? There’s no way that happens in real life.”

You were suddenly very interested in what Tom had to say and raised an eyebrow as you spoke. “Tom, have you never gotten laid in a car?”

You could see him turn pink with embarrassment through the light emanating off of the movie screen. “I have no comment.”

You nudged him and started to giggle. “Oh my god, you totally haven’t.”

He made an overly dramatic defensive expression at you. “And you have?”

“Actually, yes.”

Tom’s eyes widened a little as he saw where the conversation was headed. Maybe he’d brought it all up intentionally because he felt so deprived of your body, maybe not—but if he had, he was a damn genius, because it was working.

“And it does get that steamy, if you’re doing it right.”

“I guess I’d just have to see for myself.”

He’d barely finished his sentence before you climbed onto him and firmly planted your lips on his. It usually didn’t take much for him to get you excited, just his husky voice and the right lighting; you hadn’t realized until now how pent up you were.

“God, take your clothes off,” he huffed out, wasting no time in getting to work nipping over your skin as it was revealed.

“Charming,” you laughed, working your hands up his torso to get his shirt off too, Tom wincing as you did.

“Oooh, y/n, your hands are so cold!”

“Deal with it, Holland, I’ve waited too long to be stopped by cold hands.”

Tom was getting more riled up by the second, pushing you into the back of the driver’s seat behind you and speaking impossibly low in your ear. “I need you bad.”

“Take me then.”

You’d managed to get practically naked after doing some pretzeling in the backseat, Tom pulling you on top of him again. You tried to get into it but it didn’t last long—the seat was too close to your knees for you to get at a good angle, and you had to duck so your head didn’t hit the roof of the car.

“Okay, maybe lying down-?” Tom pushed your back into the seats, hovering on top and immediately sinking himself into you the moment he got the chance. You took a sharp inhale and already felt a dizzying high.

“God, finally...”

Tom took a few slow, heavy thrusts into you. “Missed you so much baby,” he leaned down to kiss you, your bodies already sticky with sweat from the heat in the car.

Tom suddenly stopped his rhythm and made a face, trying to shift himself around. “What’s wrong?” you asked, whining at the loss of him.

“I barely have room to move my legs,” he groaned, your fingernails still claws on his biceps, begging him to come back.

“Make it work? Just don’t stop fucking me, please,” you pulled his neck back down to bite his bottom lip, knowing that always drives him crazy.

“Fuck, I know, let me try something...” he found another sweet spot and was suddenly filling you up again, his flushed breaths and small mews making you smile underneath him. It wasn’t graceful, but you made it happen.

You came together as Jack and Rose professed their love for each other, making the romantic scene all too fitting. Tom moved to give you space to sit up, putting his face in his hands and sounding defeated. “Car sex looks a lot easier in the movies.”

You giggled at him and put your clothes back on before someone peeped into the now-clouded window. “Told you it gets steamy.”

Arriving back home later, Harrison and Harry sat at the kitchen table looking like two angry parents about to lecture their teenager on keeping curfew. They stared as you and Tom came in together with arms wrapped around each other, skin looking happily flushed, faces practically glowing.

“What’s got you two lovebirds so happy?” Harrison asked.

“Oh, it was just a really good movie,” Tom smiled, taking your hand and leading you back to his bedroom. “We’re wiped. Goodnight!” he promptly shut the door and laughed with you at Harrison’s puzzled face.

Harry walked over and peered down the hallway. “Goodnight? But it’s barely past sundown-”

Harrison patted him on the shoulder. “I’m afraid you might owe me a few quid, bud.”

Harry stayed confused. “Why?”

Tuwaine appeared from his room, pulling his gaming headphones aside to yell his reply down the hallway. “They fucked, you div!”

Harry connected the dots and looked like he was going to be sick. “Ugh, gross! That’s my brother!”

moots & taglist if y’all still exist:

@peterspideysstuff @duskholland @sinisterspidey @ladykxxx08 @bothlovinglyandhatingly @tinyyoungblood @harrisonsoceaneyes @in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh @we--are---not--afraid @danicarosaline @bunbun9396 @sad-thinker-over @spideymoe @words-to-accomplish-something @thenoddingbunny-blog @iriaaarb @hellsdragon @cap-marvxl @tomshufflepuff @itstaskeen @writertoo18 @ethereal-beauty-p @sufwubi @quaksonhehe @biebsmylife95 @fermuda2 @dorbiksbitch @jejegu @holyfrickfracks @iconic-hes @parker-hollandx @keithseabrook27 @sovereignparker @mlmarint @bangtanfancamp @quacksonholland @cosagach @hedwigprewett12

#tom holland #tom holland one shot #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland smut #tomholland #tomhollandoneshot #tomhollandfanfic #tomhollandsmut #bye again

189 notes · View notes

patchofsunlight · 4 years

Text

Warmth | Zuko x Fem!Reader

SUMMARY: Avatar!Reader AU | Zuko has made many mistakes and holds uncountable regrets, but maybe Y/N can still love him back. Spoiler: she does.

REQUEST (by anon): “Could you do a zuko with maybe a f! avatar? Him falling in love with her like how they joked in ember island play. And him being tormented when she 'dies' in cross roads and them having some tender moment of confessing either in the western temple or ember island? maybe the play has the kiss and he confesses idk”

WORD COUNT: 5.3k

WARNINGS: Y/N is the Avatar, so Aang doesn’t exist. kissing, there might be swear words but I don’t really remember, bad editing. lots of mutual pining and some angst. I don’t know if I did this request justice but I really tried?

OBSERVATIONS: there’s a bit of Sokka x Reader bc I’m a weak woman but in the end he’s the main Zuko and Y/N shipper. not having Aang seriously hurt me. I wrote most of the Zuko sad rant in the beginning listening to Words Fail by Ben Platt and I think it would be interesting if you guys listened to that while reading? idk

I hope you all like it!!! feedback is always appreciated, so keep that in mind and thank you very much for reading!!

There was a hole inside his chest that Zuko simply couldn’t get rid of. It hurt him to his core, bringing pained sobs to the edge of his throat and slowly dismantling his soul.

He always thought getting rid of Y/N would quench his anger, rebuild his honor and complete his destiny. Now, his father accepted him again, Mai was his girlfriend, and Azula treated him like a true brother, in her own deranged ways. The Fire Nation considered him a hero, the man who killed the Avatar.

Then why did it trouble him so much? Why did he wake up every night in a cold sweat, with tears stinging his eyes? Why did he have the same nightmare over and over where he was the one responsible for her death, hitting her with lightning and watching as the light inside her disappeared, leaving behind only her idle body and Katara’s desperate cries? Why couldn’t he be satisfied? He had fulfilled his fate. He had done what he was meant to do, sided with his people, and fought against his greatest enemy. Why wasn’t he happy? Why couldn’t he ever be happy?

Back in Ba Sing Se, he saw her at the Jasmine Dragon more than once. He couldn’t believe his eyes when she first entered the teashop, and he was pretty sure she had recognized him, but Y/N managed to send a polite smile in his direction and sit down, greeting “Mushi” with joy. When Zuko served her tea, she asked him what his name was as if she didn’t know. She didn’t confront nor attack him — she simply let him live his new life and went on living hers. It felt like she had washed off his sins, erased the bloodstains he carried in his soul and hands. Y/N freed him of his past and he had thrown it all away.

It was the right thing to do, he had told himself day after day after day. Except it wasn’t, and now Iroh refused to talk to him and the Avatar was probably dead and, in the case she wasn’t, she would never forgive him. She wouldn’t let him be free of himself again and he would never get redemption for his mistakes.

He wished he could go back in time and fight alongside Y/N in that crystal cave, wished he could live up to the trust Katara offered him before they were saved, wished he could have stopped Azula from throwing that lightning bolt. He wished he could do things in the right way, yet he couldn’t. Zuko tried so hard to regain his so-called honor and to bring his father pride but his only real achievement was engulfing himself in guilt and regret, being aware that powerful and forgiving Y/N could be dead because of his lack of dignity and character — this couldn’t be honor. Violence, betrayal, death, and hurt couldn’t be honor, and he wasn’t sure he wanted his father’s pride if it meant feeling like this, like he was no good, like he was not worthy of love or praise or admiration.

Zuko had spent a great part of his life hating himself, but nothing compared to the hate he felt every night after waking up from another crushing nightmare. How dared he make this about himself and his feelings of guilt when the Avatar could be dead? How dared he worry about the Fire Lord’s pride when the world’s last hope was gone? How dared he indulge in self-pity after all he had done? He didn’t deserve pity, didn’t deserve help, he only deserved to wallow in his own pain and die. But that wouldn’t fix anything, neither would it bring Y/N back — he had to act, and he had to do it fast.

Going after Team Avatar was not difficult. He thought he would feel complicated like he had when first betraying Y/N’s trust, thought it would hurt like coming back to the Fire Nation did. Thankfully, leaving only caused a new type of satisfaction to bloom inside his chest, giving him the sensation he was finally walking through the right path. Hope seemed to pour out of every pore in his body and he could somehow think of better, future days when he would have done enough to make up for his mistakes, days when he didn’t feel the urge to scream every time he looked at a mirror. Maybe then he wouldn’t have to despise himself like he currently did, maybe things would be okay and he would be truly happy, if that was even something he had the capability to do.

But then they didn’t want him. He left everything behind, he charged every inch of his hope with the idea of joining the Avatar, and they didn’t want him. Why would they? Why would they, after everything he had done? How could he have even considered they would accept him, that she would trust him again? Of course they didn’t want him. No one did and no one ever would and that was entirely his fault — it was his fault that he was a bad person, took the wrong decisions, and caused pain and destruction. It was his fault he never did the right thing and he should’ve known he would be rejected again, for being rejected was just what he deserved.

But it still hurt. Oh, Spirits, it hurt. She couldn’t even look at him, even after he helped them defeat Combustion Man and was finally accepted in the group. Sadly, it made Zuko realize that, no matter where he stood, he would never be a part of their team, and Y/N would never trust him entirely. For some reason, that was more upsetting than their rejection. He wanted to impress her, wanted her to like him, and she never would.

“Y/N? Can I—can I come in?”

The Avatar looked up from the map she was currently analysing on her bed, studying his figure carefully before nodding with hesitance, “yes. Do you need something?”

He sighed deeply and walked towards her, feeling his heart crack when she brought her legs closer to her body and away from him the moment he sat on the edge of the bed, “I—I just wanted to talk to you about, well, you know, everything.”

Her expression hardened and she averted her eyes back to the map, “we have nothing to talk about, Zuko. You can go back to your room.”

The Fire Nation Prince swallowed nervously, “Y/N, please. I’m so, so sorry. I have made so many mistakes, I—”

“Zuko,” her voice was firm and emotionless, but that quickly changed when she met his gaze, “I thought things could be different. I thought things could be different back in the North Pole, when we first talked to each other and you told me about Azula. I thought things could be different when you saved me as the Blue Spirit. And I was so convinced things would be different when we met again in Ba Sing Se that I—” she scoffed at her own words, “I had a crush on you, can you believe that? That’s why I visited the teashop so regularly, I just wanted to see you. Stupid, of course. I should’ve known.”

Zuko was sure she could hear his anxious heart beating from the other side of the bed. They were less than a foot away, and yet it felt like miles. He didn’t want her to think about him like that, he didn’t want her to be disappointed in him. Damn, she used to have a crush on him, she liked him, and he screwed everything up like usual. “I’m so sorry, Y/N. I’m—I’m here now, I’m on your side.”

“Yeah, but I thought you were on my side back then too. Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. You need to teach me firebending and that’s the only reason you’re allowed here. Talking is unnecessary.”

“Please, I—”

“You should leave, Prince Zuko,” he flinched at the title escaping her lips, hating how it sounded bitter coming from her, “I have really important matters to deal with. We’ll start my firebending training tomorrow.”

“Y/N—”

“Leave, Zuko.”

With a heaviness inside his stomach, he left the room, missing if by a second the frustrated tear that ran down Y/N’s cheek. She wanted to trust him, but how could she? How could she let him in after his betrayal? She had always been forgiving, but she refused to be naive — seeing Zuko side with Azula in the crystal caves hurt her deeply and shoved her little crush on him down her throat. She couldn’t go through that again, it would be simply idiotic to. Y/N had to stand her ground. She wouldn’t be hurt by him again.

-----

“Hey, jerks. Mind if I watch you two jerks do your jerkbending?”

“Get out of—” Zuko was interrupted by the Avatar’s laughter. Sokka smiled softly at her, cheeks blushing. For some reason, that only managed to piss Zuko off even more, “get out of here!”

“Okay, take it easy. I was just kidding around,” the Water Tribe boy winked at Y/N, “see you later?”

“Sure, we still need to see that part of the temple we found yesterday. Exploration partners!”

“Exploration partners!” he agreed with a chuckle and turned away from them. “Bye, Y/N. Jerkbending… Still got it.”

Zuko glanced at her with irritation while she watched Sokka leave. He felt already incredibly frustrated for not being able to produce his fire and not knowing why, he definitely did not need to watch as Sokka and Y/N flirted.

They would make a cute couple, though, and she smiled so brightly at him it was physically painful to watch. He wanted her to smile like that at him, look like that at him. But she wouldn’t — she was over her crush and had no reason to ever feel anything towards him again, not after what he had done. He didn’t deserve her love anyway, so maybe it was for the best.

“So? Any progress, Sifu Hotman?”

“I told you not to call me that,” he snarled angrily and she sighed.

“Sorry, Sifu Hotman.”

“This was a mistake,” he sat down roughly, ignoring the ache on his legs due to the sudden movement, “maybe teaching you firebending is not my destiny.”

She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, not understanding, “what do you mean?”

“How can I teach you anything when I’ve lost my fire, Y/N?” he chuckled sadly, letting one of his hands go through his hair in distress. “I wanted to be on the good side of the war and I can’t even make myself useful.”

“You haven’t lost your fire, Zuko,” her voice was careful, “I think you’re just going through some internal conflict and that’s reflecting on your bending, but if you were meant to teach me firebending, you will. Your destiny is still your destiny regardless, Sifu Hotman.”

“It’s easy for you to say, you’re the Avatar! I’m not even sure who I am anymore, but you have always known what your destiny was.”

“Yeah, and I was scared of it,” she smiled softly, “I ran away and disappeared for a hundred years. People died because of my absence. I have made mistakes, and I have failed many, many times. Sadly, that doesn’t make me less of an Avatar. Zuko, if you must be my teacher, it’s gonna work. We’ll figure things out and you will get your fire back. Okay?”

He stared inside her eyes. There was still some sort of mistrust in them — she was willing to help him because she needed him, but still suspicious. She wasn’t really sure he was on their side, but this was a start. He was going to fix everything and he would make her proud. He would make Y/N happy to call him a friend. Or something more.

Maybe he had a crush on her, too.

-----

Toph’s idea to look for the original source of firebending had greatly backfired (no pun intended, even though Y/N could clearly hear Sokka’s laughter in her head at the joke). They traveled to the Sun Warriors’ ancient city and found an impressive temple adorned with statues. Things were going surprisingly well until they weren’t, and now they were stuck in a disgusting glue because Zuko touched the pretty gemstone. Hours had passed and Y/N was increasingly more annoyed at their situation.

“You had to pick up the glowing egg, didn’t you?”

“At least I made something happen! If it were up to you, we’d never have made it past the courtyard.”

“Maybe, but we wouldn’t be stuck here either, so did you really win?”

Zuko rolled his eyes, “this is stupid. How are we getting out of here?”

“Help!” the girl screamed as loudly as she could, being met with only silence.

“Who are you yelling to? Nobody’s lived here for centuries,” the Fire Prince argued and it was Y/N’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Well, what do you think we should do, genius?”

“Think about our place in the universe?”

Despite her current irritation, Y/N couldn’t help but smile at his words. He instinctively smiled back and she felt warmth spread through her chest.

She was starting to think she wasn’t as over her crush on him as she thought.

They were rescued by the Sun Warriors and judged by the last dragons, and Y/N was sure she hadn’t felt this alive in a while. After burning Katara (it was so long ago it seemed like a different life), she had thought of fire as something destructive, harmful, but she could now see it with new eyes. Fire could be love, life, and power.

The Avatar glanced at Zuko. Maybe she could try and see him as that, too.

-----

“You did well today,” Zuko complimented warily, avoiding her gaze, “if we keep up the training, you might become a better firebender than me.”

“Why, thank you, Hotman,” she smiled brightly and Zuko was sure he could pass out right there, “I just have a great teacher.”

“Y/N!”

The Avatar felt Sokka before she saw him, laughing at the way he hugged her from behind joyfully, leaning his chin on her shoulder. “Hey, honey. What’s up?”

“Doing fine,” he mumbled, brushing her hair off his face delicately, “wanna grab something to eat?”

“I think I’m gonna train some more and clean myself later. I’ll meet you after?”

“Sure! I’ll be back inside. See you, Y/N, Zuko.”

They both watched as the Water Tribe boy entered the temple again. There was a weird burning sensation running through Zuko’s blood when he asked, voice slightly raspy and overly quiet, “so, you and Sokka, huh? You make a nice couple.”

She turned her head to him so quickly it almost gave her whiplash, “what? No! I mean—” she blushed at the question, flustered by the fact he would even consider something like that. The Fire Prince waited silently, irritation surfacing at her stammering. He wasn’t sure why that angered him so much, but he decided to be still and listen, “we are just friends,” she concluded, “he means a lot to me, but so do Katara and Toph, you know? We are—we are just friends. He even likes that Kyoshi Warrior, Suki! So, yeah, we are definitely not a couple.”

“I see,” Zuko felt curiously static with that piece of information, “and you don’t have feelings for him?”

“No, of course not. I mean, I had a thing for him when we first met, but now it’s gone. He’s my best friend and I love him, just not like that.”

“Okay. Good.”

“Good?” Y/N turned her head to the side in confusion and he paled considerably, finally noticing the meaning of his own words. “Why is that good?”

“Oh? I—it’s good that you love him! Yeah, having friends is amazing, right? Yeah.”

She smiled amusingly, “it truly is.”

“Yeah.”

The Avatar chuckled lightly, “come on, Sifu Hotman. Let’s do that leg movement again, I think I’m not doing it right.”

Days passed and a lot of things happened. Zuko knew Y/N wouldn’t be happy with Sokka’s suicide mission, but he couldn’t let him do it alone, so he accompanied him to the Boiling Rock. Again, she wasn’t happy when he followed Katara for revenge for her mother’s death, but then at least someone had Katara’s back and was ready to protect her. He desperately wanted to earn Y/N’s trust and friendship, but that was rather difficult when he insisted on doing the stuff she didn’t want him to do.

They continued their training on Ember Island and the whole Team seemed to thoroughly enjoy the place. Y/N was giving her all to learn firebending and was succeeding splendidly. To be honest, Zuko loved to see her get the moves right — every single time she made it, she would look at him with bright eyes and grin. It was the most beautiful sight Zuko had ever seen and he would do anything to have it permanently engraved in his mind.

They stayed up late during one particular night. They were both exhausted after hours of training and ended up sat beside each other on the ground on the back of the Fire Nation Royal Family’s beach house. The air between them was filled with silence and heavy breathing from their previous effort.

“Hey, Zuko?” after a few moments, Y/N called him gently, voice tired and raspy giving him chills. She laid down and stared at the dark sky. “Look at the stars with me.”

He blinked, “really? I mean, shouldn’t we go inside?”

“Please?” her eyes met his and his heart skipped a beat. “Just for a bit.”

“Okay,” Zuko whispered, lying down next to her. They looked at the sky quietly for a bit.

He liked to be around her. It could be the Avatar thing, but Y/N had a calming aura around her that was just unmissable. Being next to her like this gave him the feeling things would be alright, the feeling he was not worthless. It was a lie, of course. There was no way to know how their plans would go, and he was pretty much worthless.

But being beside her was enough to trick his mind. Maybe the little crush he harbored towards her had become something more — Spirits, he liked her so much. Not that it mattered, considering there was no way she would ever love him back, not after everything he had done.

“When I was younger, I believed we became stars when we died.”

He turned his head to look at her, “really?”

She turned to look back and his breath hitched at their close proximity. She chuckled, “yeah. I didn’t even know I was the Avatar back then, I was so young. They told me when I was sixteen, and I ran away shortly after,” there was bitterness to her words, “like a coward.”

“You are not a coward, Y/N. You had no way of knowing how things would go.”

“You really think so?”

“I do. Besides, if you hadn’t run away, you wouldn’t have been stuck on ice for a hundred years, and I would never have met you, which would be awful,” he widened his eyes, completing quickly, “and Sokka, Katara, and Toph, too. I wouldn’t have met them either. Of course.”

Her smile was so pretty he forgot how to breathe, “you’re right, Zuko. I don’t think I would have liked to live a life where I never met you,” she smirked before going on with teasing eyes, “and Sokka, Katara, and Toph, too. Of course.”

“Of course,” he agreed with a blush on his face. They stared at each other carefully and Zuko was pretty sure his heart was performing a professional routine of somersaults inside his body. He definitely was past just a simple crush.

Y/N smiled that dazzling smile of hers before averting her gaze to the stars again and yawning. “We should go in.”

“We should,” the Fire Prince immediately started to sit up, but she held him down with a hand to his chest, and probably felt his crazy heartbeat under her fingers.

“Just a bit more, Prince Zuko,” she whispered, eyes trained to the sky. Slowly but surely, she moved her hand from his chest to his own hand, creating goosebumps on every inch of skin she lightly touched on the way there. Zuko could feel his body burn at the barely-there feeling of her fingertips. She intertwined her fingers with his carefully, giving him the chance to pull away if he so wished. He let out a shaky breath and squeezed her hand. She immediately squeezed his back in reassurance.

In the middle of the quiet and comfort they suddenly found in each other, they fell asleep under the stars, fingers playing with each other until exhaustion finally engulfed them in dreams of pretty smiles and light touches.

It was nice to dodge the nightmares.

-----

“I’ve heard you and Zuko slept outside today,” Sokka had a teasing tone to his voice. Y/N glared at him, “you are together now or something?”

“We are not,” she countered, scratching Appa while they talked. Zuko, Toph, Katara, and Suki had left for the beach already. Y/N still needed to feed her sky bison and Sokka offered to help with the excuse of being a good friend. The Avatar was absolutely sure that wasn’t the real reason he stayed back alongside her and he was currently proving her right, “we were just stargazing and then fell asleep.”

“Stargazing, huh? Real cute. I bet it was an endearing impromptu date, wasn’t it?”

“Since when do you even know the word impromptu?”

“I am always full of surprises.”

“Right,” she rolled her eyes and he laughed loudly, “it was not a date.”

“But you do like him, right?.”

“What?” she turned her entire body to him, furrowing her brows and crossing her arms in a defensive stance. “Why would you say that?”

“Because I know you better than you know yourself and I can tell you have feelings for him,” Sokka copied her movements, staring at her with a smirk, “I also know he likes you back.”

Y/N scoffed and transferred her attention back to Appa, “he does not.”

“So you admit you like him!”

“Shut up, Sokka!” she glared, but quickly gave up under his intense eyes and raised brows. “Yeah, I like him. It doesn’t matter, though.”

“Yes, it does! He feels the same! Look, what about this,” he leaned in closer, that crazy look he had whenever making up a plan taking over his face, “we are going to watch that play about us tonight, right? Well, you guys can sit next to each other! Like a couple!”

“That’s a terrible idea, honey.”

“It’s not! I bet he’s gonna make a move!”

“He won’t, because he’s not in love with me.”

“Wait, you’re in love with him?”

Y/N’s entire body tensed up. She shouldn’t have said that. She wasn’t in love with Zuko! Was she? I mean, she did love to be beside him, and her heart sped up when he gave her one of his rare smiles, and training with him when he had his shirt off was distracting to say the least. Besides, he really seemed to have changed and grown — she felt like she could trust him again, but she could never be sure, and she was adamant on not getting hurt once more. Especially now, when she was dealing with so many things. If he betrayed her a second time… Spirits, it would be just too much to handle.

“I don’t know,” she muttered and Sokka’s cheeky smile faltered, “I don’t want to be.”

He stretched an arm out to hold her hand fondly, “it’s fine, Y/N. Whatever happens, I’m here for you, okay?”

The Avatar smiled sadly, “thank you, Sokka. I’m really glad to have you in my life.”

“I know, honey. I’m great like that.”

She laughed loudly and he grinned in satisfaction, turning her body around and starting to lead her towards the beach, an arm through her shoulders holding her close to his body.

“Shut up, Sokka. You’re so stupid.”

“Yeah, yeah. I love you too.”

Zuko felt a pang to his chest when Sokka and Y/N arrived at the beach holding each other so dearly, but he knew he had no right to complain. She would be better off with Sokka anyway — he was good-looking, nice, funny, smart. Meanwhile, Zuko was nothing but a sad mixture of mistakes and regrets. The Avatar deserved more than that.

“Hey, Hotman,” she walked to him with a smile, planting a kiss on Sokka’s cheek before leaving his side. “Why are you all alone on the sand?”

“Because he’s boring,” Toph answered from some feet away and Katara chuckled. Zuko could feel his face redden.

“He is not,” Y/N argued amusingly, sitting down beside him and grinning. She glanced at him with a happy spark in her eyes, “are you excited for the play tonight?”

“No,” he muttered, but his lack of vivacity didn’t bother her in the slightest, “the Ember Island plays are always ridiculous.”

“I think it’s going to be fun,” she shrugged contently, basking in the hot sun, “if it isn’t, we can always throw food at the stage or whatever.”

He tried really hard, but couldn’t bit back the smile that took over his frown. He watched her attentively, noticing how she seemed to glow in the daylight, giving off this incredible warmth he had only ever seen on her. He averted away his gaze, feeling his neck and face heat up at how unapologetically beautiful she was.

Zuko cleared his throat quietly, “yeah, I guess.”

She only smirked in response.

-----

The play could be worse, he figured. Yes, their portrayal of him was horrible (even though his friends — could he call them friends? Were they friends? He hoped they were — said otherwise) and the actress playing Y/N was not nearly as pretty as the Avatar really was, but Y/N was next to him and, at some point, she had leaned her head on his shoulder tiredly and stayed there. All the training was getting to her and he felt inexplicable joy in the fact she trusted him enough to rest her body on his.

“Look,” her voice was raspy from sleepiness and a chill ran down his spine, “I think now is when you join Team Avatar and becomes our friend.”

He nodded carefully not to disturb her from her position and his heart skipped a beat when she nuzzled closer to his neck. Zuko watched as actor Zuko was accepted into the group and just after a scene with only him and actress Y/N started. Actor Zuko stared at the actress longingly, “my dear Y/N… I know I have wronged you in many ways, but I wanted to apologize for my mistakes and beg for your forgiveness!”

Y/N giggled at that, nudging him affectionately, “that really happened.”

He smiled, eyes following the performers on stage. Actor Zuko continued, “your forgiveness… And maybe your love, Avatar.”

They both immediately tensed up at the words and Y/N moved her head slightly, brows furrowing in confusion.

“My love, Prince Zuko?”

“Yes, my darling.”

They all watched as Actor Zuko and Actress Y/N kissed passionately, earning cheers from the audience. Sokka whistled loudly and Y/N turned to glare at him, receiving a wink in return.

“I have been in love with you since we first met!” Actor Zuko declared excitedly, holding Actress Y/N’s hands. “You are the only one who can make me forget about my teen angst. I love you, Y/N.”

“Well… I don’t!” Actress Y/N moved away swiftly and the crowd gasped in surprise. “I have accepted you in my group, Prince Zuko… But I’ll never accept you in my heart! You’re a bad person that doesn’t deserve my love!”

“What?!” Sokka almost screamed in disbelief. Y/N finally took her head off Zuko’s shoulder, incertitude swimming in her eyes. Before she had the chance to speak, Zuko had already left. The Water Tribe boy widened his eyes at her. “Go after him!”

Y/N nodded her head, getting out of her seat and walking after Zuko, calling his name. He ignored her, feeling anger boil inside him. He knew she would never directly say something like that, but he also knew it was true. She would never love him — he wasn’t worthy of her love, and he was pretty sure she was aware of that too.

“Zuko, wait!” she finally catched up to him, holding his arm and pulling him back. “It’s just a stupid play, Zuko. None of that is true.”

“Really, Y/N?” he turned to stare at her, rage covering his expression. “Because I’m almost certain it is. They said I don’t deserve love, Y/N, and that’s true. After everything I’ve done…”

“No!” she exclaimed desperately, shaking her head vehemently in disagreement. “Zuko, of course you deserve love. Yes, you have made mistakes, but all of us have. You shouldn’t care about what some actress says.”

“But they’re right, Y/N,” he insisted, feeling tears stinging his eyes, “I’m unworthy of love and everyone knows, and that’s why nobody actually loves me.”

“I love you!” she yelled out before she could stop herself, breath hitching at the troubled look taking over his face. Y/N sighed deeply, crossing her arms shyly and looking away, “I do,” her voice was small as she blushed, “I thought I was over my little crush for you but I wasn’t, and it’s—it’s much more than a little crush. I was afraid of admitting it but I know who you are, Zuko. You are loyal and smart and so inherently good and I love you. Spirits, I really do.”

He stared at her for a second, processing her words. She fidgeted anxiously and he smiled at all her small manners. With certainty to his movements, Zuko took a step forwards and cradled her face in his hands. He studied every inch of her expression, waiting for some kind of rejection. She offered him a hopeful smile and he was quick to smash his lips with hers, feeling the warmth that always surrounded her consume him entirely. He kissed her passionately, happiness pouring out of him — the words “she loves you” echoing inside his mind like a broken record, filling his heart with joy.

She moved away when there was no more air in her lungs, breathing heavily and grinning like a mad woman. Y/N lifted her arm and touched his scar so fondly it physically hurt. Never before had he been touched with such care and it made tears flood his eyes, something she instantly noticed, giggling at his cuteness and drying one running tear with her thumb. She felt like her chest was full. He kissed her thumb lovingly when it rested near his mouth.

She loved him. She thought he was worthy of love, of her love, even after everything he had done. No matter how many mistakes he had made, she still loved him, and that thought was enough to make Zuko feel some sort of hope towards the future.

Spirits, she really loved him.

“I love you too, Y/N. Very, very much.”

is it good? not really. could it be worse? yeah lmao

taglist: @bottledcostcowater @lammello @coldlilheart @azucanela @samsmultifandomblogs and @knaite-solo that asked to be tagged on this particular piece

thank you all for reading!! I hope you liked it!!

#zuko x reader #zuko x fem!reader #zuko x f!reader #sokka x reader #atla x reader #atla #avatar the last airbender #avatar the last airbender x reader #zuko #sokka #avatar #avatar!reader #avatar reader #ember island #the ember island players #requested

1K notes · View notes

ashesandhalefire · 3 years

Text

two weeks later and i'm still blindingly angry over all of this and it feels so unbelievably stupid to be This Upset about a television show about aliens that's on the god damned CW network but here i am!!!!

venting below the cut bc i need to get this shit out of my brain

this season has been so frustrating and seeing all of the "oh, but the hand holding scene was nice!" and the "i'm glad they finally mentioned the song!" reactions have just grated on me so much because for me it just wasn't remotely good enough. i know people want to talk about the stuff that makes them happy and not get bogged down in the bullshit, but i'm tired of having to find the silver lining, of having to give them the benefit of the doubt, of doing these mental gymnastics to put a positive spin of "well at least we got this."

compared to the previous seasons, the version of malex that we got in s3 feels entirely soulless to me.

like, we start with these characters having been apart for a year, and they don't even get a real reunion. max and liz get this whole extended Only People In the Universe moment outside the crashdown where it's all about the emotional impact of seeing each other again after so long while still harboring all these unresolved feelings for each other. the night we motherfucking met is playing. but malex get this stupid 'watch you make out with your non-boyfriend from afar' scene, and then they never talk about it! it's never addressed! what is that??? you set up this angsty moment to get vlamis to cry on camera but you didn't think it was important for the characters to follow up on that emotion at some point??

we never even find out what was happening in that year they spent apart. we get this vague explanation of alex 'handling' project shepherd, but we never find out what that means. what it actually means is that the writers were bored with it and had no idea what to do with it after making the Worst Possible Decision to kill jesse off in the s2 finale in the Dumbest Fucking Way, so they just fucking wrote it out. but they didn't take into consideration that a FULL YEAR is a long time to be working on DISMANTLING A SECRET DISBANDED GOVERNMENT OPERATION TO KIDNAP, IMPRISON, TORTURE, AND EXPERIMENT ON ALIEN LIFE FORMS. what the FUCK was alex doing??? how the fuck big was project shepherd?? and why was kyle not involved???

so alex is off doing whatever he's doing, and michael is in roswell, apparently learning to deflect questions in the mindscape and just waiting for alex to come back. have they spoken since michael left in the middle of the song? unknown. does he know that alex has apparently had this casual relationship with forrest going for the last year? apparently not!!!! so michael and alex presumably haven't spoken in a year, but michael has decided that the time is Now and that's just all there is to it. reason is not important.

so in the aftermath of The Non-Reunion michael gets to be the Sad Boy again but alex is also a Slightly Sad Boy now, and then we get the actual reunion three goddamn days later. and tbh i don't like how tyler and vlamis played the drive-in scene. it was too hostile and aggravated for a reunion scene. and tbh it wasn't written as a reunion because the writers couldn't be bothered to dedicate a scene to their relationship that clarified where they stood with each other like echo got. instead we got michael's trauma being dumped onto alex again and alex being ridiculously harsh about it in return, and we're supposed to say thank you because of the Supreme Character Growth that they didn't just immediately tell each other to fuck off and die. which tbh they probably SHOULD have been telling each other to fuck off because they hadn't spoken in a year and they were both being shitty.

and then we wait another few episodes and they're fighting again and there's even more of the same miscommunication that comes off as unbelievably cruel, and then we end on this cliffhanger note of michael being right outside the building where alex is being held at gunpoint, and it all amounts to nothing. they go their separate ways again without speaking.

and then they finally do work together, and michael's like FUCK YOU, YOU LIAR and alex is like everything i have done i have done for you [eyebrow wiggle] and i'm just supposed to be like yeah! yeah that random flirtatious energy fucking tracks! who gives a shit about the fact that season two ended with alex singing a love song dedicated to michael in a crowded bar and michael walked out in the middle and alex took that as signalling that whatever relationship they had was over and started making out with someone else in public and didn't speak to michael for a year! who cares that michael spent a year apparently believing that he and alex were going to be getting back together and had no idea that alex was actually dating forrest! who cares that these characters weren't remotely on the same page when we left them and weren't remotely on the same page when we picked them back up and we didn't remotely see them getting on the same page during the season! they're there!

and then not only are we suddenly getting this version of alex that is supremely confident in the direction of his relationship with michael, but we get alex saying "i'm doing what i'm doing because i'm doing it for our future" and michael just fucking stares at him. no fucking reaction. idk what vlamis was going for there, but it was flat as fuck. this is the first time all season - IN EPISODE MOTHERFUCKING EIGHT - that michael has had any clear indication that alex still wants to be with him. and there's NO REACTION.

so we romanticize alex's military service a little, hit a man with a truck, and we're back to making out! whoohoo! that really makes all of the shit from seasons one and two totally worth it! it's not like their issues have always been deeply rooted in communication and shared trauma and i was waiting for them to talk to each other about literally any of the things that have kept them apart for a decade! alex grabbed michael's hand and promised to tell him about a useless alien artifact! that's basically the same thing!

so now they're back together and alex works on the machine and almost dies and michael swoops in with the 'i've always got you!' and that's a nice line but it ultimately means nothing. that's not a thing for them because they're almost never around at the same time for michael to have to save alex from anything. there was the kidnapping (which was majorly fumbled) and this lockheart machine thing. that's it. 'always' my ass. again, all flash, no substance. and it doesn't even come back in the end! we don't even have alex in danger by the end of the season to say, see, he did save him again! haha! that's fun!

and now it's like 'oh look they have breakfast at alex's house!' okay, fine. 'oh look they have a talk in michael's bunker!' okay, fine. 'oh look they have a talk in alex's house.' OKAY FINE. but it's taken ten episodes in this season and they're barely saying anything real to each other. alex tells michael not to be afraid of his past, which is either hilariously un-self-aware or intentionally using himself as a reference point (neither being made implicit or explicit by the dialogue!) like, okay, fun role reversal, but this isn't the catharsis i've been waiting for from them. this may be surprising, but i haven't actually been waiting two and two-thirds seasons for michael and alex to unpack michael's secret biological parentage. and the show can't decide where michael's self-worth issues come from: is it from his time in foster care? is it because of his newly discovered parentage? is it because of the secret alien ability he's apparently had since he was eighteen but never mentioned and/or used? so i don't even know how to unpack all of that and/or how it has affected his relationship with alex because they keep saying "it's this. but he's working through this now <3. actually it's this, but he's working through this now <3. actually, we lied, it's actually this, which he's been hiding for a decade and is working through now <3."

and the conversation on the couch is nothing. it's just nothing. at the time, it was like, oh, great, they're saying things to each other! but i look at what they're actually saying, and it's fucking NOTHING.

first we get this weird "my actual family" line that throws me because michael and alex actually HAD a whole exchange about family in 1x12 that we have still not touched on again. so it's fine that they're trying to say that alex helped him find his tried, but it's careless and sloppy to word it in a way that makes me go, wait, what? alex stood in a building that was about to blow up and said michael was his family, and michael has never talked about that again, and now we're going to talk about dallas being his real family? not even max at least?

and the rest of the conversation is just more nothing.

michael says what amounts to "hey, last season sucked for us! felt bad, scoob! this version (which has not actually amounted to a whole lot thus far) feels better (for reasons we cannot and will not put into words). but it's also * ~ * ~ C O S M I C ~ * ~ * lest anyone think we're forgetting our motif.'

also they lean really heavily on this "we're not the same kids we were in high school" narrative, and i think it's weird because the problem wasn't really with those kids. those are the kids that fell in love. those are the kids that saw each other suffering and offered each other kindness even though the world had doled out an endless supply of cruelty to each of them. and yeah, they got fucked up at the end and made bad choices and didn't know how to cope, but i still think the phrasing was doing a lot less than they thought.

and then michael calls back to the song like that was a moment they would both be thinking of fondly and not like alex should be like "oh, you remember that? because you kinda WALKED OUT IN THE MIDDLE AND WE NEVER TALKED ABOUT IT" and then he does the hated full name direct address that haunts my nightmares.

(and this is a stupid thing because i like the kiss just fine but it's also filmed so strangely??? like the whole scene is this intense closeup of the two of them on the couch and just really pushed in, and then the kiss feels like they're both sitting straight on the couch and trying to turn their heads as far as they can to make out and it's like... why would you do it this way?)

and then the Scandalous S-rated eight seconds, half of which are blurry because of max. will his crimes never stop.

so the situation is currently that michael and alex are having sex on a couch while max is calling to tell them that liz, heath, and the racist sheriff nobody gives a shit about have been kidnapped. but the next time we see michael, he is at a tactical strategy planning session with EVERYONE EXCEPT HIS LITERAL WAR VETERAN BOYFRIEND. and there's no mention of alex, despite the fact that michael must have been with alex when he found out. alex just POOF disappears from the narrative for an episode, and then we wrap up with whatever the fuck those last two episodes were.

alex "i would burn the world down" manes doesn't go looking for michael when he's kidnapped, despite the fact that he already tracked jones once and in the very next episode isobel and rosa are like 'yeah we all use find my friends lol.' alex "i would burn the world down" manes is relegated to poking the outside of the lockheart machine with a screwdriver and giving max a pep talk during their MAYBE THIRD(???) scene together EVER while his boyfriend is bleeding out somewhere. michael 'i always got you' guerin doesn't have a single scene with alex after frantically having his stomach wound sealed up with office supplies because he's so worried that jones has gone after alex to get the lockheart machine. what the fuck is that.

and then we get more tinkering with a radio alone in the bunker because apparently it's all alex is good for. i don't know why he would innately be good at this in the first place, but apparently he's now Designated Radio Repair Guy. but this conversation at least gets closer to what i want with michael saying that he's afraid they're only getting the beginning of something. if they'd actually expanded on the fact that they've both wasted a lot of time, it would have been great!

but instead it comes back to this drama that tbh i struggled to understand the emotional weight of so late in the season. like, my problem is that i just don't understand why michael cares so much that jones is his dad. and maybe that's coming from a privileged place! but michael is thirty years old and jones is a literal supervillain and michael is like WILL I STILL LOVE MYSELF IF I HAVE TO KILL HIM (which wasn't even a thing. liz was going to kill him with The Science from The Spores from The Lab That Got Burned Down By Max or whatever.) and like... yes, you should still love yourself. you don't know this man AT ALL and he has literally murdered HUNDREDS IF NOT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE and you are IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS AN EVIL FATHER and should GET THE POINT BY NOW. but maybe that's just me lacking empathy, idk.

then, in the crime of crimes, the i love you gets cut off! for no reason! why is this still not something they're saying to each other??

and then via the various means the teleportation that 3x12 and 3x13 regularly employ, alex is back at deep sky to tase max to save kyle but doesn't actually hitch a ride with max and kyle when they saddle up and ride out to the Big Battle. and then when literally everyone is hanging out at the bar, alex is still Off Tinkering With The Machine. and then we get this stupid fucking scene in front of the statue that AGAIN means NOTHING.

we have not unpacked michael's trauma about his hand in a meaningful way. they tore down the shed, but they haven't said two words about what happened inside. michael hasn't talked about max healing him without his consent. have they even talked about the bunker fight? i have such a headache that i honestly can't remember. but 3x13 is alex unwrapping the handana because it's time for the Beautiful Moment of walking hand in hand down an empty street with the massive specter of jesse's untarnished reputation looming over them forever. oh, sorry, i mean-- they beat him!

this is the so-called cosmic romance? this is the relationship that's being given equal weight to echo in the narrative? this is the journey i had to be patient for?

sorry but how many times do i have to kiss the ring before i can call bullshit

there was no equal treatment, no equal importance.

echo got shit this season but all of the characters were CONSTANTLY bringing it up. there is a CONSTANT awareness of the importance liz and max hold in each other's lives, and that is NOT true for michael and alex unless the character in question is a villain who is throwing the relationship back in their faces. michael and maria were constantly constantly together in group scenes, constantly being talked about by other characters. isobel and liz couldn't keep their goddamn opinions to themselves. alex and forrest kissed twice in public and went on like two or three on screen dates and had the 'we're sprawled out in bed' scene. meanwhile, we don't even know for sure which characters know that michael and alex are back together because almost every single one of their moments - romantic or otherwise - takes place totally isolated from everyone else.

so they barely have scenes, they have no real meaningful conversations about their relationship, their getting back together development is a speedrun from fighting to making out with no real emotional beats, and they don't even try to integrate their relationship into the overarching plot. why am i supposed to say thank you for any of that??

#wank for ts #michael x alex

38 notes · View notes

himbeaux-on-ice · 3 years

Text

When NHL commentators, pundits, and fans talk about whether Tony DeAngelo deserves a fifteenth chance, and they say things like “okay, putting his political beliefs aside”, that is a prime example of how white supremacy and racial hostility are allowed to thrive in hockey.

I want to be very specific here. As we know, in addition to his long history of incidents of interpersonal racial harassment, this man has spent much of the last few years being openly, vocally in support of a violent white supremacist fascist movement which has very recently tried to violently dismantle American multiracial democracy. This is the part I want to address, which most vocal and visible outlets seem to refuse to.

So I will say it again: Tony DeAngelo has spoken out with his entire chest, in the face of resounding public condemnation, in support of a movement which believes in the destruction of democracy, the mass disenfranchisement of racialized people (especially Black people), and the installation via violence of a white ethnostate.

This is not really up for dispute. If you disputed it to his face, DeAngelo himself would probably argue with you, that’s how proud he is to be associated with the right-wing movement and to peddle its conspiracy theories from his platform in the spotlight. He has cemented himself into this set of beliefs well past the point of any personal change. He has made it known for a long time where he stands.

And when you say, as a pundit, as a commentator, as a fan, that those “political beliefs” should be “set aside” when evaluating whether this league should just blacklist this assclown for life, or whether a team should trade for him. When you speak about it as if the modern Republican movement is just another ordinary party and not a fascist organization. When you make excuses. When you theorize that maybe a certain team or a certain locker room could “change” him. When you do this, you are showing everyone that either:

a) you are naïve enough to not fully understand the depths of what DeAngelo has willingly attached himself to (despite four years of news coverage on what this movement is), in which case you should not be speaking publicly on this because you are not properly informed; OR,

b) that you do know exactly how horrid and dangerous the movement he supports is, and you are choosing to say, dogwhistles a-blaring, “I don’t actually give a single tangible shit about the safety and well-being of the racialized players or staff in any organization he may end up working in.” You are choosing to say that their lives, their workplace safety, their peace of mind, does not matter to you.

If Tony DeAngelo had spent the last couple years publicly announcing his vocal and earnest support for, say, ISIS, he would not have been given a spot in the league to do so from his platform as an athlete in one of America’s biggest hockey teams. He simply would not. It would have been over very very quickly.

But because the particular terroristic, fascist, violent movement he supports is one based in whiteness and white supremacy, which primarily targets Black and Brown people, then the voices of this sport, this blindingly white ol’ boys club of a sport, assure us that his allegiance to that movement can somehow be set aside as “political beliefs”, and should not factor in to the decision to put him in your locker room.

And then you wonder why we have trouble growing this sport amongst marginalized communities?

Sounds about white.

#nhl #hockey #tony deangelo #New York rangers #hockey night in Canada #sportsnet #change hockey culture #racism #other white people repeat after me challenge #nyr #nhl hockey

120 notes · View notes

gifted-burnout-archive · 3 years

Text

BLUE

Part Three

Day 23/93: Dallas, TX.

Word Count: 7.6K+

Author’s Note: it’s the third installment, and things might be heating up. song in this chapter is ‘Let’s Fall In Love For The Night’ by FINNEAS, it gives me such reggie vibes, and it’s most certainly a reggie x reader song. and if you are wondering why i know so much about dallas, texas and the surrounding area, it’s because i visited! it might be one of my favourite places on earth, and i felt required to include it in one of my stories at some point, so here you go.

Context: This is an AU of Julie and The Phantoms. Here, the boys are now alive again, aging alongside Julie and Y/N, and they are all now in their early twenties: Julie is 19/20, Y/N and the guys are 20/21. Same goes for Flynn and Carlos and Ray and all that jazz, basically everyone is older.

WARNING: abusive behaviours, drinking. Please see this post for more information.

If you are in need of help, please consider reaching out to domestic abuse hotlines in your country. This link leads to a wiki page with a few hotlines sorted by country. Remeber there are people who love you, and who support you.

part one is here - part two is here

“Where do I see myself in ten years?” Y/N echoed the question that had been asked of her as the team lounged around the front of the bus. From her spot atop one of the dining tables, sat crossed legged with her camera in hand, she had a view of her entire tour family: from Julie in the kitchenette with Alex, making Poptarts; to Flynn to her right, typing away frantically on her laptop. Luke was the one who asked her the question, sat across from her and throwing an unsolved rubix cube up into the air, and to his right sat Reggie, tucked in the booth seat corner scribbling away at his notebook, a smile on his face that had Y/N warm at the sight. “I asked you a far easier question, Patterson.”

“I’m serious, Y/N. I mean, I can tell you where I’ll be, where the guys and Julie will be. I can guess at Flynn but it depends whether she plucks up the nerve to ask out Carrie or not-” Luke was interrupted by his own chuckle, a reaction to Flynn flipping him off without looking away from her laptop screen. “But you? I don’t know.” He shrugged, catching the rubix a final time before pushing it over the table to Reggie. The dark-haired boy glanced up for a moment, looking Y/N over as she held up her camera and snapped a picture of him.

“Actually, I wanna know the same thing.” Reggie backed up his fellow bandmate, closing over his book and smiling at his friend when she rolled her eyes. “When you’re thirty, Y/N, where do you want to be?”

“Geographically? Emotionally? Ideally?” Y/N found herself avoiding the question because, quite honestly, she wasn’t sure how to answer. She hadn’t really thought what her future might hold, she hadn’t really had the chance to.

But being posed with the question, being asked for an answer, her lips started moving before her brain could register.

“Put me somewhere warm, and green: with enough money to be comfortable, enough friends to be sociable, enough booze to get drunk and enough beautiful things to take pictures of.” She offered, lifting her camera and snapping another picture as Reggie and Luke looked at her with soft smiles. “What about you, Reginald? Luke says he’s got you figured out.”

“I think what you’ve got going sounds pretty good, I might just join you.” Reggie smirked, only taking his eyes off of Y/N to glance over at Luke, the boy’s eyebrow raised and arms folded. “You know, in amongst the fifth album and rock star lifestyle.”

“Would that be the country album no-one expects?” Y/N asked with a grin, and Reggie’s eyes lit up.

“I mean, I’ll still learn fiddle if you’re up for it, Reggie.” Julie commented from the kitchen, returning from her snack making expedition with Alex in tow, the boy munching down on a Poptart like he’d never eat another: the boys had a tendency to eat like it was their last meal. “I mean, perfect place to start learning, Texas bound.” She added, cosying up against Luke, the pair sharing a kiss before she handed over the frosted sweet treat.

“Why didn’t we know you were from Texas?” Flynn questioned, her eyes finally leaving the computer screen to accept a snack Alex offered, who then grabbed another from the plate and handed it to the photographer sat on top of the table. “I mean, I found out from Y/N last week.”

“It never really came up.” Reggie shrugged, sitting up straight to make room for the blonde drummer, their bus taking a sharp turn. “I mean, I only lived here until I was ten: once my dad sold his company off we made the move to California as quickly as possible.” he explained, he and Y/N sharing a small smile.

Their night under the stars had bled into the early morning as they retold their lives to one another, making sure to cover almost every detail: Y/N didn’t mention Stephen, for more obvious reasons than either of them cared to admit. Reggie had told her all about growing up near Dallas, about learning to ride his pony Flash, about his parents thinking the move would fix their marriage, but how it ultimately didn’t. He. Of course, left out some key details too…

The last thing Y/N needed to know about was his dad’s violent fits or his mother’s excessive drinking.

“Glad to be back though… And since we have the whole afternoon and night to ourselves…” Reggie pointed to Flynn for confirmation, her nod causing attention to focus back on the bassist. “Flynn and I have a plan for the night.” Reggie beamed when Y/N clapped her hands in excitement, though his other bandmates looked a little sceptical. “I promise, it’s fun.”

“Reggie, your idea of fun before you met us,” Alex gestured between himself and Luke, who sat across from them, cuddled into Julie’s side. “Was shovelling horse shit at some dilapidated stables and pretending you were a cowboy.”

“Yeah, well, I was supervising.” Flynn sighed happily, closing over the laptop she hadn’t turned off in almost two days. The band wanted to get some recording done in Nashville later on the tour, a surprise they had all constructed for Reggie’s upcoming birthday, but a complication with bookings and the admin over in Tennessee had risked the possibility of it happening. Of course, Flynn hadn’t stopped emailing and calling until it was sorted. “It’s going to be an amazing night. With no horse shit involved, metaphorically and literally.”

“ETA, ten minutes from Dallas folks.” The radio crackled over the sound system, that had spent most of its time being used to play background music as they travelled, with Ronnie sharing their travel information quickly. “Paparazzi inbound, unfortunately.” He added, groans echoing around the cabin.

The last year in particular had been hounded by reporters and gossip columnists looking for the latest rumours to spread about the team. The lies ranged far and wide, from Luke and Julie breaking up to Alex cheating on Willie to them all being part of a cult to Reggie ‘notorious’ love life. The bassist was the last single one of the band, it only made sense that with their rise to fame came constant claims from anonymous girls that Reggie was their boyfriend, their husband, their baby daddy.

“Hotel security say they’ve got it under control, but I doubt it.” Ronnie added, and with that the six set into action to get ready for their swift departing from the bus. Poptarts were quickly eaten before everyone was back on their feet again: Luke and Julie taking on the pre-assigned role of collecting instruments together and packing them away for the moving crew, Alex rushing to his room to grab his last few necessaries that would live in his fanny pack for the next few hours, Flynn disappearing into the back to make one last phone call about interviews happening in Austin two days later with Rolling Stone, leaving Y/N and Reggie alone in the bus’s centre.

“You’ve been looking like Luke the past few days, Reginald.” Y/N spoke up first, slipping off the table and grabbing her camera bag from the overhead storage, beginning to dismantle her device as Reggie fiddled with the rubix cube Luke had left on the table. “Constantly scribbling… I haven’t seen you ever write as much as you have on the bus these past few weeks.” She remarked again, her hands methodical and practised in her work, quick to pack her camera up and close the casing.

“I found inspiration, what can I say?” Reggie said with a smirk, his fingers flicking the cube round and round with practically no effort, his eyes focused on Y/N instead of the colour puzzle before him. “Did you bring any hoodies with you?” He asked, suddenly changing the topic, and Y/N shook her head. She wasn’t really needing to: after all, their US tour was taking place in the summer, they had planned the route rather meticulously to miss the southern heat of July or the rains and wind chill that came to the north in April and May. Constantly travelling away from bad weather meant the need for anything warm had crossed Y/N’s mind, save for the occasional cardigan or blanket.

“Why would I need one?” She asked, walking towards the back of the bus with her equipment as her phone started to buzz in her back pocket. “Shit…”

“We don’t want the paparazzi seeing your face, do we?” Reggie questioned quickly. “Grab one from my room before we jump off.” He added as Y/N picked up the phone, mouthing a thank you as she answered and disappeared into the back of the bus, slipping into Reggie’s room to locate her disguise and shutting the door quickly.

“So we just don’t talk now, is that it?” The voice that came down the line was angrier than usual, and Y/N took her first chance that day to catch a glimpse of the time, Reggie’s bedside alarm clock reading 4.38 pm.

She had forgotten to call Stephen for the third time that week.

“Babe, babe I’m sorry. We were all just chatting and I got caught up in work and completely forgot.” She tried to explain quickly, her face falling when she heard a heavy sigh on the other end of the line. “Did… Did something happen at work?”

“I want to bring you home for a few days.” Stephen spoke up after a moment. “After Nashville. I know you guys are busy with the tour, but do you think you could talk with Flynn? Get someone to cover the Florida and Alabama gigs so we can maybe spend some time together?” His voice was sweet, sincere, and Y/N found herself smiling at the idea. Of course, it wouldn’t be great for the team, but would a few days really hurt?

“I, I think that would be a great idea, babe.” She answered as she opened up Reggie’s drawers, taking a moment to pick out her favourite on his hoodies, one with a rather terrible calculus joke printed on the back, and pulling it on over her travel clothes. By the sound of Reggie’s plans, she’d need to change for their events that night, but she had some clothes laid out in her own room, she could scoop them up and change in the hotel. “I’ll have to make sure with Flynn, it obviously depends on whether we can get one of the assistants to step up for a few days, helping with Julie’s make up and the guys’ clothes and such but-”

“You know Flynn will be alright with it, just say yes already.” Stephen chuckled on the other end of the line, and a part of Y/N wondered if she should just say yes without checking, if she should just this once not fight him on it. Stephen was always in the right on these things, she often challenged him regardless.

Unfortunately, she just couldn’t hold her tongue.

“Babe, that’s not how my job works.” She remarked, walking out Reggie’s room and back to her own with a smile to Alex as she passed by him sifting through some music sheets Y/N didn’t recognise, no doubt new stuff the boys and Julie had been writing. As the bus slowed down a little too suddenly, Y/N grabbed for stability on her wall, waiting to straighten herself back out and continue talking as she collected her necessary items for their evening in Dallas. “I do still need to book time off, to run through procedure with my temporary replacement, to plan ahead at least two weeks in case of an emergency, the whole team do. It’s a lot of work, and I’m happy to do it but-”

“Am I really the bad guy for wanting to bring you home for a few days? So we can sleep in our bed together, so we can see our families?” The heavy sigh from the start of the call came back. “Y/N, you’re acting like you don’t want to spend time with me anymore.”

“I do want to spend time with you, Stephen! You know I do!” Y/N promised it, almost pleading. “But this tour was always going to happen; I skipped out on the last tour to spend time together…” She reminded him. The fact that she had done so, missing on a West Coast trip for two weeks that she wanted to go on, that meant something to Stephen at the time. It was certainly a big decision for her to make, choosing her boyfriend over her friends, her best friends…

“You are coming home after Nashville, alright?!” Stephen snapped, and Y/N had to move the phone away from her ear to stop the harsh noise from echoing around her head. “You are my girlfriend, when I ask you to come home you do it. Or is everyone else in the entire world more important than me?” He asked.

“Of-of course not, baby… I’ll,” Y/N took a deep breath as the bus came to a halt, the sound of her friends outside her door forcing her to quickly roll up her clothes and stuff them into her handbag. “I’ll see you in Nashville, we’ll go home after, we will… I’ll be sure to sort it all out with Flynn and the team.” She conceded, the idea of a week off suddenly sounding like much more of a chore than it had a few minutes ago. “I love y-”

The phone hung up before she managed to finish the words, but a part of her was happy she didn’t have to say it.

“Y/N?” Julie’s voice accompanied a rapping on her bedroom door, Y/N quick to grab her things as it creaked open, the shorter girl looking back into the main area of the bus as she entered. “Are you ready to go?” She asked, stopping dead for a moment once she turned to face Y/N.

“What?” The photographer asked, trying to offset the tension created by Julie’s frown with a soft chuckle, but it did little to assist. Julie took a few paces forward, the girls toe to toe, and reached a hand up to wipe a tear from Y/N’s cheek she didn’t even notice was there.

“IS everything alright, Y/N? Did Stephen do something?” Julie asked with more seriousness than Y/N had heard from her in years: the girl was always playful in her tone, a fan of a joke, but this was new, intense, the concern almost scary.

“Everything’s fine. I had something in my eye.” Y/N lied, putting on her smile and giving a convincing enough performance that Julie seemed to let the subject go, the girl nodding and walking out of Y/N’s room, back to the band and Flynn, prompting Y/N to follow behind before she was left alone. She checked in the mirror to make sure her face was clear of signs of upset before joining the back of the queue.

That was too close for her liking.

“I knew you’d pick that one.” The voice was Reggie’s, a happy remark at her choice of camouflage as he let Julie and Luke pass by him, their four friends heading out into the chaos of camera flashes and loud voices badgering for gossip. Y/N froze a little at the noise, Reggie quick to notice and take her camera bag for her, his free hand offering itself to her. “Grab on, I’ll get you through without a scratch.” He said with that same charming smile she had always found so suiting for him.

“Promise you won’t lose me to the sea?” She asked, half-joking, half-serious. She had been lucky enough to miss most of the band’s brushes with paparazzi, or manage to slip by them without a second glance if she was with the crew: but she was on the bus this time, she was going to pass through them no matter what. It seemed to her better to do it with someone instead of alone.

“I promise.” Reggie recited back to her, and Y/N took his hand tight in her grasp as a response, the feeling sending tingles up Reggie’s arms that he did his best to stifle any physical reaction from. With that, and a shared nod, the pair started in a jog out the bus, into the mayhem.

Y/N hadn’t often thought about why she disliked her picture being taken: she wasn’t sure what it was that stopped her from being in front of the camera and instead behind it. And while the utter anarchy of flashes and incessant questioning weren’t the true cause of her strain of scopophobia, Y/N deemed them as reason enough to hate everything about being on camera.

It made her even more grateful to have gotten indoors, the few seconds of exposure from the bus door into the air conditioned hotel lobby feeling like years: gave her an overwhelming sense of relief, after changing into her outfit for the night, a rather lovely white lace dress and accompanying tennis shoes, to find their mode of transport for the evening in the hotel’s basement, an old blue Cadillac, a 62 series in fact, waiting with an attendant who promised any and all reporters had been cleared off.

The early May weather was ideal for the open topped car drive west from Dallas city centre, Y/N tucked into the front passenger seat as Reggie drove them, Flynn, Julie, Alex and Luke squeezed into the back of the car, singing along to the radio over the sound of the wind rushing past them. It was almost movie-like, ‘Amarillo´ blasting as they drove down the highway, Reggie glancing over at Y/N every once and a while to send a smile her way while he kept an easy control on the wheel, one arm holding the car straight while the other rested on the back of the bench seat, dressed like he belonged at the steering wheel with his black muscle tank on.

Despite the unsure waters she sat in with Stephen, Y/N found herself relaxing into her seat properly, with Reggie’s arm moving down to rest against her shoulder as they drove out of the city, here camera poised and capturing snapshots along the way.

“So, where exactly are we going?” Alex questioned from the back as they passed their second possible turn-off, the mounting suspense too much for the blonde to bear. He had come a long way with dealing with his anxiety, but not that far, and when Reggie and Flynn shared a glance, it seemed high time the truth was revealed about their activities for that night.

“So, obviously this is my home turf.” Reggie started off by saying, taking a moment to remove his arm from Y/N’s shoulder and indicate hi changing lanes before returning it to the preferred spot. “But one place I loved more than anywhere else in Texas is Fort Worth. It’s like, cowboy country.” He had the biggest smile on his face as he revealed their location, Y/N snapping a picture. “They have a stockyard and cattle parades and a cowboy museum and this huge maise maze. Of course, we can’t do all of it, I mean by the time we arrive half the places will have closed for the night, so I’ve compromised and with Flynn’s help, we have two stops tonight.” Reggie pulled off at the correct junction, speeding along the slip road towards Fort Worth.

“We’re going to a rodeo, and a honky tonk.” Flynn informed the group, the four friends without any previous knowledge of the evening’s plans sharing glances.

“Uh, that’s great… But what exactly is a honky tonk?” Luke asked on behalf of the group, the questioned directed at Flynn, but when she just shrugged, as oblivious as the others, all focus was on Reggie for an answer.

“It’s a massive music venue, actually this one is the world’s biggest. They’ve got them all over the south, mainly for country music. Huge dance floor, tons of seating: food, drink, pool. Billy Bob’s is the best, hands down: think of any big country artist, I can guarantee they’ve played there at some point.”

“Billy Ray?” Flynn asked first.

“Yep.”

“Willie Nelson?” Alex next.

“Like, a dozen times.”

“Dolly Parton?” Y/N asked next, Reggie nodding fast and smiling at her.

“We are headed to the home of country music history, folks.” He announced, followed by a whoop that had the whole car laughing away, all smiles and sincerity. There was nothing quite like seeing Reggie happy: he just turned into a sun, their sun, lighting up the entire space around them, his joy infectious and seeping into the cars around them.

The rest of the drive into Fort Worth went by as any car ride the six friends shared often did: with an excessive amount of singing, Alex complaining about Reggie’s speed on turns at least four times, and Luke giving Julie the same lovey dovey expression he had kept plastered on his face for her since high school. By the time they were pulling into parking lot nearest the rodeo, the sun was tickling the horizon, close to dusk, streetlights starting to flicker to life on the nearby streets.

One said streetlight sat right by the rodeo entrance, and under it stood a rather short lady waving enthusiastically at their car.

“I can’t decide whether she’s cute or crazy…” Flynn leaned forward and muttered in Y/N’s ear, causing the girl to try and stifle her giggle at the comment. The boys and Julie were first out of the car, Reggie taking the lead and getting to the woman waiting for them before Y/N had even had time to grab her camera bag, though the girl soon rushed over with Fynn to join the rest of the group.

“Uh, right! Guys, this is Naomi. She is a city coordinator, helps visitors like us feel at home. Naomi, this is Luke, Alex, and Julie, who you probably know of. That’s Flynn, our band manager, and Y/N here is our photographer slash make-up artist slash general beauty guru.” Reggie was quick to introduce, Naomi wasting no time in giving each member of the friendship circle a tight hug.

“Well, welcome y’all.” She said once she had let go of Julie, the last to embrace. “Now, the rodeo has another thirty or forty minutes until it starts, and I was wondering if I could ask a favour of you, Miss Molina?” Her accent was thick, the sort of deep south accent you might expect from the state, with the Texan twang that Y/N could sometimes slip into Reggie’s own cadence.

“Oh, right… I forgot to mention.” Flynn muttered, Julie glancing between her best friend and the older woman with raised eyebrows.

“Well, Julie, we were hoping you might do us the honour of singing the anthem tonight? When we heard Julie and the Phantoms would be visiting, well the whole council just knew we would have to give it a shot and ask.” Naomi explained with the sweetest smile and warmest eyes Y/N had ever seen: they were the sort of deep chocolate brown that, when the light caught them just right, turned into a sea of gold flecks over hazel iris. She lifted her camera, zooming in and capturing the woman’s side profile discreetly as Naomi awaited Julie’s answer.

“I’d love to.” Julie responded to the celebration of the council member before them, who let out a squeak of glee.

“Oh, thank you so much darlin’!” She exclaimed. “Now, the rest of y’all can go have a nose around the area, some of the stores around here might still be open, Cavender’s across the way will be. Get yourselves some souvenirs, some hats, try and blend in with the folk round here.” Naomi offered, and it seemed to be sound advice: for the people starting to arrive for the rodeo that night, almost all of them were wearing the signature cowboy hate one associated with Texas, matched with the boots and buckle belts. Naomi herself had a hat atop her black waves of hair. “I’ll take Miss Julie here in and set her up with her mic and all.” She explained, and with nods of agreement shared amongst the group, alongside a quick kiss between Julie and Luke, the lead singer disappeared into the building.

“You, me.” Flynn said, grabbing onto Y/N’s hand and starting a march around the corner towards the bright shine marking their clothing destination. “I can trust you to pick out the best accessories for everyone, Y/N, and I want some cowboy boots.” Her determination left Y/N’s happily helpless, following after her friend in search of head gear and footwear suitable to the region.

The boys wouldn’t have been too far behind them, the three walking in a lazy line towards the same destination, though their amble compared nothing to Flynn’s near sprint, each of the bandmate’s taking in the atmosphere of the place they had landed themselves in for the night, Reggie most of all. He grew up in the Lone Star state after all, and their walk along the side of the rodeo and the connected Billy Bob’s Honky Tonk brought back memories Reggie had forgotten after almost twenty years since his last visit.

He was reminded of the way everything smelled, of how the air tasted, of how the sound travelled from street to street. He recalled the old junctions, walking the memory alongside his younger self, found himself reminiscing about his fond childhood in the area before his parents’ marriage fell apart.

“You know…” Luke’s words broke Reggie from his day dreams, the guitarist walking backwards in front of Reggie and Alex, pulling his backpack around to the side of his body. “I was hoping you might spare me a minute to talk about your latest work, Casanova?” He continued, coming to a stop and prompting his confused bandmates to do the same, though the words quickly began to make sense when Luke revealed a black notebook from his bag.

A black notebook that wasn’t Luke’s own.

“Really, dude? Taking my shit off the bus?” Reggie reached out to retrieve the journal from Luke’s hands, but the guitarist held it back, opening to the bookmarked page and shaking his head as he read.

“Calm those horses, Reggie… This is really good.” Luke was often one to tease the bassist on his writing ability, Luke was definitely the stronger of the pair, but the compliment caught Reggie quite off-guard. Before he could refute the statement, Alex was by Luke’s side reading, mumbling the words as Luke’s sang out the chords Reggie had scribbled down.

“… That is really good… When did you write this?” Alex asked, looking up at the red cheeked raven-haired boy before him and Luke.

“I just… I was inspired, the touring life certainly helps when I need inspiration.” Reggie shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he did.

“Sure, it’s 100% not Y/N that’s got you writing love songs…” Luke teased a little more, Alex punching the boy’s exposed bicep in response. “Ow?” He questioned, but when Alex shrugged in response, the pair looked back at a now frowning Reggie. “Dude…”

“It’s just songs…” The bassist sighed, running a hand through his hair and glancing over towards the nearby store, making sure Y/N was nowhere in sight or earshot when he spoke up again. “Never going to perform them, am I? Not when she’s with him…”

“You say that like we prefer Stephen over you.” Alex snorted, and Reggie glanced up at him in confusion. “What? It’s pretty clear to me who Y/N should be with, think it’s pretty clear to everyone but Y/N who she should be with…” He muttered the last part, arms folding as his head ducked down. The words though, they gave Reggie a sliver of hope he hadn’t been offered before: he had thought his interest in Y/N delusional at best, psychotic and cruel at worst, but knowing his friends thought they were good together, that it wasn’t all in his head, made Reggie feel a little better about the love songs he had found himself writing in the weeks prior.

“What you guys talking about?” A call from across the road had the three boys pretending to act natural: Luke quickly shoving the songbook into his backpack while Alex and Reggie tried to seem innocent, like they weren’t just talking about the girl who had asked the question.

Of course, upon second glance, Reggie was left speechless anyway.

Y/N crossed the road with Flynn by her side, the pair accessorised like true Texans with hats and boots, armed with bags of attire for their friends, but Y/N was more than having fun: she looked absolutely beautiful. Her white sundress with its v neckline pulled taunt against her chest now she had added a brown leather belt to her look at her waist, her tennis shoes swapped for a pair of cowboy boots, a hat finishing the look. She presented herself as a local, and Reggie found himself trying not to gawk too much.

“We have hats to go around.” Flynn announced as they came withing twenty paces of the trio, pulling the first from her bag and tossing it towards Luke, who caught the thing with ease. Y/N passed one to Alex as she came to a stop, Flynn fishing a second from her bag and setting atop her own head.

“And for the homegrown.” Y/N handed over the bag in her hands to Reggie with a smile, watching with eager eyes as he lifted out a deep brown hat that fell somewhere between Wild West Sheriff and Indiana Jones, and a belt with ‘TEXAS’ engraved into the buckle. “Need to rep the home team, Reginald.” She added, clasping her hands in hope of a reaction. “You like it?”

“I love it…” Reggie whispered, nodding his head as he spoke, taking a few seconds to take in the items before putting the first on top of his head, a perfect fit, then standing up to loop the belt through the unused belt loops of his jeans, a silly grin on his face as he caught his reflection in a nearby window. While Alex, Luke and Flynn started their walk back to the rodeo venue, the latter armed with a hat for Julie as well, Y/N feel into place beside Reggie, she too admiring their reflection in the glass surface, taking the hat off her head for a moment to rest her cheek against Reggie’s shoulder.

“We look good, Reginald…”

“We sure do, Bug.”

Alcohol and unchecked emotions never really mix. After Julie’s performance, and then a night of Y/N hiding her eyes in Reggie arm as bull riders were bucked from the creatures, and using the complimentary liquor provided to take her mind off of her paranoia, heading over to Billy Bob’s next door shouldn’t have been on her cards. She was already buzzed; she should have taken up the offer from Naomi for a lift to the hotel…

But she didn’t want to miss Reggie.

The pair had been inseparable for the entire night, like they usually were on tour: except Y/N was drunk for the first time in a while, and trying to work off her argument with Stephen earlier in the day, she wasn’t letting her Reginald out of sight. He didn’t mind, of course, he always liked her attention, and if he let his mind wander it felt like, for a moment at least, it felt like they were something more. Y/N cuddled into his side, his arm around her shoulders, their friends around them.

With the bar doors opening came a wave of music and cheers: a local band were playing that night, one Reggie seemed vaguely familiar with as he hummed along to the song.

“Hi, we’ve got a table booked under Naomi’s name?” Luke called over the noise to the hostess by the door, Julie tucked into his side, more in an attempt to keep Luke walking straight. There were plenty of perks to being a resurrected ghost-human hybrid: alcohol tolerance was not one of those perks.

“Indeed you do, folks! Lemme just take y’all over, we can get you some drinks too if you’re up for it?” The hostess offered with a cheery smile, slipping out from behind the bar and beginning a quick walk down towards the dancefloor. Alex and Flynn were hot on her tail, Reggie and Y/N ambling along behind, keeping the lanky blonde in sight for reference, while Luke and Julie abandoned the group altogether for the dancefloor as a slow song came on.

“Could we get four, beers?” Alex asked as he and Flynn sat down, catching Y/N by Reggie’s side about fifteen paces out. “And uh, could you open it under a tab. Luke Patterson.” Alex added, pulling a backpack from his shoulder Y/N didn’t even realise he was in possession of, and retrieving Luke’s card from the front pocket, handing it over to the hostess.

“I sure can do. Can I just say, I love your guys’ music, we have it on in here before we opening almost every night.” The hostess said with a bright smile, a blush rising to her cheeks as Reggie smiled back at her, coming to sit down across from Alex and Flynn. “I’ll get those drinks right away.”

“I forgot that bedroom eyes were a thing…” Flynn mumbled as the hostess left, reaching out and clasping onto Y/N’s hands from across the table. “We should both be in bed. We have actual jobs. These guys can party but just watch what happens when we wake up with hangovers tomorrow and the whole day falls apart.” Flynn prophesised for Y/N, who squeezed her hands in reassurance. The smile on her friend’s face though as her drink arrived told Y/N that they were too far gone to stop at any point soon, and as such, the four friends clinked beer bottles as their night began.

Minutes were quick to turn into hours, one bottle of beer equally swift in turning to multiple rounds and shots on the side. Within the first hour, Y/N opted to switch her phone from silent to off, tired of the constant calls from Stephen, no doubt wanting to question her whereabouts. By hour two, she had convinced Reggie to spare her a dance or two. By hour three, that had turned to more than twenty songs on the dancefloor alongside Julie and Luke, the four only stopping to grab their refreshments as Flynn and Alex spent a large portion of their evening winning card games against the table to their right.

“Alright, alright, alright! Hey, thanks guys!” A booming voice called as a man ran up onto the stage, the band disappearing off as he took over the centre mic as hour four came close to finishing up. It was almost one in the morning, by what the rather buzzed tour team could tell, and the night was very much still young. Alex and Flynn had joined them all on the dancefloor, the slow dances and coupled dance offs between Juke and Reggie and Y/N forming into a dance circle of the friends showing off their best line dancing moves: Reggie was quite clearly the winner of that one. “We all having a good night?” The announcer asked again, and the crowd of the honky tonk cheered in response.

The place was deceptively large: it had taken Luke a solid twenty minutes just to find the bathrooms earlier in the night, and he got so lost on the way back, a mixture of his over-friendly nature once a bottle of beer was in him and simply the sheer amount of people in the building, that Flynn had to assist Julie in finding him.

The group all stood together near the centre of the dance hall as they watched the stage over the heads of their fellow patrons, Alex boosting Y/N onto his shoulder so she might see better. As she hugged onto the blonde’s back, another few people pushed through the crowd to ask the band for autographs.

This was the other common occurrence of the night: when they weren’t dancing or winning money off of Texan cowboys, the four band members had been overcome with a wave of people asking for pictures, autographs, or just for them to accept the compliment someone was paying. Y/N forgot just how famous her friends were sometimes, but it was overwhelming clarity, that night, that if her four dearest friends got pestered everywhere from the streets of LA to the honky tonks of Fort Worth, they’d be pestered anywhere.

“Now, for those visiting us tonight, I am your Master of Ceremonies for the evening, the name is Jacob Blythe.” As if on command, the crowd shouted back “Well, howdy Jacob!”, causing the man to chuckle heartily into the mic, the sound echoing around the hall over and over. “I introduce myself because a little birdie told me we have some friends from the Sunshine State with us tonight.” He added, and the crowd cheered. The team’s ‘incognito’ night out was truly public record now, but it was far too fun to really care. “So, our band tonight will be back after their break, we don’t wanna tire them out now. But that does mean we are in need of some musical talent!

“Now, I’m not pressuring none, but if any particular individuals wanna come up and give us a tune, I think we’d all be mighty grateful.” The MC stated, Y/N climbing off of Alex’s back as the four bandmates shared glances. “So, do we have any volunteers?”

Before anyone had a chance to stop him, Reggie suddenly disappeared from his spot amongst the group, appearing a moment on the stage behind the MC, who let out a rather high-pitched scream as Reggie sat his hand on his shoulder in greeting.

“What is he doing?” Y/N found herself asking, watching her friend picking up an acoustic guitar from its stand and fixing the strap around him before he clipped on a capo and stood himself in front of the mic.

“Good evening, Fort Worth. I’m Reggie.” He introduced himself to the cheers of the crowd, a spotlight focusing onto him as he spoke. He wasn’t quite sure why he was up on that stage, in fact every bone in his body seemed against it: but his hands settled into place over the strings and his fingers began to play a sweet arpeggio, getting used to the foreign guitar. He was lost to impulse, no doubt partially thanks to the liquor in his system, but he was confident enough to keep going, maybe too scared to stop.

“I think he’s gonna play.” Julie remarked, stating the obvious as she grabbed Luke’s hand and led him closer to the stage, Flynn doing the same to Y/N as Alex followed behind.

“I uh, I usually leave our band’s songwriting up to Luke, right there.” Reggie added as he continued to play, pointing a hand out towards Luke who waved to the surrounding crowd, another round of whoops sounding. “But I dabble, and since this is my home state… I have something new for you guys tonight.” He finally paused the arpeggio, taking one last sigh before using the same chords and beginning to play the mysterious song.

“Let’s fall in love for the night and forget in the mornin’.” He sang out, his voice so soft and sweet that Y/N found herself instantly fixed on the music. She was often this way with Reggie, whenever he sang she could swear that the rest of the world disappeared. “Play me a song that you like you can bet I'll know every line. 'Cause I'm the boy that your boy hoped that you would avoid, don't waste your eyes on jealous guys, stop that noise.” Reggie lifted his hand from the guitar, his eyes scanning the audience to send a wink towards his friends, two of whom recognised the lyrics of his chosen serenade. “I know better than to call you mine.”

“Wow…” Y/N whispered, impressed, lifting her elbow to nudge Alex, but meeting thin air instead.

“You need a pick-me-up?” Reggie sang, Alex appearing at the drumkit on stage behind the raven haired singer and joining in on a drum line, to the cheers of the crowd. “Well, I'll be there in 25. I like to push my luck, so take my hand, let's take a drive.” With a nod towards Julie and Luke, he coaxed the other bandmates onto the stage, leaving Flynn in charge of the entranced Y/N, pushing the girl alongside her towards the front of the crowd. “'Cause I've been livin' in the future hopin' I might see you sooner. I want you ridin' shotgun. I knew when I got one right.” He continued to sing, passing off the guitar to Luke as Julie took her place at the piano and played the chords with a smile Reggie’s way.

“Let's fall in love for the night and forget in the mornin'. Play me a song that you like you can bet I'll know every line.” Reggie sang out, this time accompanied by the harmony of Julie and the backing vocals of Alex and Luke, the four sharing smiles as they performed. “'Cause I'm the boy that your boy hoped that you would avoid, don't waste your eyes on jealous guys, stop all that noise. I know better than to call you mine.”

As Y/N watched on, nestled in the crowd, she couldn’t help but wonder when Reggie was struck with such romantic inspiration. She had spent almost every day for the last near month with him, and with his last big hit being ‘Home Is Where My Horse Is’, she allowed herself the curiosity, a beer in hand that she found herself sipping away at as she observed.

“Where’d you get that drink?” Flynn whispered into Y/N’s ear, who shrugged and took another sip.

“I love it when you talk that nerdy shit. We're in our twenties talkin' thirties shit. We're makin' money but we're savin' it, ‘cause talking shit is cheap and we talk a lot of it.” The song continued, the crowd cheering and dancing along to the music while Y/N found herself fixed to her spot, not even noticing as Flynn played safety guard and relieved her of the drink in her hands. “You won't stay with me, I know, but you can have your way with me 'til you go.” Julie and Reggie harmonised on the line, Luke and Alex suddenly disappearing from the stage, Julie taking her leave, quick to pull Flynn away with her and leave Y/N alone in front of the stage. “And if all your kisses turn into bruises, I'm a warnin’.”

And then, Y/N struggled to breathe, completely paralysed when Reggie’s eyes locked with her own.

“Let's fall in love for the night and forget in the mornin'.” Reggie lifted the microphone from its stand, walking round and jumping off the low stage onto the dancefloor as he sang. There was a confidence in the music he couldn’t dispel, emotions he might have never admitted otherwise coming into the open, at least that was what he hoped. His walk was in time to the best of the drums left to echo as he sang acapella, his feet only stopping once they were toe to toe with Y/N’s.

“Play me a song that you like you can bet I'll know every line.” They had been that close all night, dancing away to the sounds of the country band, or when Y/N had spent half the rodeo hiding in his arms fearful for the bull riders in the arena below them. But it felt different, intimate.

“'Cause I'm the boy that your boy hoped that you would avoid.” His free hand lifted hers from her side, taking her hand in his and lifting their arms above their heads to spin Y/N on the spot: that action too was slow, something that made the rest of the world outsiders looking into a rare moment. “Don't waste your eyes on jealous guys, fuck that noise.”

“I know better. I know better. I know better than to ever call you mine.” The look the pair shared, Reggie finding himself smirking as he let the mic fall, it was nothing either of them had experienced before, and Reggie vanished into thin air as the crowd erupted into cheers.

It was only once he had disappeared, only once the crowd broke into thunderous applause, that Y/N felt herself breathe again. She was overcome with a dizziness she would equate to the feeling after a rollercoaster ride, paired with the sound of her heart in her ears and near pounding out her chest, and that was before mentioning the flush that coloured her cheeks and nose red. A part of her might have called it fault of the alcohol, but Y/N had never felt more sober. His smirk was sketched into her memory, the feeling of his hand on hers burned in her skin, the smell of his cologne a scent she had never noticed was so very enticing before. It was like she had been transported to some kind of paradisal state of being, the way his eyes held her own like she might drown in the deep sea green irises…

There wasn’t much Y/N could make sense of in the few moments that ended the performance, but she knew, deep in her gut:

This wasn’t good.

Y/N’s Instagram Feed: Day 23/93

and the rumours begin...

Tags: @reggiesleatherjacket @bookdealer5 @nerdie20 @epikskool @gabriella-superwholock-universe @midnightpsychic @siennanoelle01 @catwx3 @oswin05 @trxnxtysstuff @strangermiraculousloser @izzyhogue @random-thoughts-003 @theatricalfangirl @aliceinemeraldcity @kristencoontz @sunsetpatterson @ghostlyb1tch @caitsymichelle13 @lovesanimals @j-mar-memester @avs-hart @ohyoureaqueenbutuncrowned @eries45 @im-a-writer-right @independentgirl @aberette13 @lord-of-the-fried @ellepscal @korydickson @kcd15 @lukeys-giggle @aunicornmademedoit @carleywhittaker @lolychu @delicatelukepatterson @a-whole-a-lot-of-fandoms @voguesir @reggieandthereggies @overlyhypedup @crappy-unicorn @amortiff @writerinlearning @parkeret @kaylinfayezink @uglypeachh @xxcxrolinexx @writingforphantoms @isabellaskyliner @sophiathefirst @musicconversedance @calicokitkat @nynke2004 @lukesrosetattoo @kiss-themoongoodbye @megnmendes @haydieenzzibug @thesweetestsinner @fangirlangioma @moviesbooksandfandoms @saroo-hawks @charliessunset @lanasfandoms @bigdesi @avngrsinitiative @lazydaisy19 @hologramband @rogersangel @mybrainiswhack @uhmitstori @mon-charmante @mjflower @heimdoodle @-episkey- @simp4madi @obxmermaid @sunsetcurvenotsunsetswerve @n0wornever @aliciameix @kinda-just-chillin-here @jatpfan99 @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic @daisiesforlacey @valntynegillespie @ritz-hell-hotel @ssprayberrythings @mishappend @lukespaterson @dovegranger @morganayennefertyrell @queenxxkiller @kmsmedine @parkeret @bookfrog247 @poe30-blog @dmcfarland1 @magnet-girl

231 notes · View notes