I dont watch sports movies like ever with very few exceptions but I want to watch Paper Lion because A) Alan Alda and B) I love the dynamic of groups of jocks adopting someone who is definitively Not A Jock because thats what happened to me in high school

NEVER NOT | AFTER YEARS . . .

❃ PAIRING tom holland x fem!reader

❃ DISCLAIMER i do not own the artists (and the reader) that are going to portray the characters, but i do own some of the their names. the plot of the story is inspired to the book and movie 'to all the boys i've loved before' but with changes. the gifs and photos used in this series are edited by me but i get credits to the originals. also, this series is first posted in wattpad by me. PLEASE DO NOT REPOST IT SOMEWHERE ELSE !

❃ WORD COUNT 2.8k words

❃ AUTHOR'S NOTES you have reached the final chapter of my tom holland series, never not! for those who have reached this part, i would like to say thank you so much for taking your time to read this cliche story that i wrote originally on wattpad, and hopefully, you enjoyed and loved it. thank you also for the constant reblogs and likes for each chapter in this series. i truly appreciate every reblog and like you gave. i also hope that you are satisfied with the ending of this series. with lots of love, lei <3

NEVER NOT MASTERPOST | LEI'S LIBRARY

"All love stories are tales of beginnings. When we talk about falling in love, we go to the beginning, to pinpoint the moment of freefall." - Meghan O'Rourke

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"ONE MORE POSE FOR ME!"

Flash.

"And another one!"

Flash.

"Alright!" Y/N exclaimed and removed her Canon 90D DSLR camera from her right eye. "That's it for today, guys! Great job everyone!" shouted once more and looked at the photos that she took from the monitor of the computer.

She was doing a photoshoot for one of the famous magazine companies, The Hollywood Reporter. She was one of the photographers for the magazine company for almost a year already. She surely was so happy to receive a call way back a year ago before that she was hired. And, she surely was so happy to pursue what she dreamed of.

"Great shots, Y/N. Great as always." Someone said from behind her and Y/N could just smile at the compliment.

"Thank you, Millie." She said and looked at Camille. Camille became a fashion designer like how she always wanted to be. She worked alongside Y/N in several photoshoots just this year, coincidentally.

"Want to grab some coffee on the way home?" Camille asked as she prepared her purse and placed it on her shoulder.

"Sure," Y/N said and got the hard drive that was plugged into the computer since all of the photos were there. Not only was she a photographer but also one of the editors for the magazines. "But after that, I gotta go somewhere."

"Are you gonna go to that place again?" Camille asked and Y/N looked at her and nodded as an answer. They walked out together as they were the only people left there.

"I'll probably call Erika after you go. Just gonna remind her about the reunion that our family had planned for this weekend." Camille said while walking beside Y/N.

"But she'll probably be with Harrison right now," Y/N said.

"They're still together all these years? Never knew she was a relationship person honestly." Camille said.

"Me either. But, she's happy so I'm happy for her." Y/N said.

They entered the coffeehouse that was packed with busy people. The scent of coffee went to their noses as soon as they got in.

"I totally forgot that it's still Friday today," Camille said. "So many people."

They lined up in the long line since there was only one cashier available.

"By the way, have you seen the latest movie?" Camille asked Y/N and she gave a confused look.

"Which one?" Y/N asked back.

"I think it was the— erm— The latest Spiderman movie. I don't know the full title but I heard they just released a new one this month." Camille said. "Tom is in it right?"

Tom.

That name that Y/N will never forget.

Y/N smiled under her breath before answering her. "Yeah, I guess."

After that, they just waited for the line to be shorter and shorter until they were the next one to order. After they ordered, they stood in the corner waiting for their coffee to be made.

"One cappuccino and latte for Y/N!"

"I'll get it," Camille said and walked fast to get their orders. She mouthed thank you to the lady and went to Y/N's side again. "Here's your cappuccino," Camille said and handed Y/N her drink as they made their way out of the coffeehouse.

"So, I'll see you on Monday at work?" Camille asked.

"Always." That was what Y/N answered. "Take care!" She added before waving goodbye to Camille and went in the opposite direction as her with her drink in her hand.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Y/N parked her car on the side of the empty road. After how many months, almost a year, of driving lessons, she could finally drive for herself.

Before she got out, she got her drink and her other things first and removed her coat. She got out of the car with her things and shut the door and locked it.

The wind suddenly blew her hair and she smiled at this great feeling. As she walked towards the sand, she took off her shoes and placed them in the same spot that she would sit on. Luckily, no one was in the place other than herself.

The sun was almost setting and the waves were still moving in the ocean. She had come to this place almost every day or at least most of the time. The light of the sun reflected on the sun symbol on her bracelet that he gave her a few years back. She sighed at the thought of him.

She had lost contact with him just almost a year ago because of his busy schedule but Harrison would be the one to tell her how Tom was doing and all. Well, not really lost contact but they rarely contacted each other for the past few months due to their work.

Although those had happened, she never stopped going back to this place that Tom wanted her to always go. This was the place that kept her alive and stress-free.

Their relationship had its ups and downs.

Tom became one of the most famous celebrities in the world ever since he got the role of being Spiderman. After that, he had more upcoming movies for the past years later on.

Although there may have been rumors about him being in a relationship with one of his co-stars, Zendaya, because of their roles in Spider-Man, her trust for him remain. Although at some point, it hurt her but that just passed away.

Overall, she was happy for him and for what he has achieved. She was so proud of what he had become. It didn't stop her from visiting his family's house and spending time with them.

"I wish you were here right now." She whispered to herself as the wind could not stop making her hair fly.

"And I'm here." A voice said from a distance but loud enough for her to hear. Her eyes widen at this very familiar voice and her eyes began to water.

She slowly looked in the direction of the voice that she heard and there stood the person that she has been waiting for.

He gave her the same smile that she would never forget. He still looked the same as before but he was more muscular now. He looked better in person than on the big screen or in his interviews. His brown hair is now shorter but still had curls on.

"Tom?" She whispered and he could just easily read her lips calling his name. He opened his arms widely for her. She then ran up to his open arms and did not think twice about wrapping her arms around him. He spun her around as soon as he closed his arms around her.

Her tears fell from her eyes while hugging him. When Tom heard her sob, he placed a hand on her head and stroked her hair. "I'm home, love." He whispered to her.

She pulled away for a while and admired him. His face features, his hair. Everything about him. She suddenly pinched his cheeks with both of her hands that surprised Tom.

"Ow! What was that for?" He asked as he felt the slight pain from the pinch. His voice is deeper than before and his British accent is kind of mixed with an American accent.

"You are real," Y/N said that made Tom chuckle.

She was still as adorable as always. Tom thought

"Of course I am. You thought you're hallucinating?" Tom asked her and she nodded.

"It's been so long to finally see you personally," Y/N said and she slapped him on the chest. "You kept me waiting you know!"

"I'm sorry, love." Tom apologized and kissed her forehead. "Four years, huh?"

"And three months," Y/N added while looking at him and grinned.

"You have been counting," Tom said that made Y/N nod. "I missed you so much." He said and pulled her for a hug again. "God, I do miss you."

"I missed you too, Thomas." She replied and noticed the scrunchie that was on his wrist. The same scrunchie that she gave him before. "You kept it." She said and held to his wrist where the scrunchie was and smiled at him.

"Of course. It really reminded me of you." He answered.

They decided to sit down and talked about each other's new life. Tom was surprised about Y/N's career since he never thought she would be into photography like his brother, Harry.

"Your mom really influenced me to go to that," Y/N said. "That's why I'm so grateful for her."

"I had a photoshoot in that company actually," Tom said and that made her eyes widen. "Really?" She asked.

"Yeah, but that was like two thousand seventeen or something." He answered.

"Your American accent is really showing up," Y/N said and smiled at him.

"Well, most of my roles required this accent which I'm good at, surprisingly." He answered.

"How long have you been here already?" She asked him, curiously.

"Just today. I told my family first and Harrison that I was coming back for a week's vacation. And, I wanted to surprise you." He answered and placed his arms around her shoulders. She placed her head on his shoulder and gave a relieved sigh. Her happiness cannot be measured right now.

"You wanna go to the water?" Tom said and Y/N suddenly ran away from him and giggled.

"If you could catch me first!" Y/N said and ran which made Tom scoffed a laugh.

"I will!" Tom said and chased after her. After a few seconds of running, Tom was a few inches away from her and scooped her legs and carried her bridal style and he walked towards the water.

"No! Put me down! The water is gonna be so cold!" Y/N said but Tom ignored her and laughed. Then, Y/N wrapped her arms around his neck and forcefully pushed both of them down together to the water.

"Holy shit, the water is so cold," Y/N said as she raised her head up from the water as well as Tom. "Damn you, Holland!"

"You're gonna pay for that," Tom said and splashed her with water and Y/N did the same. Basically, the couple had a water fight. They kept laughing and splashing on the water to each other even as they stood up.

Tom then grabbed Y/N's arm and pulled her closer to him. They both wrapped their arms around each other and Y/N just gave a light laugh.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Do you have a towel in your car?" Tom asked as they got out of the water, their bodies and clothes soaking wet as they stayed there a while ago to watch the sunset.

"Yep. It's on the back. I came prepared." Y/N said as she gave Tom the keys and walked towards her car. Tom could just laugh.

Tom got the towel and wrapped it around Y/N's body and continued to hug her from behind. They decided to stay on the beach a little longer until they dried up. After a few minutes, they then went inside the car with Tom as a driver although Y/N insisted that she would drive.

They went directly to Y/N's apartment that she rented ever since she got her work. Tom parked in the basement of the building. As soon as they got out, Tom locked the cars and gave Y/N back her keys. They walked together and got to an elevator going to her apartment.

"How's your dad and Aria?" Tom asked as Y/N shoved the key on the doorknob.

"They are doing great actually," Y/N answered. "Aria got a job in New Zealand in tourism. And, will you believe that my dad actually got married a year ago?" Y/N said happily and opened the door.

"Really? I never heard of that." Tom said.

"Because we made it a private wedding so it's only our relatives and Mom Trina's family too," Y/N explained to Tom. "Mom Trina is an amazing woman and I'm glad they got to meet each other."

"Your mom will be happy that your dad is happy," Tom said and Y/N could only smile.

She placed her things down the counter table. "This is my home." She said to Tom who was looking everywhere in the apartment. "It's not that bad." He said.

"Yep. In my room, I get to see the city and the sunset and sunrise too." While Y/N was talking. Tom just kept staring at her, admiring her. He couldn't explain how happy he felt when he finally saw her again. He walked closer to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. This startled Y/N a bit but she held his arms and leaned her back to his chest.

"How did I get so lucky to have you?" Tom whispered and moved her hair away and gave a peck on her neck.

"Destiny, I guess." She answered and turned around to face him. She saw him looked at her lips and decided to close the gap between them by pressing her lips to his. Tom responded to the kiss and pulled her closer to him. As soon as the kiss became heated, she jumped and wrapped her legs around Tom's waist and he was carrying her. He then walked towards her room and shut the room by kicking his foot at the door while kissing and carrying her.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

The ray of light hit Y/N's eyes as soon as she woke up. She felt strong arms around her bare waist and she smiled. She yawned and stretched her legs before she tried to move Tom's arm around her. She could still hear his soft snores beside her. His curls are really showing off when his head was on the pillow. She tried to get up but was stopped when she felt a hand grabbing her wrist and pulling her back to the bed. Strong arms wrapped around her again but this time tighter.

"Tom!" She exclaimed.

"Don't leave me here," Tom mumbled while his eyes were still closed and snuggled his head to her neck which tickled a little.

"Alright, baby," Y/N said and snuggled back at him. "But I have to cook breakfast. It's like almost lunch already."

"That was a long long night." Tom teased and Y/N felt her cheeks heat up as she remembered what happened last night. She slapped Tom's arm playfully who just laughed at her. "Let's do it again," Tom whispered in her ear with a husky voice and attempted to kiss her again but Y/N covered his mouth with her hand.

"Nope, nope. Not happening." Y/N said as she shoved his arms away from her and stood up with the blanket wrapped around her. "You better go and shower, Holland!" She exclaimed as she exited her room.

"Join me, then!"

"Shut it, Thomas!"

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

"Alright, we're on our way now, mum," Tom said through his phone as he drove in the road. "Love you too. Bye." He ended the call and placed his phone down. His eyes focusing on the road.

"What did she say?" Y/N asked.

"Harrison and Erika are already there and there done preparing." He answered and she just nodded as an answer. He glanced at her and smiled, taking her nearest hand and intertwining their fingers together. Y/N looked at him and smiled back. Tom decided to stop driving for a while which made Y/N confused. He parked the car on the side of the road.

"What's wrong?" Y/N asked, concerned.

"I just..." Tom paused for a while. "I'm just so happy that I got to see you again," Tom said and looked at her deep in her eyes.

Y/N placed a hand on his cheek and smiled. "Me too, Tom." She said.

"I'll take you with me once my vacation is over," Tom said and her eyes widen.

"But I have work—"

"I already talked to your manager and he's fine with it. He's gonna give you a break for a while." Tom said.

"How is that even possible?" She asked and giggled.

"Secret," Tom said and grinned. "I want you to see my work and some of the co-stars want to meet you."

"Seriously?" Y/N asked. "You talked about me to them?"

"Yep." Tom answered, emphasizing the 'p'. "Even the Avenger cast wants to meet you."

"Alright, then. I'll get to see celebrities." Y/N squealed and smiled at him. "At least I get to see my boyfriend work. This is exciting."

Tom placed a hand on her nape and pulled her head closer for him to kiss your forehead and lips.

"I love you, my love." He said. "You are my world and my everything."

Oh, how lucky they were for each other.

"I love you, too, Tom."

Always.

Forever.

Fin.

❝ WE WERE SO BEAUTIFUL

WE WERE SO TRAGIC

NO OTHER MAGIC

COULD EVER COMPARE ❞

❃ ANOTHER AUTHOR'S NOTE to add, feel free to also comment or reblog how this series was. i would lovre to read your thoughts and feelings about this series. once again, thank you for reading NEVER NOT, by yours truly 🦋

❃ TAGLIST @allthisfortommy @kait4073 @lovebittenbyevans @l0ve-0f-my-life @spiitfiires @robertpattinson-th @jackiehollanderr @butterflies-glitter

𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: save file 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: chigasaki itaru/reader 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: sfw 𝐰𝐜: 3.0k words

𝐚𝐧: itaru event? itaru fic! me loving fake dating + direct af titles? nothing changed~ sequencing of events might be weird, oops~

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Itaru’s not the least bit surprised at the sight of your wrinkled nose; neither is he shocked at the crease that formed between your brows nor the narrowing of your eyes. It must be a lot to take in, truly, but it had to be done.

“Chigasaki-kun,” you said, immediately trailing off as though you couldn’t convey the rest of your thoughts. That was fine, he thought, he can wait for his SP to fill up for 100 minutes so surely he can wait a couple more minutes for your response.

It’s a bit embarrassing, but maybe he needs to explain a bit more? He doesn’t mind too much, he was putting you on the spot, after all.

“I know it’s sudden,” Itaru said apologetically, “but I need you. You’re the only one who can—“

“Chigasaki-kun,” you repeated, sounding firmer this time around. At this point, Itaru noticed that your eyes never left the cafe table that separated the two of you, or rather what laid right smack in the centre of it. As soon as he slid it towards you, your eyes had gone from wide and surprised to squinting, almost as though it had offended you.

He was so focused on your line of sight that he failed to notice the sudden rush of red that raced across your cheeks. After a moment of silence, you let out a deep breath.

“Why the fuck did you just give me a replica of Byleth’s ring from Fire Emblem?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” he dug through his pocket to bring out another ring, the exact same design, “I have another one.”

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“Hey, you made it! Thanks for coming, Chigasaki-sa—“ as he took in the sight of your locked hands, his co-worker let out a comically loud gasp, before trying and failing to cover it up with an awkward cough.

Itaru’s not stupid, at the very least he’s definitely not blind or deaf. Besides the gracious host, he can tell everyone is shocked and staring. They’re not even trying to be discrete about it anymore.

The people from his department had been gossiping for all of last week, creating speculations on his love life. The theories had a lot of exaggeration, a lot of denial.

You squeezed his hand a little tighter, him reciprocating to reassure you.

Envy. Judgement.

Still, as he glanced at your face to check for any sign of discomfort only to find a poised smile, he was once again reminded by your strength and fortitude. He always admired that from you, and it was always so enthralling to see that side of you in action.

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“You’ll come, won’t you?” Itaru let out a quiet hum, yet refusing to answer immediately. Though he’d prefer to sit out of most gatherings, he particularly disliked going to non-essential get-togethers where the only real purpose was for his co-workers to eat and drink less restrained as they would with the higher-ups around.

Normally he would have some excuse conjured up, maybe even pretend to check his phone calendar and reject the invite apologetically. However, he had already skipped out three times, consecutively.

He already breached the three strikes and you’re out rule, and he’s not so sure risking going for four would be the smartest play for his reputation… but it probably wouldn’t hurt to save game and set aside his decision making for later.

“I’ll have to check my schedule. I just need to check with someone first,” he said, thinking back to the director and the rest of spring troupe. Would any of them give him an excuse he has yet to use?

“Ahh, feel free to bring your sister then!” the man paused, a small smirk appearing as his eyebrows waggled. “Unless you wanna bring, you know, a friend.”

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“You just don’t want to suffer alone,” you said, using your fork to prod at the meal he treated you to. Surely a one time gathering wasn’t all there is to it? Chigasaki Itaru, who always kept his life outside work private, suddenly wanting people to know he had a significant other?

Even though he didn’t?

“I’ve been to those— I know they suck,” you continued, your eyes darting away from the silver band to look at him properly, “will this even benefit you?”

“It’ll probably be annoying at first,” he replied, keeping eye contact to let you know how serious he was, “dealing with everyone’s questions, but they’ll eventually just accept it and stop bothering me.”

“What about me?”

“You work somewhere else— they won’t get the chance to bother you,” he pointed out, propping his elbow on the table as he rest his cheek on his knuckles. He continued seeing as you stayed silent, “plus, don’t you have anyone bothering you about your lack of a love life?”

In any other instance, you probably would have made a remark about him being too dedicated to his waifus to date as well, but you could only grimace as you recalled the upcoming family reunion. If your aunts teased you again for not being in a relationship… if your mom kept insisting that you were just hiding a secret boyfriend to delude herself…

“Fine, but in exchange—“

Itaru let out a chuckle, “so the matching rings aren’t enough? I’ll have you know, they’re Class A replicas.”

You snorted, “stop, stop! I’m being serious here!” you said, lightly kicking his feet from beneath the table. When he moved to retaliate, you hastily pushed your feet beneath your chair.

“Oi—“

“Just kidding, just kidding!“ he said, raising his hands up in surrender, “so, how can I help you?”

“… you up for a family reunion lunch on Sunday?”

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“So, like, do we need to prepare any— dude, dude, dude what the…? This part of your island is—” Even without heading over to where you were, he immediately knew which area you were cackling about.

“That’s the nature dump! Obviously not gonna terraform it yet?” Itaru replied, “I need a place to place all the normie flowers?”

He heard you scoff, your animal crossing character running up to his and hitting him with a net.

“Not that dump, dummy! Why are there toilets? The fences— toilets—“ you trailed off, unable to help yourself from bursting back into laughter. He instinctively laughed alongside you, knowing the monstrosity you were talking about.

“What kind of idiot makes a pathway out of toilets?”

“Hey! They create a cool effect when you walk past it!” he said, defending himself as your character hit his on the head again, “kind of like a clam opening up—“

“It’s a toilet! Not a clam!”

“Ya? Well I, Taruchi, am a resident of Urinetown, subtitle: actually an island and not a town,” Itaru said, almost as if he was proud of himself. “Before you come from me, Urinetown is a musical about capitalism. What’s your excuse, Pen Island?”

You gasped, obviously fake but dramatic enough to continue your banter “I’ll have you know, the actual name is Pen Isles? Also, you named our Stardew Valley farm—“ you paused, as though realising something, “wait, wasn’t I going to ask you something?”

“… pfft, GJ.”

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Itaru watched you introduce yourself to the rest of the room, your words polite but brimming with a confidence that was rare to see from his friend turned pretend s/o… or at least, that was what he initially thought.

Maybe this side of you just so happened to be particularly evident tonight, ringing throughout your voice and exhibited by your body language; that didn’t mean it was hidden before this instance.

There was a certain charm to you. Always been, but he never really acknowledged it. It was the little things, like how you were never hesitant about adding to his commentary when you two played Co-Op, or the playfulness you showed from time to time, or your genuineness around him— kind, but not taking bullshit from him or anyone.

If he was reading the room right, he can’t blame them for being even a little bit enthralled with you.

Even if it didn’t exactly sit right with him.

“I didn’t know Chigasaki-kun was dating someone!” a brave soul piped up from the sidelines, probably vocalising what everyone else was holding back from saying. Huh, wasn’t she one of the people who fiercely denied the rumour that he was in a relationship?

He doesn’t miss the way the corners of your lips quirked downwards for a split second, before lifting back upwards as though it never happened.

“Well, Itaru can be a bit private,” you replied, a muffled but silvery giggle escaping escaping your lips, “though I suppose I’m a bit of the same? Might be why we’re compatible.”

The woman who asked flushed slightly, and he was sure it wasn’t from any alcohol consumed. Even still, he found himself mirroring the pink hue.

Itaru?

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“Itaru,” he repeated to you for the third time tonight.

“Shoot, sorry,” you apologised, making your animal crossing character portray your shock at your slip-up again. Lmao, that was cute. “Damn… it’s weird going from Chigasaki-kun to just Itaru.”

It was his turn to hit your character with a net.

“Taruchi isn’t that far from Itaru, and you call me that all the time,” he stated, snorting at the little huff that was somehow still audible on call.

“Calling you your IGN is way different though?” you protested, “I can’t just call you that in public?”

“Shame it might expose me irl,” he sighed in disappointment, “it would have been cute to have my gamer s/o go ‘uwu Taruchi, fighto!’”

“Hahhh? Was it ever cute any time I called you Taruchi?” you asked, incredulousness present in your tone as you proceeded to mock him, “uwu, Taruchi, fighto!… there, was that cute at all?”

Itaru’s hand slid up to cover his face, his growing smile lifting his cheeks upward. You were clearly just joking around, but, well, “who knows? Maybe if you said ‘Taruchi-sama, ganbatte! I’d be able to—“

“Itaru!” you interrupted, immediately making the human equivalent noise of a keyboard smash, your little avatar running around in circles as he imagined what expression your face had right now.

Amidst his unrestrained laughter, he managed to squeeze in his next sentence in parts. “You— you finally said it! Otsu~”

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You had only called him ‘Itaru’ that one time, every other time being ‘Taruchi’ in private or ‘Itaru-kun’ in public. Still, hearing you say his name in person instead of on the phone made it feel like the first time again.

Luckily for him, he didn’t get that much time to dwell on it. Someone had lead you two to sit somewhere, surrounded by more of his polite and friendlier coworkers. Exchanging pleasantries with them was easy enough, as was answering questions about your relationship.

They’ve had multiple test runs after all. There was no way they were messing up any details, there was no room or possibility of either of them even fumbling.

“How long have you two known each other?”

“We’ve been friends since university,” you replied, something that was actually true, “it took years for me to even confess! I’m just glad Itaru accepted,” you gave him a purposeful glance, your bashful expression nearly enough to lead him to believe that you really did have a crush on him all this time.

“So you two have been together since—?”

“After my graduation,” Itaru supplied helpfully, “so it’s been a few years.”

“That’s so sweet! You know,” the woman in front of you lowered her voice, and you leaned in a little closer to listen in, “a lot of us were wondering if Chigasaki was dating anyone after we saw his ring. I thought it was just a fashion statement, but now I know it’s the real deal!”

She eyed the silver band on your ring finger, one that completely matched his.

“The rings are beautiful! The design is completely unique,” another person commented. Itaru felt your ring finger loop around his own, and the two of you turned to look at each other, sharing an amused grin.

If only they knew it was actually really well-done game merch.

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“What’s the point of the rings, though?” you asked, curious of just how far Itaru was taking this plan anyway.

“Do you not like it?” Itaru asked. Undeniably, he would be a bit upset if you ended up not liking the ring. After all, he bought it because—

“It’s lovely,” you said sincerely, carefully picking up the ring, “just surprised you already had rings on hand?”

He chuckled apprehensively, “I was going to save it as a friendship anniversary gift,” he explained, “I still feel a little guilty I didn’t get you anything last year.”

“You don’t have to get me anything anyway,” you said reassuringly, “but I appreciate it.”

He watched you slip the ring on your left ring finger, mouth opening up to apologise as he saw how loose the ring was on you, about to offer to have it resized immediately before you interrupted with quiet laughter.

“It’s a bit awkward right now, but I love it.”

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The get-together was going really well, surprisingly. He still would have preferred to be in the comfort of his room, but your presence just made everything so much easier. Even the questions people threw at the two of you weren’t so bothersome, dodging the more nosy people and sticking with anything general.

It had somehow become a game between the two of you. It was like an act off, almost, of who could give the more impressive or heart fluttering statement. Whether it was for the sake of your audience or to just affect each other remains unsaid.

“What do you like about Itaru?”

You looked away from him, closing your eyes as though you were thinking. To be fair, anything real personality or gaming related was out of bounds. Would you cater your response to his work persona, or—

“Everything!”

He nearly choked on air, trying to ignore the urge to clutch at his heart.

“That’s no fair, give something more specific!”

“I do like everything about Itaru, though?” you said with a cute pout, “but I guess I like his kindness the most. He’s always so thoughtful and considerate. He’s a busy man, but he always finds the time to help me out when I need it.”

Everyone cooed at the two of them, but he found it difficult to concentrate on that when he could only cling onto the words that started to sound more and more real as the night went by.

Out of context, everything you said could be interpreted as you just being friendly, but there was something in the way you pronounced his name and the expression on your face as you talked about him that was… different.

“What about you, Chigasaki?”

Escaping from his thoughts, his mind was filled to the brim with thoughts, but the words refused to spill from his lips.

Was there a way to describe how captivated he was at your little quirks, from the random filler noises you’d make on call or text when words failed you, to the literal quirk of the corner of your lips as you shifted expressions.

Was there a way express his appreciation for sticking by him for years, regardless of his hidden side? Was there a way to express his gratefulness for the laughter rendered and the tears wiped off by you; the smile blooming on his face as he imitated your own subconsciously?

This was the one thing he couldn’t have a manual or guide to study, so he could only hope that he went with the right dialogue choice.

“Everything too, actually.”

■■■■■■■■■■■■■□  AUTOSAVING AUTOSAVE SUCCESSFUL!

The drive back home was quiet. He was exhausted, and he could tell you were too, but as he neared your street his driving got slower and slower, almost unmoving. From the corner of his eye, he saw you fiddle with your ring, twisting it around your fourth finger before pulling it off completely.

“Oh, we’re here,” you said out loud, yet you didn’t make a move to reattach your seatbelt.

“Itaru.”

Oh, wow. If hearing it a while ago trumped hearing it over call, then hearing you murmur his name in private, with just the two of you present, was…

“You look like you have something on your mind,” you continued, “all throughout the whole get-together, actually. Are you okay?”

When everything about this, about you simultaneously felt so new yet so familiar to him, how could he possibly convey his feelings? His admiration, no, his love for you?

He took the ring from your grasp, and before you could question what was up, he had grabbed your hand as well. With a serendipitous conscientiousness, he slid the ring back onto your ring finger, admiring your rosy glow that managed to be visible even with how dark out it was outside.

“The things you said a while ago,” he began, some hesitance still remaining as his thumb glided over your ring, “sounded really convincing.”

You wouldn’t meet his eyes. For a few seconds the both of you kept silent, until you finally broke it off, “maybe I wasn’t lying in the first place.”

He stiffened, pausing his previous ministrations as you continued, “… were you?”

Looking back at the past week, he almost laughed. Other than already being in a relationship, was anything between the two of you ever a lie to begin with?

“I wasn’t, either,” he replied. Taking in a deep breath, your gaze finally locked with his, he took the next step.

“If… if I promise to always be there for you, to hold your hand, help you fight your battles, and shield you from attacks… would you have me?”

want to order again?

Ah lee lee, my favourite internet cousin I need a fic saltier than the Dead Sea Alya salt (in the Daminette universe uwu) maybe at a high school reunion? Or seeing the couple on TV OR she accuses marinette of sleeping with Damian just to get jumpstart her career (she says this on Twitter) and a lot of people are like ‘hmmm ok, sure honey’

I'm in the mood for salt tonight, so let's work on this one, from my favourite cousin.

---

A high school reunion was always an interesting affair. Some people didn't show up because they hated high school, thinking it's hell incarnate and never want to revisit it again. Some go just to catch up and see how old friends are doing.

But, honestly, most go and show off how successful they are in life, trying to be the best amongst their peers.

At least, that was the case, many noticed, for Miss Bustier's former class. Many people who had been in the same year at them stared as they entered, greeting their former classmates loudly and bragging about their accomplishments.

But anyone could see most of them were blowing smoke. They all knew the stories from forever ago, it had been a running gag for many of the students at DuPont.

Lila Rossi told someone that she'd get you in contact with someone in the industry to planned on entering, when you heard nothing, she'd feign that they were busy or some bullshit like that, then when you didn't get the job or internship because you didn't bother even applying, thanks to you being gullible enough to believe Lila's lies, she'd go about convincing you that the company or whatever was too blind to see how amazing you were, and that you deserved better.

It was a cycle. And it was hilarious because now most of that former class were at low end jobs. Kim wasn't the Olympic swimmer he had dreamt of being; instead he taught swimming lessons at the local pool. Max never became the scientific genius he thought he would be, no,he worked at the school as a tech teacher. Most of that class were in the same scenario, save for the people who hadn't listened to Lila's bullshit. Juleka was a famous model, her wife Rose was the lead spokesperson in a field dedicating to taking care of and curing sick children. Nathaniel and his husband Marc had a bestselling comic book series.

Even Nino made a decent living, working as a DJ and a an upcoming director.

When Lila arrived along with Alya in a stretch limousine, everyone watching pitifully as Lila's followers from high school quickly grovelled to her, as she went on about marrying Damian Wayne, everyone knowing he had a wife, but the wedding had been so private, rarely anyone knew who she was.

"My dearest Dami would be here, but he's away in Japan right now, an important contract for Wayne Enterprises needed some of his expertise." Lila went on to say. She had her signature hair style still, making many grimace at the sight of it.

"But you promise that I can still interview him,right?" Alya spoke up, the past ten years having been the hardest on her. She had gained weight, mostly around her middle. She was squinting, as she had abandoned her glasses, due to Lila saying real reporters never wore glasses, as many people found people without them more appealing, there for more willing for an interview, but Alya couldn't afford contacts, so she was stubborn with being basically blind. And she dyed her hair blonde.

Enough said.

But there was one person they were eagerly waiting to see. And when she arrived, she didn't disappoint in the least.

Marinette strode into the gymnasium, looking as stunning as she always had been. Her dark hair had been grown out, framing her beautiful face, her trim body clad in a dress of pale pink, one of the newest designs from her latest fashion line.

And the man on her arm made many men and women stare in envy. Tall, dark, handsome, he reminded them all of a dark prince, with his muscular build and piercing green eyes.

"Is that Marinette?" Someone asked rather loudly, drawing everyone's attention from Lila's wildest tale and to the lovely designer as she strode in with her husband.

"Marinette, how was Taiwan?" Juleka spoke up, smiling as she and Rose strode over to greet the couple, Nino, Marc, and Nathaniel quickly joining them.

"It was lovely. I'd like to thank you again, for being able to model for me last week, you were a lifesaver." Marinette giggled softly, pulling Juleka in a tight hug.

Alya crossed her arms, scowling as practically everyone swarmed Marinette and the man she came with. She couldn't help but feel envious at the sight of Marinette, looking so beautiful and well put together.

Lila wasn't doing much better, wishing with every fiber of her being that she was basking in that attention.

"Who is this with you, Marinette?" Alya strode up, her hand always slipping into her purse, reaching for her cell phone. "A man you had to blackmail into marrying you? I feel sorry for him."

"... Is she serious?" Marc's brows shot up, sharing a bewildered look with his husband.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Damian, Damian Wayne." Damian smiled cooly towards Alya and Lila, his eyes narrowing a fraction. "You must be the undesirables my wife had to deal with during her time here, aren't you?"

"... Nice try, Marinette. Seriously? Hiring a guy to pretend to be Damian Wayne? You're so pathetic, Lila is married to Damian, if you bothered even to check your facts." Alya snorted, crossing her arms as she glared at Mari, scowling again. "You've ruined enough lives already, you ruined mine and Nino's relationship, so you can just fuck off and go home. No one wants you here."

Damian stepped forward, cold fury written clearly on his face, but Marinette's gentle touch on his shoulder stopped him. She merely put on a kind smile and stepped around her husband.

"You're still believing her lies, Alya? All of you still are? That's pretty pathetic, if I'm being honest." Mari's smile sharpened a bit as she crossed her arms, her blue eyes alight with fire. A fire no one had known was there. "You're the biggest hypocrite I know, Alya, as you've never checked a fact in your life. You tend to jump to conclusions before getting all of the facts in the first place. That's what ruined your relationships, I didn't think of you once for the past ten years."

"You don't need to talk to Alya like that, Marinette! You're still the biggest bully ever!" Lila sobbed, wiping away her tears. "Wait until my Damibear hears about this! We'll sue, ruin that tacky brand of yours."

"Highly unlikely." Damian stepped forward, his expression morphing into one of cool calm. Then a smirk twitched his lips. "At least I know who has been throwing around my name to get into places, or to get things for free. My lawyers will love to take care of the messes you've been causing me and my family."

"I beg your pardon?!" Lila felt the blood drain from her face, but she teared up, sniffling, desperate to keep her façade. "Damian, you've been cheating on me with Marinette, I was just trying to help you save face!"

"Oh give it up, Lie-la, no one is buying your bullshit." Chloé strode in, her hands gripping Kagami's and Luka's as they entered. She gave the liar a haughty look, diamonds dangling at her ears and her neck. "Except for Alya. But she must have one good barbed tongue, if you keep letting her kiss your ass and such for all of these years."

"Chloé! You fu-" Alya's face went red and she and Lila began advancing on the trio, but no one noticed as Rose 'spillt' her drink, causing both girls to slip and go stumbling. Juleka stuck out an elegant leg and Lila went tumbling back into the punch bowl, toppling it all over herself. The screech she let out was so satisfying.

Nino pretended to grab hold of Alya to steady her, but her hands 'slipped' from his grasp and she was sent falling onto the food table. A bit of revenge for her destroying his DJ equipment seven years ago, after their break up.

"I guess coming here wasn't a waste of our time afterall." Damian's rare smile appeared as he took his wife's hand and kissed her knuckles.

"I agree." Marinette giggled, ignoring the screaming coming from Alya and Lila. Instead, she turned to her friends. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, we're meeting Adrien and Tim after this, would you guys wanna join us for dinner at our home here in Paris?"

Alya felt hot tears of frustration as she glared at the blurry Marinette, grinding her teeth. That couldn't be Damian Wayne, Marinette couldn't be married to him! Because... Because that would have meant Lila had been lying. Lying about Marinette, lying about Nino cheating on her with multiple men and women, lying about Alya's chances with New York Times.

And Lila wouldn't lie to her, she just couldn't!

Alya felt the hot tears steam down her cheeks as Marinette and Damian walked off with their friends, looking so... So happy.

Something that she hadn't felt in such a long time.

Taglist:

Permanent: @vixen-uchiha @ravennightingaleandavatempus @2sunchild2 @crazylittlemunchkin @bee-wrecker @souleateralicestein @loysydark @kceedraws @realrandomposts @alienjoyful @f0xylegs

Salt: @virgil-is-a-cutie @sidessunnybumblebee @persephonebutkore @18-fandoms-unite-08 @suzen23smith @luciferge @theelventhgod @noirdots @space--butterflies @ghostglaceon @magicalfirebird @goggles-mcgee @chocolate1721 @minightrose @bookcrazybby @cupcakeandkisses @mewwitch

I forgot that you existed : Chapter one

A/N: okay chapter one is here going a little slow with the storyline wanted to add a little bit of details to the lives of the characters. I can guarantee in next chapter our hero will be in full form and not just in flashbacks. Hope you like it. Feedbacks and suggestions are always welcome.

Pairing : Tom Holland × Singer reader

 Summary: It's been more than five years since you and Tom have gone their own ways after a heartbreaking breakup which had left both of you shattered. Both of you thought that you were finally over with each other and were happy in your respective lives until you meet again at a reunion trip planned by your best friend and you realise you are still not done with each other.

 Warnings: none, flashbacks.

 Mini playlist: love story, ME! By Taylor Swift

We were both young when I first saw you

I close my eyes, and the flashback starts

I'm standing there

On a balcony in summer air

 Sounds of giggles and laughter " No! she is my best friend" Harrison exclaimed pulling you by grabbing your left hand towards him "No she is my best friend!" Tom said, pulling your right hand. You couldn't stop giggling as you were stuck between a tug of war between your two best friends who stated that you can only be best friend to any one of them not both. You were only 5 years old then Tom & Harrison both 3 years older than you but you loved hanging out with them.

Your parents shifted from LA to London for their work and coincidentally your house was in the same neighborhood as were of the boys. You all became friends through your mothers when they used to take you to the park when you were toddlers. You were the only girl of the whole boys gang consisting of Tom, Harrison, Harry and Sam and they were very protective about you. You used to boss them around.

 As Haz and Tom were quarrelling over whose best friend you were in the backyard of the Holland's house. Tom out of nowhere declared "if it's that so Y/N is my girlfriend" and gave a gentle peck on your lips, you stood there in shock and soon you started blushing as you covered your face with your hands and ran inside to your mother who was chatting with Nikki.

 You went up to your mom and asked innocently "Mom, Tom said that I'm his girlfriend and gave me a kissy like you give me every night before bed. Is he no more my best friend ?" Both the mothers started laughing as Nikki spoke  “no peanut he will always be your best friend and if you love bugs stay like this forever maybe he can be your husband too."

 You scrunched your face and said "eww!! I will not marry him"

 “why is that so? " your mother asked laughing

 "he always steals my chocolates" you said innocently “no I don't!! Tom said from behind as he entered the house with Haz, “yes you did yesterday only you took it from my bag at school” both of you now started arguing. Nikki and your mom burst into laughter after hearing it. That was the beginning of your love story.

 Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone

I'll be waiting, all there's left to do is run

You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess

It's a love story baby just say "Yes"

 .........................................................

You loved to listen to songs as it helps to release your stress and this song of yours was very dear to you as it reminded you of some sweet memories. You were scrolling through the photographs that you had taken back when you were living in London together with the boys as you thought about that whole incident, your actual first kiss, you smiled and shook your head at the realization that you both had disappointed your mothers.

 You finally dialled Harrison's number he picked up instantly

 "Hey Y/N!"

 "Hello.. this is 911 what is your emergency?" You chuckled

 "You will never change will ya?"

 "That was the plan actually to never change"

 "Talking to you after a long time man missed your voice so much"

 "Me too Haz.. So how's everything going there?"

 "Yeah everything is fine here just wrapped up my new film."

 "Great!! How are the boys, Nikki and Dom?"

 "They are all fine. Harry is busy with his new film's plot, Sam as usual experimenting with new dishes."

 "An.. and how's he?" You hesitatedly asked

 "He's good too wrapped up Avengers 5 will be returning home tomorrow.

By the way congratulations for the success of your new album to be honest it's a badass album the lyrics are dope."

 You giggled.. "Thanks Haz"

 "So now are you free or still have any upcoming projects?"

 "I can never be free Haz I m always working, always thinking of lyrics for my next song. Leave all that, what was the emergency that you said to call so urgently?"

 "Ummm.. Y/N I want something from you."

"Anything for you Haz"

 "You have to promise me first Y/N that whatever I say you have to say yes"

 "When have I ever said you no anyways just tell me"

 "No! Y/N first promise me"

 "Uggh Okay Haz I promise now spit it out. Sometimes you really act childish." you rolled your eyes.

"I want you to come back home I mean back here at London I have planned a 10 days trip to Cornwall at my beach house which we all used to go every summer when we were kids it's a sort of reunion for the whole gang I have invited Z and Jacob too"

 "Haz you know I only go on Christmas every year to spend time with you guys because that is when I m free. And I'm pretty busy this month. I have a recording to be done next week for my upcoming single."

 "Y/N you promised you will not refuse me. I just want a little time from your busy life.”

 "But Haz…"

 "And also I'm gonna celebrate my 30th birthday there, your man is getting old love."

 "Umm... I don't know what to say Haz I'm confused"

 "If you're thinking about him I can assure you there will be no problem besides he is not single anymore so why worry?"

 That is the problem Haz you said in your mind.

 "Umm okay I'll give it a thought and let you know after confirming the availability of dates." You ended the call and fell back on your bed, your hands and legs spreading across the bed  like a starfish. You face palmed and groaned.

 You went into a deep thought, your brain still processing the whole conversation you had with Harrison. After a few minutes you heard your phone buzzing and you smiled as you looked to see who was calling. It was Zendaya, face timing you. You had seriously wished to talk to someone right now. You have very few close friends in the industry and Zendaya was one of them. You collaborated with her for your bad blood music video and you guys clicked instantly from that day you became really close. She was your 3am BFF and you both knew each other's darkest secrets. You picked up the call.

 "So Haz called you up didn't he?"

 "Bingo!! So what are you thinking?" Zendaya laughed

 "I don't know Z. I just feel scared. I know I have met him a couple of times during my Christmas visits after everything happened  but that was just a one day thing and this whole 10 day trip is freaking me out. I also don't want to disappoint Haz. I missed all of his birthdays for the past few years on purpose just to avoid Tom."

 " You are just over thinking babe everything will be fine and I will be there to cheer up your emotional ass. Besides as much as I know Tom is very chilled out he will not bother you."

 " I don't think so. He has a very cold attitude towards me even now whenever I go back home. "

 After you moved to NY you almost begged your parents to move here and stay with you but they were adamant of staying in London so once in a year you used to visit your family and friends during Christmas. The Christmas Dinner was always hosted by the Holland's after your break up you always panicked to go to their house. The first year when you went. The boys, Nikki, Dom welcomed you as if nothing had happened; they hugged you with joy. But when you went to give Tom a hug he just backed off and out of formality gave you a shoulder hug and you got your hint to stay away. He even brought his new girlfriend for the dinner which you thought he did on purpose to make you jealous or hurt you. And you were actually hurt at the thought that he really moved on so quickly. So you avoided family gatherings to prevent such awkward situations.

  "Babe your life doesn’t revolve around Tom he was a part of your life which is over. Start living your life. And we are in our early 30’s and still single don’t wanna die like that do you ??. Even if you want you can have your sweet little revenge by showing off that hot body on the beach and show that asshole what he missed." Z smirked.

 You quirked your eyebrows “So you're telling me to be a bitchy ex who doesn’t want to see her ex boyfriend happy”

 " Nooo!!! I didn’t mean that just show him how happy you are, that you are one of a kind, he will never find anyone like you in his life. We are gonna have a blast honey and you are coming so start packing."

 You had to finally give in with a deep sigh you said .."okay Z I ll go but if I jump off the cliff after all the mental stress I'm going to get in those 10 days you and Haz will be responsible for it." you laughed.

"Oh we won't want that. Besides you have handled more stressful moments than this you will be fine dramaqueen." Zendaya said.

 You talked to Alex about the whole trip to sort out the dates. He was a little sceptical at first about the whole reunion with ex trip , but he believed in you and gave you a nod for the trip. You informed the good news to Haz of your approval to the whole trip. Before you could leave for your unplanned vacation you had to finish recording and shooting for your new upcoming single featuring Breidon Urie.

 "I promise that you'll never find another like me

I know that I'm a handful, baby, uh

I know I never think before I jump

And you're the kind of guy the ladies want

(And there's a lot of cool chicks out there)

I know that I went psycho on the phone

I never leave well enough alone

And trouble's gonna follow where I go

(And there's a lot of cool chicks out there)

But one of these things is not like the others

Like a rainbow with all of the colors

Baby doll, when it comes to a lover

I promise that you'll never find another like

Me-e-e, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

I'm the only one of me

Baby, that's the fun of me

Eeh-eeh-eeh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

You're the only one of you

Baby, that's the fun of you

And I promise that nobody's gonna love you like me-e-e"..............

 The song was soon officially released by the music company and the audience loved it and your work was done for the moment and now you could focus on the trip. All of a sudden you were really feeling excited about the whole thing. You and Z were constantly texting each other to plan about the journey.

 The day arrived and you met Z at the airport. "So ready for the battle?" she chuckled. You rolled your eyes and laughed "going on a battle would have been much easier compared to this I guess" but in your mind you were confident. Yes you had finally decided that you're ready to face Tom Holland to show him that you have also moved on. And to show him that he'll never find another like you.

 The nine hour flight was uneventful as both you and Z slept most of the time which proved that you both were in dire need of a vacation away from your hectic glamorous lives.

 It was around 5 ‘o’ clock in the morning in London when your plane landed. Both of you collected your check in luggages. Check out was hassle free as it was early morning with few people around and nobody recognised you as both of you were in your hoodies. As you came out of the exit door you started to look amongst the crowd and finally you saw those familiar icy blue eyes approaching towards you.

 “Ah!! Finally the star arrived” Harrison hugged you tight

“And all credit goes to you Z because our star has stopped listening to her best friend may be got someone else to replace me” he hugged zendaya and started laughing

“getting rid of you has been one of the failures of my life" you pouted

 "Ouch!" Harrison dramatically placed his hands on his chest as if hurt.

 "No one can ever replace you from my life you idiot" you lightly punched his arm.

 Harrison chuckled and said with a fake French accent "I m your chauffeur for the day, madame your car awaits at the parking lot."

 After you three put all your luggages in the car. Z and you sat at the back seat and Harrison sat on the driver's seat as he started the car. It was an approximate four hour ride to his beach house.

 " You know Haz I really missed the summer in London so glad I said yes to your plan."

 "The only thing I liked about London when I came for Spiderman:FFH shoot is the Harry Potter museum" Zendaya declared

 You noticed Harrison looked a little off today so you asked "you look a little bit stressed out Haz what's the matter bud?"

 "How do you read my mind so easily?" Harrison sighed.

 "I'm your best friend dumbo now tell me what is the thing that is bothering you so much?" you said with concern in your voice.

 "Okay I need to say you something, just don't be mad Tom will be bringing his fiancee too at the beach house. But don't worry everything will be fine I promise."

 Your face went expression less as you looked at Harrison then to Zendaya. You were starting to panic from inside. You let out a sigh and rolled your eyes as you leaned on Zendaya's shoulder. She rubbed your shoulder to comfort you as you thought in your mind "what a great start to this cursed trip."

..................................................................................

Taglists:If you want to be added send in an ask i will be happy to add you.

@sophs-library

And The Livin's Easy, Chapter Seven (Multi) - Zyan

a/n: I DID IT! kinda at the last moment, but here she is. we’ve reached yet another end. thanks for reading fellas! sideblog for crying about the ending with me is @chachkisalpaca - a million thanks to frey for beta-ing this.

Summer of 2021, a year later.

Vanessa launches herself into Crystal’s arms when she sees her step foot onto the beach.

“You came!” She screeches so loud it hurts her ears. But she doesn’t complain, she’s missed Vanessa a whole lot. Crystal just hugs her tighter, lifting her up.

“Of course I came! I missed you, bitch,” she exclaims, settling her on the ground again. Vanessa takes her hand and guides her where she and Kameron are settled. “I gotta say though, if you made me stop on my way back home after losing to Shea Couleé in Hawaii, just to see you lose tomorrow, I’m done being friends with you,” Crystal deadpans, and Vanessa briefly lets go of her hand to playfully smack her.

Hawaii hadn’t been half as bad this year compared to the last one, considering she ended up in the fifth place, so the second place was an upgrade, and she did spend a great time while she was there — though Vanessa didn’t join her, preferring instead to stay in California in order to practice for an upcoming competition she was sure she would excel in thanks to most surfers being in Hawaii, but she still had April and Jaida to hang out with.

Things with Jaida were cooler now; they had managed to become actual friends and whatever awkwardness from the past was resolved. She still was her usual self, though this time around she seemed goofier and way more laid back. Crystal wonders if it has to do with that contact in her phone —“Babe” with three purple hearts— and the fact she’s also making a stop in California before returning to Milwaukee.

“Shush, you know I’ll win,” Vanessa says with a cocky grin, and her confidence makes her think that she’ll indeed destroy the competition.

They make small talk as they navigate their way back to Vanessa and Kameron’s blanket; Crystal asks how life is going since they moved in together on their one year anniversary, and Vanessa looks oh so radiant as she tells her how every morning and night is better than the last one, and that family reunions with Brooke aren’t as awkward as they could be thanks to them getting their shit together and talking things out.

Crystal asks if Plastique and Brooke are still a thing, and Vanessa shrugs, says she hasn’t talked with Brooke since the summer’s started, but last thing she knew was that they were visiting Plastique’s family in Vietnam over the summer and that the tickets were already paid for. Or that’s what Yvie told her, anyway, when she made a quick stop in California before heading to Hawaii to see her girlfriend.

Kameron is as strong as ever and almost crushes Crystal in a hug that leaves her breathless.

“Always a pleasure to see you, Kam,” she says, and Kameron laughs wholeheartedly upon seeing her expression.

“How are you, Crys? Where’s your surfboard? I thought I could get some cool photos of you and ‘Ness,” Kameron inquires, reaching for her professional camera carefully tucked in her backpack.

“Ah, I left it at my hotel room. I was having lunch when Vanj told me y’all were here already, and the restaurant was a few streets down, so.” She shrugs, taking the hair tie on her wristband to try and collect her short hair in a low ponytail.

“Aw, d’you have money to rent one? I wanted to beat you like Shea Couleé beat you in Hawaii, so I can have a taste of how it’ll feel to win tomorrow,” Vanessa teases her, placing her head on Kameron’s shoulder. Crystal rolls her eyes, both due to Vanessa’s cockiness and how disgustingly cute they are.

“You talk a big game, but I’m sure that I can beat you harder than Shea Coulee beat me!” Crystal retorts, earning a loud laugh from Kameron and Vanessa. She laughs too, and proceeds to tell Vanessa she has enough to rent a surfboard for maybe an hour. Vanessa claps excitedly, grabbing her hand and guiding her to the rental shack, before giving Kameron a quick kiss, promising to be back in a second.

Crystal rolls her eyes again. She can’t stand affection right now, not when she told her latest girl she was leaving yesterday and she stood her up at the airport, not even bothering to send her a goodbye text.

It’s disappointing, because she thought maybe this girl was like Gigi and she cared the tiniest bit about her.

But Gigi is unique. There probably won’t be anyone like her ever again, and Crystal is at peace with that for some odd reason.

They tried to stay in contact once they left Honolulu, but life is hectic, and it was becoming quite hard to juggle college, her job, and texting a girl half a country away on the regular. The last time they talked was on Crystal’s birthday, a simple “Happy birthday, babe!” with a heart and a globe emoji attached to it. Crystal liked the message and replied with a polite ‘thank you’, and that was it.

She tries to remember where in California Gigi said she was from. Maybe, if there’s the tiniest bit of coincidence that she lives near, they can have a movie-like reunion and revive those three weeks together, but she doesn’t get her hopes up.

*

Maybe Gigi doesn’t hate beaches that much after all.

Well, she can’t say that right now, not when she’s the only one without a girlfriend to spend summer with — Brita is going out with a girl from her class, after she spent all year long complaining about her and her shit attitude, Jan has a long distance girlfriend whom she talks with every day and swears is coming to see her before summer ends, and Jackie and Nicky are so sweet together it’s disgusting.

She feels left out, somehow. Probably because all they talk about in recent times is their partners and love lives, and Gigi hasn’t had a proper date since April, when they set her up with a senior called Pearl and their date went awful. She’s pretty sure Pearl is now dating someone else, though.

“Geeg, do you wanna come with me to get a smoothie?” Brita asks, sounding only a little bit impatient. Gigi cocks a sly brow when she notices it’s the second time in the hour she’s going for a smoothie.

“Brita, for the last time, Aiden is working and you shouldn’t be spending all your money on smoothies. The chemical bathrooms are a mess,” Jackie scolds her, briefly stopping running her fingers through Nicky’s hair, who’s lying across Jackie’s lap.

Brita folds her arms, saying, that ‘for the last time, it has nothing to do with the fact Aiden works there’, when suddenly Jan shoots up and runs off, leaving all the girls surprised.

They call for her and try to follow her as well as they can, when they spot her running into a woman’s arms, and the woman lifts her from the ground, spinning her around. They kiss while Jan is in the air, and Gigi can’t help but to roll her eyes.

Great, another pair of lovebirds she has to put up with.

Jan meets them back at their spot after kissing her girlfriend for what felt like a lifetime and introduces her as Jaida. Gigi vaguely remembers her from somewhere else.

“We met last year in Hawaii, and went out while Jay was there! We’ve been texting a lot since then, and remember that I went to Milwaukee for winter break?” Jan explains excitedly, snuggling closer to Jaida with each word she speaks. Gigi tries not to roll her eyes when Jan tells them, for maybe the hundredth time, how Jaida asked her to be her girlfriend when she visited her over winter break. Jan kisses Jaida’s cheek once she’s done talking, and Jaida just smiles brightly.

“I couldn’t pass the opportunity! You had me hooked since the moment I met you, and since this was my senior year, y’know, I thought we could make it work once I graduated,” Jaida says, bringing Jan closer by her waist and kissing her forehead.

“What were you studying?” Nicky inquires.

“I’m a communications major, and as of now I’m trying to get a job around here, so I can finally move out of my little town. And, ‘sides Jan, the beach here is always a plus. It’s a surfer’s dream,” Jaida explains, chuckling softly, and soon she’s bombarded with questions about her sport.

The fact she’s a surfer makes Gigi think of Crystal. She could’ve also had a surfer girlfriend if she tried hard enough to make it work, but she guessed that just wasn’t meant to be like Jaida and Jan.

She thinks of asking Jaida about Crystal, but decides against it. She still has Crystal’s Instagram and follows her page religiously. All she has to do is send her a text, but she doesn’t have the courage to do so after so much time having passed.

“Hey, girls? I’m gonna get ice cream, I’ll be back in a moment,” Gigi announces, grabbing her phone and shoving a couple of dollars into her phone case. She’s running away from the lovey-dovey couples more than anything, though she could also use some ice cream to help her cope.

She walks aimlessly around the beach, trying to remember where she saw the ice cream stand, avoiding children that are running around with water guns in their hands and screeching like banshees. Some beach balls are thrown her way, and she kicks them back with ease, dismissing the people that scream ‘I’m sorry’ towards her.

Gigi has learned to appreciate the unique chaos of the beach, even if she still gets annoyed at little things like the long queues to buy ice cream, and the disgusting chemical bathrooms. In the end, these are little details in the grand scheme of things.

Crystal taught her that.

It’s stupid how often she thinks about Crystal. When she starts forgetting the sound of her voice, she replays the audio messages she sent her. And sometimes, if she concentrates hard enough, she can feel the ghost of a kiss burning on her neck.

Perhaps she should download Tinder again and get a grip.

Gigi finally finds the ice cream stand she was looking for and buys the biggest cone there is, with scoops of vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate. She likes to keep it classy.

She’s slowly making her way back as she licks the Ice cream, wondering if her friends would believe her if she said she has a headache and is going home. Gigi really has no will whatsoever to sit through an entire evening of her friends rubbing their relationships in her face, while she’s painfully—

“Gigi?”

Gigi freezes mid-movement, looking for that voice she’s heard one too many times through audio messages. She finds the owner of said voice standing a few feet away, with her hair, that was once long and ebony, cut above her shoulders, dyed in a deep green that looks almost black, wearing a stupid yellow Hawaiian shirt over a red bikini, holding a surfboard under her arm.

She blinks repeatedly before realizing it’s not her mind playing a trick on her. It really is Crystal who’s approaching her.

“Crystal,” she manages to say, staring at her. Crystal’s smile is still the same, and her plump lips are as kissable as ever. She has a new piercing in her belly button; Gigi thinks it suits her. “It’s— I didn’t— You’re in California,” Gigi blurts out, and Crystal smirks.

“I am, yeah. I arrived this morning,” she says, a blush creeping onto her cheeks, but Gigi decides to think it’s a sunburn. “I was gonna, uh, I was gonna practice with Vanessa for a bit. She’s got a competition tomorrow, here,” Crystal comments awkwardly, making Gigi wonder where has the cheeky Crystal she knew gone.

“Are you participating too?” She asks, licking her melting ice cream.

Crystal shakes her head no, much to Gigi’s surprise.

“Oh, no, I’m sitting this one out. I didn’t have the time to sign up for this one; I was in Honolulu for another competition, like every year. I came in second. I did get a consolation prize and some money, though,” Crystal explains, going from excited to disappointed, and excited again in the span of a few seconds. Gigi giggles; she’s missed Crystal’s enthusiasm.

“How long are you staying?” Gigi asks, with a tinge of hopefulness in her tone. Crystal smiles softly, tapping on the surfboard.

“Like, three days,” she replies, biting her lower lip. Gigi’s heart sinks for a moment, but she continues. “You think that’s enough time to catch up before I’m back to Missouri?” Crystal asks, sounding way too sheepish.

A smile spreads on Gigi’s face, immediately thinking of all the things they can do together while she’s in the city, and a squeal of happiness escapes her mouth before she realizes.

“Oh my God, yes! I mean, it’s not as much time as I would want, but we could make it work,” Gigi assures her, and Crystal nods, giving her a toothy smile.

“We can make it work,” she repeats. Gigi nods dumbly, licking her ice cream again when she feels her hand get sticky with the melted cream. Crystal stifles a laugh. “I have to catch up with Vanjie, but, uh, do you wanna go for a swim together when I’m done?” Crystal asks, as if she didn’t know Gigi would say yes.

Gigi nods, and Crystal is already turning around to go to her friend, when Gigi tugs on her arm. She turns around, careful as not to smack any kid with her surfboard, and before she can say anything, Gigi steals a kiss from her.

“I’ve missed you,” she breathes out against her lips, and she can feel Crystal smiling before kissing her back.

“Summer’s way funnier with you,” she mumbles in response, forgetting about Vanessa, who’s waiting for her. The only thing she can think of right now is Gigi and how much she’s missed her lips.

𝐴𝑘𝑎𝑖 𝑇𝑎𝑖𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑎𝑜𝑖 - 𝑊𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐴𝑈! 𝐾𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑦𝑎𝑚𝑎 𝑇𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑜

𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝! 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬! 𝐊𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐦𝐚 𝐓𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐨

𝘼𝙠𝙖𝙞 𝙏𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙖𝙤𝙞 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩

Chapter One > Chapter Two - She’s pretty > Chapter Three

A/N: i feel like im so slow at my fics, sorry fam and excuse my non-proof-read work lol but I hope you guys enjoy this! Also they still got a military for emergencies which all kingdoms agreed to. (iluv studio ghibli)

Yn learned from the sunshine boy that the friends they were meaning to visit were part of the King of Red Heart’s military, Comd. Daichi Sawamura, Gen. Asahi Azumane, Knights Yuu Nishinoya and Ryuunosuke Tanaka. Yamaguchi said that, “Asashi might seem like he’s a scary looking general, but he’s the nicest person you could ever meet.”

Hinata told yn about how Daichi and the rest would occasionally visit them back in that town, but ever since tensions were rising with the upcoming Tournaments amongst the kingdoms, the King of Red Hearts has been keeping them on a tight leash.

“Tournament?” yn questioned.

“Yes! A Tournament as to which Kingdom receives the highest praise and title in a game of Go!” Hinata cheerily yelled.

Confusion was written all over yn’s face, so Tsukkishima pried with, “The leaders of each kingdom play against each other in a game of Go, rather than through physical violence for assertion of power. This has been going on for the past several generations.”

“Ah, thank you for the explanation,” you nodded with an appreciative smile.

Tsukkishima just hummed in acknowledgement and faced ahead. He had this look of longing in his eyes, but Yn didn’t want to pry more than she could. So she just left it at that.

After what felt like a few miles of walking, Yn was able to see the high black fencing of Karasuno. They were decorated with red hearts on top and at the entrance you could see two guards chatting amongst themselves. As the group got closer, they could see two guys in their military attire, with their hat, red cords, and medallions.

Recognizing who they were, Hinata's face lit up and shouted with a frantic wave, “Noya! Tanaka!” The two guards-on-duty whipped their heads and jogged over to them.

“EY HEY HINATA!” the Buddha-looking guy said as he aggressive patted the smaller man.

“Shoyouuuuu!” the guys with the bangs-highlight said.

As they were greeting Hinata, Yamaguchi, and Tsukkishima, Yamaguchi cleared his throat and introduced you.

“We’d like for you guys to meet Yn, she’s here to return something to Sugawara,” gesturing his hand to you.

Yn was awkwardly standing a few paces behind the reunion. The two pairs of eyes were trained on you and then in a millisecond they were in front of you. Panicking at the close proximity, once again, you raised your hands in front of your chest defensively.

Eye dazzling with sparkles, they both said simultaneously in a soft voice, “She’s pretty…”

“Um, thank you?” she replied with a growing blush on her cheeks.

Nishinoya and Tanaka were back to shaking Hinata back-and-forth by his shoulders screaming, “Why are you bringing such a cute girl with you!?”, “Yeah!! How do you know her?!?! Tell your seniors!!”

Yamaguchi just panned at the scene, while Tsukkishima just scoffed in annoyance.

“C’mon, let’s just head inside so you can return home,” Tsukkishima suggested.

Nodding, yn followed him and Yamaguchi until the three energetic guys scrammed in front of you.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you guys can’t go in unless you wanna get caught by Kageyama,” Nishinoya said.

“Yeah! So that’s why you have me guide you guys in the castle!” Tanaka pointed his thumb at himself.

“No Ryuu, we got assigned to the gates today! We’ll get in trouble by Daichi if we leave!” Nishinoya rebuked.

“Oh yeah…,” Tanaka was in thought for a few moments, “Ok there’s preparations going on in town, but if you guys stay clear from the center and head up the usual back-entrance of the castle, you guys can either find Asahi or Daichi to lead you to Sugawara.”

“That’d be great, thank you guys!” Hinata said.

Cautiously, the group walked behind the homes and buildings in the shadows. Yn could see citizens decorating the lampposts and setting up tables in their kingdom’s colors of red, white, and black. Children were running around wearing paper crowns and wooden swords, while some guards played with them or helped the other adults set up the decorations.

Feeling the tug of yn’s hand from Yamaguchi, she turned her face to follow the rest with Hinata (surprisingly) leading the way and Tsukkishima behind him.

As they climbed the infinite numbers of steps behind the grand stone castle with banners of a crow emblem in the center. Hinata knocked on the wooden door, and opened to a tall and muscular man with facial hair on his chin, and a bun adorning the crown of his head. He looked like he was on his break since he still had a slice of bread in his mouth.

“Minthwa?!” he said in surprise.

“Hello Asahi! You mind if we come in?” replied Hinata in a sheepish manner.

Nodding, Asahi moved his body aside, giving way to all of you. His eyes widened in shock when they saw yn. Closing the door behind him, Yn was able to see it looked like a break room in the back parts of the castle. Food and drinks were still left on the table for two people, one most likely for this Asahi guy.

“So will you guys explain what’s going on?” Asahi prodded.

Hinata was too busy looking away and fumbling with his fingers, that Tsukkishima sighed and took on the role to speak up.

“This is Yn, she followed Sugawara here since she dropped something and we’re here to guide her,” he said.

“Yeah! Also we wanted to visit you guys too!” Hinata interrupted with some more confidence.

Asahi sighed in slight disappointment, but he faced you with a smile and lifted his hand in greeting, “Well I guess I should introduce myself, I’m Asahi Azumane.”

Returning the shake of his hand, yn shyly said, “Hello my name’s Yn and thank you for letting us in.”

“Yes, it’s no problem for now, but you guys need to be careful if the King finds you since he’s,” Asahi paused, “irritated today with the tournament coming up.”

Hinata was nodding excitedly, “Yes we will!”

“H-hey Hinata, we’re not here to explore this time,” Yamaguchi pleaded.

Grabbing your hand, he pulled yn over to the other door leading down the hallway, but before you guys could turn the corner, they collided with a firm chest with hands on his hips. Worriedly looking up, they were met with frowning dark, brown eyes.

“What are you guys doing here?”

taglist: @melanieacademy @i-bitch-you-bitch

@emmyljo

Malec prompt - My homophobic parents are coming to visit will you pretend to date me as an extra “fuck you”?

Uhhh this…..completely got away from me? It’s a lot longer and a lot angstier than it was supposed to be….sorry? Not sorry? idk.

___

“Okay, what is wrong withyou?”

The question - and particularly the accusingtone of it - shakes Alec out of his stupor. It’s a testament to how out of ithe is that the only response he manages is an intelligent “huh?” 

He blinks, shaking his head to clear his head,but in the end, Magnus Bane is still standing in front of him, a stack of bookshugged to his chest and eyebrows raised and it’s - well, it’s a lot. It’s alwaysa lot, to be the focus of his attention, to be faced with his….everything:his incandescent beauty, his razor sharp wit and brilliant mind, his smoothcharm or his biting contempt. 

Alec flounders. Magnus Bane is the secret starof all his late-night fantasies, his verbal sparring partner in their shared Introduction to Clave Law class andall-around thorn in Alec’s side. 

They snipe at each other a lot.

What they don’t do is talkoutside of class.

Alec quickly runs through a mental inventory ofthings he might have done to offend Magnus so horrendously that he’s corneringhim in the corridor, eyes blazing, and comes up empty. Unless his mouthdeveloped a mind of its own in the last sixty minutes, there’s nothing he couldhave possibly said. And if there’s one thing that Alec knows how to do is makesure nothing unintended ever slips out of his mouth, to keep his closelyguarded secrets.

“I didn’t do anything,” Alec defendshimself. 

“Exactly,” Magnus says irritably. 

“I don’t follow,” Alec admits. 

“You didn’t participate once this session.What, do you want to tell me the professor can drone on and on about thelegitimacy of Downworlder discrimination and you don’t have an opinion on that?No raising your hand to offer your…..valuable insights?”

“What, are you my professor now?” Alec says,snippy. “I don’t need lectures from you on how active participation is abig part of the final grade.”

“That’s not why I’m asking.”

The last thing he needs right now is picking afight with Magnus, but he can’t help it. “Why are you asking?I’m sure you enjoy class less when you don’t have a convenient punching bag foryour arguments, but newsflash: I don’t owe you an explanation on why I don’twanna engage in that. It’s not like it’s any of your business.” 

“Well, I’m sorry for stepping on your toes byexpressing my concern for your general well-being,” Magnus snaps. “GuessI’ll remove my lowly Downworlder self from your presence before I leave a stainon your perfect reputation or something.”

For the third time in their brief conversation,Alec is completely thrown. “I - that’s not - what?” 

Now that he sees actual fury on Magnus’handsome face, covering up a brief flash of something that looked almost likegenuine hurt, he realises that the expression Magnus wore before was lessfurious and more….furiously concerned. 

He doesn’t think he’s ever been this confusedin his life.

“Magnus, wait!” He struggles to catch up withMagnus’ quick strides – he has a head start, and he’s surprisingly tall, but inthe end, as they’re hurrying down the deserted corridor that leads to the notoriouslyill-tempered professor Fell’s office, Alec’s freakishly long legs win out. “Magnus,will you just –“

He grabs him by the biceps, and Magnus whirlsaround faster than lightning. To his credit, he doesn’t punch Alec in the face.Maia, he knows, would have had a much more violent reaction to being seizedlike this. Most Downworlders would – recent attempts to smooth things overbetween the different factions in the Shadow World haven’t done much to assuagerational fears and suspicions based on several centuries of near constantoppression and maltreatment.

“Sorry, I – sorry,” he blurts out, quicklywithdrawing his hand. “I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not contagious, despite whatyour precious Clave might tell you,” Magnus sneers.

“Can you just stop for a second?” Alec snaps. “Don’tput words in my mouth!”

“Why would I?”

“I’m trying to apologise here!”

That seems to take Magnus aback. “For what?”

Alec takes a deep breath. “I – don’t reallyknow what’s going on here,” he admits, waving his hand around in what he hopesis a sufficiently all-encompassing gesture. “I mean, we don’t really….talk, andI guess I was confused and had my hackles up, because I was having a shit dayanyways but – none of that is your fault, and I shouldn’t have taken it out onyou. So I’m sorry.”

Magnus cocks his head. “I appreciate thethought, but as you so astutely pointed out, you don’t owe me an explanation.”

“I did owe you the apology, though.”

Magnus hums contemplatively, and, against allodds, lingers. Alec knows a challenge when he sees one, or maybe it’s aninvitation – he’s misjudged Magnus’ intentions before. He doesn’t really wantto talk about it but – well, if he’s honest, it does grate on him to not havehis siblings around, constantly needling him until he talks about what’sbothering him, and he doesn’t really have friends here to confide in.

He’s been told that friendships often formbetween roommates just by virtue of being stuck with one person in closequarters for a long time, but his roommate Raj is a grade-a asshole, and otherthan that, his options are limited; there aren’t many Shadowhunters here, andthose that do attend generally think he’s insane for being the only one Nephilimvoluntarily choosing to go to thefirst integrated college when he was good enough to attend theShadowhunter-only and highly acclaimed Idris Academy. The Downworlders, on theother hand, who make up a majority of the student body, are all understandablywary and tend to avoid him when they can. He’s cordial enough with a lot ofpeople, but there’s no one he would say he’s actually close to. He’s gettingthere with Maia, he thinks, who’s brazen enough to yell at him and so fargrudgingly impressed by the lack of times he’s given her an actual incentive tostart a fistfight.

So maybe it’s a need for connection, or maybeit’s the fact that Magnus is everything Alec isn’t while simultaneouslyprobably one of the few people who might understand, that causes Alec to talk.

“Campus tours are next week.”

“I’m aware,” Magnus replies, raising hiseyebrows at the sort of non-sequitur.

“My siblings are thinking about going here aswell and – that means the whole family is coming. Including my parents.”

“I take it that will not be a joyous reunion?”

“Uh, no. They’re still angry with me for not goingto Idris like they wanted and –“ Alec hesitates briefly, and then decides tonot give a fuck. The truth is going to be out there soon one way or another. “Andeven angrier with my ruining the marriage they had arranged for me.”

The first, he had been able to mostly explainaway with logical arguments about Shadowhunter politics – if he was supposed tolead an Institute one day and work with Downworlders, he’d need to get a betterunderstanding of them, especially in the changing political climate. The latter– not so much.

Magnus looks almost at a loss for words. “It ismy understanding that arranged marriages are so traditional for Shadowhuntersthat they are virtually unavoidable,” he says cautiously.

“Basically.”

“Another way for you to rebel, then?” Magnussuggests. “Fighting for more freedom of choice?”

Alec shakes his head. “It’s not the arrangementpart that I couldn’t handle. I know my duties, my responsibilities, that’s not –that wasn’t the problem. Many of the couples end up kind of happy, anyway.”

“What part disagreed with you that much, then?”Magnus asks softly. He can probably see where this is going, judging by the wayhe’s now clearly careful of his words and by the way his entire demeanour seemsto soften.

He takes a deep breath, and steels himself. Hishands are trembling, which is stupid – everyone on campus knows that MagnusBane will judge you for pretty much everything, but not for this.  There’s no one else around – everyone knows tomake a wide berth around professor Fell’s office at all times. “The part whereI was supposed to marry a woman.”

Magnus goes to say something, but Alec barrels on.He’s not sure he could stand to hear some supposedly affirming and supportiveplatitudes right now. “They’ll forgive me for the choice of college eventually,I guess, but – not that. Don’t – please don’t say you’re sorry or whatever.Just – it’s just the way it is. I’ll deal with it.”

Magnus accepts that with a nod, and remainsquiet for a long moment. “So what’s the plan?” is what he eventually asks.

It’s not the question Alec was expecting. “Sorry?”

“For the upcoming visit of hell,” Magnusclarifies.

Alec shakes his head. “There is no plan. Getthrough it, I guess. Izzy and Jace will try to intervene when things get out ofhand or take some of the family heat if possible, but there isn’t much thatwill stop them.” He shrugs a little helplessly.

“So what, you’re just going to keep your head downand take it?”

“You got a problem with that?”

“No,” Magnus says quietly. “It just doesn’tseem like your style. You don’t generally strike me as the type of person to letsomething like this slide without a fight.”

“How would you know?” Alec asks, and oh, he’sgetting defensive again now.

Magnus doesn’t take the bait this time. “Alexander,”he says, “as much as we disagree on howthings should change, or how quickly steps must be taken, I haven’t ever seenyou defend a bigoted law or damaging stereotypes. Why are you willing to defendpeople like me from people like your parents, but not yourself?”

Oh, but he had forgotten how scarily perceptiveMagnus can be. “It probably won’t even be that bad,” Alec says, desperatelytrying to deflect. “I’m sure they’ll just use the fact that I’m single to arguethat I’m just confused and will change my mind and it’ll be fine once theyconvince themselves of that.”

For a brief moment, Magnus looks angry. He doesn’tthink anyone but his siblings has ever been angry on his behalf. It’s a strangeexperience. “Sounds like you need a boyfriend to show off to them to stop thatludicrous line of thinking once and for all.”

“Well, I don’t have a boyfriend, so –“

“You could have a boyfriend,” Magnus sayseasily.

Alec snorts. “Yeah, right. Magnus, half thepeople at school won’t even look at me, and I’m not really good at this kind ofthing anyway. Plus, even if I didfind someone to go out with me – who’d want to meet my parents after a week?”

“It wouldn’t need to be real.”

“What, like, hire someone? No one would go forthat, and if I have to pay someone to date me – well, I’d rather spare myselfthat particular humiliation.”

Magnus bites his lip, almost nervously. “Iwould do it,” he offers hesitantly.

Alec stares.

“For free, even,” Magnus adds. “I’m always infavour of sticking it to homophobic and racist bigots.”

“Uh,” Alec says dumbly. “You do know who myparents are, right?”

“The Lightwoods are rather famous, yes,” Magnus says drily.

“Then you know how they’d react to –“ Wordsfail him. He can only weakly gesture between the two of them.

Magnus smiles bitterly. “They are rather famousfor that as well, so yes.”

“Why would you –“ Alec falters. “Why would youwillingly subject yourself to that? Why would anyone – I mean, they’re my family, it’s not like I have a choice – but you shouldn’t have tosuffer through that. Not ever and – you get enough crap from Shadowhunterswithout painting a huge, deliberate target on your back for me.”

In front of him, Magnus’ eyes hold an infinitesadness that threatens to choke Alec. “You know,” he muses, “when I first heardthat the Lightwood heir was going to go the same school as me, I was expecting –well, I was expecting many things, none of them pleasant. But you – I don’tthink I could have predicted a single thing about you. At every turn, youcontinue to surprise me. Look – “ he continues, “if you don’t want to go for itbecause it’s – too much for you, I get it. But if you’re only turning me downto protect me, don’t bother. I don’t need anyone to protect me. There’s nothingthey could say to me that I haven’t heard a thousand times before.”

“That doesn’t make it better,” Alec argues hotly.“You shouldn’t have to hear it at all.”

“And neither should you,” Magnus points out. “ButI can assure you, in my experience, if it can’t be avoided, then it’s easier ifyou have someone there to help you through it, to have your back. You don’thave to do everything alone, Alec.”

It’s – it’s too much. The magnitude of Magnus’offer sends him reeling. Even worse is the heady feeling of being judged byMagnus Bane and being found worthy when that notion of getting his approval isutterly ludicrous to him. Magnus shouldn’t choose him. Not like this, not ever,maybe. When Alec had run after him he’d at best expected a chance to extend an olivebranch that would help them get back to the way things were. A part of himthink he shouldn’t even be contemplating it, but –

It would be so good to not be alone in this,for once.

He draws in a shaky breath. “It’d be ugly,” hewarns.

Magnus’ smile is small and lopsided, but it’s there.“Fighting for something important usually is.”

“Right.”

“Do you have class now?”

Alec blinks at the sudden change of topic. “Notuntil five.”

“Then how about we get some coffee and just –talk, figure things out?”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure, that sounds good.”

Magnus’s smile widens, soft and sweet andgenuine. It’s the first full smile he’s ever directed and Alec, and Alec thinks– if he just keeps smiling at him like that, then Alec can do anything, getthrough everything the world and his parents throw at him.

His heart is fluttering in his chest, and itfeels a lot like hope.

Manon And Her Babysitter (A Masc!Marinette Fic)

Manon being a Mood for 2393 words straight.

I have like 30 wip’s (not all Masc! Mari fics, I’m working on a new au and maybe even in a zine-fingers crossed) and school is starting for me so heads up if I don’t post much. Or post less than I did before. Writing is a stress reliever for me so you may notice a pattern when I post. 

This Masc! Mari (aka Marin Dupain Cheng) AU based off the lovely @daloochsdoodles and their art. Please check them out. 

Marin didn’t think that a girl with eyes the size of dinner plates would take such a liking to him. Asking him about his day or take her to parks when she visited.

Manon didn’t think that a headstrong teen would have so much patience with her. Even at her worst and crankiest moments in the day.  ——

Alya once told Marin that he intimated her when she first entered the school gates on her first day. His height and dark clothes just added to the anxiousness of the new school, new town, new people growing in her stomach. Alya felt smaller than the head on the tiniest pin needle or a mouse in a garden of starving foxes. Of course, Alya would never let anyone push her around but ideas like that just bubbled over in her mind. Yet the growing worry disappeared the moment Marin looked at her -and flashed a sunny smile.

However, to be fair, Alya later confessed that Marin could never be scary even if he tried. His warm aura, his soft pastel Jagged Stone sweatshirt, with his charming features was the total package of a fluffy boyfriend that anybody, whether their sexuality, would want to wrap their arms around. He’s a soft man. Even with his tall and strong build.

So at this instant, in his family’s living room, he didn’t know if his face looked like the soft friend Alya knew and loved or the intimating teenager that could cut diamond with a stare. His question was answered when the girl that hid behind her mother’s legs gave him a toothy smile. As toothy as she could make it with two of her front teeth missing.

Marin gave a gentle smile back, waving to her before he went back to his tablet. Annotating an article about the American Revolution for history class. Saving the key details in his head to use in the upcoming class debate while relating it back to the French Revolution. Clicking the screen with his stylus some more before his mom called him over.

“Honey, I want you to meet my friend, Nadja.” Sabine introduced, motioning him to show his good manners. Marin reluctantly slips out of his comfy position on the couch. Shaking Nadja’s hand while his mother continued.

“She used to come to the house all the time when you were little! It’s been years since I could remember you guys standing in the same room.”

“Your mother talks a lot about you-”

“Marin, but some people call me Mari.”

“AND I’M MANON CHAMACK!” The little girl yelled excitedly. Sniggering to herself when she got Marin’s attention. Proudly standing in front of her mother while her body rocked back and forth on the balls of her heels. Marin couldn’t help but share her infectious smile. Reminiscing when he was around Manon’s age. How he would try to get noticed by the older kids at school or in family reunions. Making himself seem like the coolest kid ever or just hovering over big kids before they bothered to include him in their games.

Nadja and Sabine smiled at each other, fighting the urge to laugh at Manon’s sudden introduction. Sabine quickly invited them in and out of the doorway. Nadja instinctively followed Sabine when her eyes lingered on her daughter. Praying that she wouldn’t cause too much of a ruckus for Marin.

Marin squatted down to meet Manon’s height.

“So what brings you here, Manon? Have any plans for the day?” He asked. Letting this kid be a healthy distraction from his report.

Manon swang her body side to side, taking in a breath before rambling. “Mom says that she plans to take me to the park if I’m SUPER good when she’s here with your mommy! Maybe even get a cookie from the bakery too!” Skipping her way in and passing Marin. Jumping a little higher as the thought of having a baked good made Manon’s mouth water.

“MAYBE I should even get a brownie! With sprinkles! Or maybe just a WHOLE cake with blue frosting!” Giggling to herself some more before her loud voice went over the list of treats she likes.

“Aren’t you rambunctious,” Marin sighed. Following Manon into the house (while she asked what rambunctious meant) before shutting the front door closed.

—-

“I have a friend with your name. At least it sounds like it.” Manon explained between her bites on her brownie. Still warm from his mother’s kitchen with hints of pinks and blues from the sprinkles Manon added. Crunching them under her tongue. Unintentionally making her mouth a light shade of purple.

“Yeah,” Marin answered. Holding Manon’s hand as he held the other with the animal balloon that he bought (*cough* with no influence from the baby doll eyes *cough*). “What’s their name?” He asked. Looking back and forth for any cars as they crossed the street.

“Maribelle. She’s pretty cool and foreign. Gave me half of her cookie so we’re friends now.” Manon nonchalantly said. Unaware that her friendship was bought, but from the looks of it, she didn’t mind too much about it. “Now that I think about it, Mari sounds like a girl name. Right?” The little girl said innocently.

“Yeah, it was in a way,” Marin replied easily, checking for incoming traffic until they reached the sidewalk. “But things change.” Giving Manon a smile which she returned after wiping the chocolate off the edges of her lips.

“You wanna go on the swings?”

“Last one there is a rotten egg!” Manon snickered. Running as fast as her legs could take her to the empty swing set. Leaving Marin in her dust.

——–

“PLEASSSEEE MARI!” Manon cried. Collapsing onto the ground and kicking her feet in the air. All as Marin stood firm on his promise with Nadja.

Don’t let her eat sweets after 7 pm.

“No.”

Earning him another anger huff from the little girl.

Nadja was off handling another story that needed to be scripted and filmed on the same day. Extremely unrealistic for someone to do, but Nadja was up for the challenge if it meant that she could have a full week off with her daughter. The exhausted, workaholic mother promised Marin that she would be back before 11 pm. However, he pushed back his tutoring session from tomorrow morning to tomorrow in the afternoon just in case she came in later than that.

Till Nadja arrived, Marin was ready to handle a cranky six-year-old for the next three+ hours.

Manon, now a cranky and sleepy six-year-old, stopped tossing and turning on the ground. Stretching out her arms and legs like a starfish in defeat. Closing her eyes and slowly opening them again.

“Tired?” Marin asked, placing his hands on his hips.

Manon nodded, lifting herself off the ground. “Can I have Unicorn Puffs for a snack now?”

“I’ll make you a fruit bowl with fresh strawberries and melon.” Marin reasoned. Recalling that Unicorn Puff Cereal was also a “no” in Nadja’s list.

“I can put that one chocolate drizzle you like on them though.” He sighed, lowering himself to Manon’s level.

The little girl shot up from the floor, her twin-tails bouncing with her quick nod. Gaining back her energy and beaming her toothy smile. Now complete thanks to her new front teeth.

“Deal.”

——–

“Look, Marin! It’s that one person from your magazines!” Manon wooed. Amazed that the model’s hair was as shiny in real life like it was in the glossy pages of Vogue. Wanting to feel it as she stepped towards them before getting pulled back.

“Oh my gosh, Manon! Look the merry-go-around is empty. You should totally go there!” Marin hissed, ignoring his friend/unicorn’s laughs. Pushing Manon towards the carousel. Away from the shiny person taking pictures from the fountain.

////

Manon choked on the sobs that threaten to come up her mouth. Her face felt hot like the time she threw up all the sugary goods that turned bitter in her stomach. However, this type of sick didn’t make Manon’s belly flip in pain, but her tiny heart beat faster and her palms lost their grip on Alya’s hand. She wanted her mommy to smoothen her nerves or Marin to pull her in one for his hugs. Wishing she could smell the fabric softer his mother buys on his sweater or hear her mom tell her that it would be okay in the end.

-But no matter how much Alya distracted her, Manon could only watch the ice around her grow thicker and thicker. Looking towards the outside was harder as the ice grew mistier. The firefighters outside tried to explain how they would get them out as if to calm them down but Manon couldn’t hear them and the ice made them look all distorted and ‘wriggly’.

“Lady Beetle and Chat Noir will save us. Right?”

Manon remembering back to the dolls Marin sewed of the heroes. How they sat on his shelves with a smile. Wondering if they would look that friendly when they pull people out of danger. Or if they really win every time when an Akuma comes and hurts Paris.

“Of course! They’re superheroes."Alya smiled. Pulling her face towards her. Grinning like everything was okay, even when it felt like it wasn’t. Rubbing circles on her back to keep her warm.

"They always save the day. We just have to trust them.”

////

Lady Beetle jumped from building to building before landing on the ice dome that shielded the merry-go-round from the summer heat. Showing no usual signs of melting.  Making him less surprised when he felt the toughness and chill of the temperature drop from the ice through his suit.

Lady Beetle doubted it would make a dent, but he still whipped his yo-yo around the ice capsule. In an attempt to crack it or even split the whole thing. The yo-yo didn’t do much like the firefighter’s axes. Huffing in frustration before seeing a little girl clapped her hands against the ice.

“Manon-”

“LADY BEETLE!” She cried out. Getting the woman behind her to do the same.

“Alya,” Lady Beetle whispered. Rushing over to them.

“LADY BEETLE!” Manon yelled again, softer than the last as LB got her level. He resisted the urge to tell Manon everything. That he’s sorry for leaving her for even a moment when he promised her to protect her. Sorry about ignoring her the whole day and pushing her aside for one of his complex plans on getting a date. Sorry for not stopping Stormy Weather from trapping them in a chilly container. Even apologizing that he didn’t buy the ice cream she wanted.

However, then would blow his identity.

Lady Beetle rolled his words in his mouth, having to settle for the “You will be okay, I’ll get you out” line. Swallowing his uncertainty as he heard Stormy Weather crackled her umbrella to form a hurricane in Chat Noir’s direction. Who tried their best to push Stormy away from the citizens.

Lady Beetle looped his yo-yo in his fingers. Ready to throw it before Manon called out to him.

“I trust you.”  

—

Marin hurried before the reporters could mog him for an interview or bumble questions about the Akuma attack today.  Chat Noir left before their miraculous give out and Marin just needs to see if Manon and Alya were okay. The Miraculous cure would have healed them if anything happened yet that didn’t make Marin feel any better though when he reached the park and they weren’t there.

“MANON! ALYA!”

He called, running around for a bit. Knocking into someone, promptly saying sorry before spinning his head around to find his friends. His lungs drew sharps breaths the more he ran. Stopping when he heard a small shout calling his name.

“MARI!”

“Manon! Alya!”

Rushing into Manon’s hug. Glad to see her again and even better to feel that being trapped in a chilly ice dome for an hour didn’t give her a fever.   Manon’s little hands pulled on Marin’s face, making him face her big, goofy grin. Alya behind her having the same one plastered on her face, only to punch Marin’s arm and scold him for scaring them shitless when he disappeared when the Akuma nearly froze all of Paris.

“YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHO WE SAW TODAY!”

“Wh-”

“LADY BEETLE!” Manon screamed. Almost making Marin drop her from the shock of her roar. From there Manon continued to gush about the red hero. How they tried to get them out and then promised to beat the Akuma to save them.  How high they could jump, making it seem that they could fly over buildings. How Chat Noir and Lady Beetle worked together to save the day. Plus how cool Chat Noir looked when saying “Cataclysm”.  How the magic ladybugs fixed everything for good and how-

“I’m just glad you’re okay, Manon.” Marin sighed. Chuckling as Manon tried to mimicking Lady Beetle calling on their Lucky Charm.  Alya stole Marin’s attention while she happily flipped through the photos of the Akuma to post on the Ladyblog. Mentioning how some filters were needed to make the picture clearer. Even catching a video of the magical ladybug effortlessly fixing buildings and basically 'curing’ all the victims that got swept up in Stormy Weather’s scheme.

Marin was just relieved that everyone was fine and well as people gawked at the aftermath of Lady Beetle’s damage-control or how the girl with the once cursed umbrella now happily smiles on TV announcing that the weather channel will now have two hosts.

——— All as a certain black cat sprang down to an alley. Dropping the magical transformation and swiftly returning to their life. Slipping their way back into the park where a restless and provocative photographer sat and a large gorilla- uh, I mean bodyguard searched for him. Leaving the small piece of freedom they have behind to return to their civilian life. Not before knocking into someone that looked too familiar to just be a stranger.

The VK’s:Gods and Pirates

Warnings: Slight Smut! But still with plot. Jealous,Dominating Harry,you know the drill. 

A/N: Also I know nothing about a Scottish accent,so I’m not even going to try. Closest I’ll get is probably some Pirate slang. Sorry there isn’t any gifs of Dizzy but they are really hard to find the right ones!

Chapter 5-Hook Me

Harry Hook POV:

Harry Hook,The Son of Captain Hook,strode into The Voodoo Arcade like he owned the place,and since a Pirate’s life was all about ‘Want.Take.Have.’ He kinda did. 

All eyes turned towards him,some in fear some in lust,as well as Meghana’s Friends Esme,Celia and Dizzy,who had joined them after her clean up duty at Her Grandmother’s Salon Curl Up and Dye.

But Harry cared about no one else but Meghana as he called out. “Oi! My lil Duckling where are ye!” 

When he didn’t see nor hear her,his eyes settled on Meghana’s Friends who were sitting off into the corner. They looked up as he approached. But their eyes that usually shown with either friendliness or indifference where now filled with apprehension. 

Harry immediately sensed something was off,but covered it up with his trademark grin and playful attitude. “Aye have any of you lovely ladies,seen My Beautiful little Minx,Meghana anywhere?” Harry asked turning on the charm as he often did when he wanted something. 

“We haven’t seen her.” Celia answered a little too quickly. 

“Really?” Harry looked at each of them in turn,skeptical. “This is like her second home and you mean to tell me NO ONE has seen her all day?” Harry gestured with a wide crazy grin,looking  over at all the other patrons sitting or playing games,but still being wary of Harry. 

It was Esme who spoke up,leaning forward in her seat as she stared calmly into Harry’s wild eyes,the one who out of all of Meghana’s friends actually stood up to Harry. “She’s not here Harry.”

“Ah Good to see you again too Esme. So her oldest friend doesn’t even know where she is?”  Harry gave her a coy look,as they stared at each other face to face. If you didn’t know better you would have thought they had history. Esme said nothing as Harry slowly left Esme’s gaze and let it fall onto Dizzy. 

Dizzy hadn’t said anything this whole time,Harry noticed suspiciously,Narrowing his eyes. Instead The once cheerful redhead looked down and seemed more nervous than usual. Normally Harry would let it go and just wait for Meghana to return but something was up,Harry could feel it and her friends strange behavior weren’t helping to assuage him. 

Harry leaned into Dizzy’s personal space as he asked. “’Hello Little Dizzy,you wouldn’t happen to know where Meggie scandered off to do you?” Harry asked her as if he was talking to a child,which Dizzy only being 14 kinda was. 

“I-I didn’t,I mean I don’t...” Dizzy stammered. 

“Dizzy.” Esme hissed,raising her eyebrows at the girl in warning. 

Nothing got past a Pirate,and Harry now knew for sure something was up and it involved his girl. Harry’s jaw set in irritation as he noticed the silent exchange between all three girls. But his gaze returned toward Dizzy and he smiled menacingly 

“Dizzy Dear,I’m going to need ya to tell me the truth..” Harry held up his Hook and hooked it through one of Dizzy’s looped pigtail buns. “Lest you’d like a new haircut eh lass?” 

Dizzy looked over at Harry’s Hook in his right hand,nervousness replaced by fear,her eyes wide behind her large glasses.“Ok! She’s with Hades!” Dizzy blurted out in a panic,promptly putting a hand over her mouth after. 

Harry smiled widely,though it didn’t meet his eyes as he unhooked her hair. “See was that so hard?” 

“Dizzy...” Celia gave her best friend a look,closing her eyes in exasperation. 

“I’m sorry but he was going to cut off My hair!” Dizzy exclaimed,almost in tears. Everyone knew how important hair was to Dizzy,being a Hairdresser. 

But everyone’s attention quickly turned back to the matter at hand,when Harry suddenly straightened up. “Hades,well...” Harry mused. “Looks like My wee Duckling has some explaining to do.” 

“It was our idea!” Celia exclaimed,jumping up. 

“She’s only meeting up with Hades for closure.” Esme told Harry before he could get any ideas into his head.

It was too late for that. Harry dragged his Hook under his own chin as he pretended to think. “Is that it now? Well looks like I’ll have to break up their lil reunion.” 

“Don’t you hurt her.” Esme warned.

Harry spun around then an innocent look on his smooth handsome features. “Me? Never!”  Putting his hands,and hook,out in mock defense.  As all three of them looked at Harry,he dropped his arms in Concedment. “Truly Ladies,I wouldn’t hurt her,I promise.” 

“ He’s telling the truth,yeah he’s a Pirate,but Harry loves Megs. Even I can see that.” Dizzy spoke surprisingly in Harry’s Defense. 

“I do.” Harry nodded in agreement,giving them a sincere,none mocking, expression. “So if you would excuse me.”  Harry Cleared his throat at Celia and held out his hook. Harry answered her questioning look, “The key.” 

“Right.” Celia nodded in understanding and deposited a large intricate key,similar to the one Meghana had, out of her Jacket and held it out to Harry.

Harry grinned a thank you and procured it with his hook. With a bow to all three girls,Harry spun around and walked out of the arcade,with the same swag and confident manner. As soon as Harry exited though the smirk fell away with a dark expression as he prepared to get his goddess back. 

Meghana’s POV

Meghana’s emotions were still high but they had died down a bit after seeing Hades,she would always have feelings for her former Underworld King and Mentor but there were other fish in the sea.  “Now to go see my Pirate.” Meghana said to herself,locking the grate doors behind her. Then retrieving her rose eyepatch,slips it on. Suddenly Meghana hears a sound in the now darkness and whirls around,seeing a shadow of a man walk towards her. 

Meghana relaxed in relief when she noticed who it was. “Harry. Don’t scare me like that.” 

Harry emerged from the shadows with a dark grin on his face. “Don’t scare you? I would never think of it. My Goddess ” 

“I was just coming to see you.” Meghana told him but at his look,her small smile turned to nerves once again. “What are you doing here?”

“A wee birdie told me you’d be here.” Harry answered his grin turning sour at his next words. “With Hades.” 

“Dammit Dizzy...” Meghana cursed under her breath.

Harry held up a hand not letting Meghana speak. “Before you try an’ explain yourself. They already told me it was their idea. What ah wanna know is,why are ya here?” Harry asked,cocking his head,his expression unreadable as he looked at Meghana.

“I was saying goodbye.” Meghana answered him,knowing it sounded weak even to her.

Harry let out a derisive laugh,looking away with a false smile. “How so?” Harry asked in a mocking tone. 

It was Meghana’s turn to give Harry a look. “ I was letting him go,for you!” She cried out not in anger but in trying to make him hear her. 

Harry looked at her then,arms crossed out. “Really? cause from where am standing,ye never did.” Harry’s eyes were sad now no longer trying to hide it.

“I did though,I have!” Meghana insisted. 

But Harry was having none of it. “May’be now but what about before when he’s all you’d talk about,complain about?! not ta mention tha’ hackit witch.” Referring to Maleficent as ugly in his native tongue. 

Meghana stared at him taken aback,”I didn’t think you...”

“What?! Noticed?!” Harry all but shouted,arms wide,then noticing his stance,Harry stepped back,giving a tight lipped smile,gripping his hook as he tried to compose himself. 

“We should probably have this conversation somewhere else,away from prying eyes an’ ears.” Harry said more calmly still within arms reach of Meghana, eyeing the street merchants and poor around them. C’mon.” Harry held out his hook for Meghana to take,she noticed he didn’t offer his hand,so she did grabbing onto the cool steel with one finger,hoping this meant Harry would forgive her,as they walked down the dark alleyway together. 

UPCOMING SMUT!

Finally Harry and Meghana reached their private quarters on the pirate ship,Harry opening the wooden door for Meghana as they stepped inside. Meghana letting go of Harry’s hook. Meghana searched for the right words to say as Harry closed the door behind them,they stood their for what seemed like forever,Harry not facing her,in the dim light of the gas lamp. 

“Harry could you talk to me now? say something,yell again,I don’t care!” Meghana pleaded,throwing her arms out in defeat. When he didn’t answer,Meghana tried again,reaching for him to face her. 

When Harry finally did turn towards her,his expression was not one she expected,Meghana expected him to be angry still,even sad but not with tears forming behind his light eyes. 

“Do you still want to be with me?” Harry asked so quietly Meghana almost didn’t hear him until he asked almost hesitantly. “Do you..Do you still love me?”

Before Meghana could reply,Harry run his hands through his dark hair and down his face in frustration. “ Fuck I am no good at this.” 

Before Harry could impulsively do something he’d regret,Meghana grabbed his face to look at her. “Harry. of course I love you,I want you.” She insisted looking him in the eyes. 

Harry seemed to calm down at her touch,closing his eyes,when he opened them they were dark. “prove it. or rather let me.” With those words Harry spun her around,her back to him,keeping her close. THIS is what he was good at. 

Meghana let out a small sound of pleasure and closed her eyes. “Anything for you Captain.” No Harry wasn’t a real Captain yet but he was Captain of Meghana’s ship....

“Anything?” Harry purred low in her ear,his accent becoming stronger as he said. “Mmmm that’s what I Ah like ta hear Love, A’m gonna ruin yeh...” Meghana’s stomach started to get butterflies and her heart and eyes fluttered at his touch, she nodded her permission as Harry dragged his hook through her hair and down her cheek softer than expected. 

Harry moved Meghana’s hair out of the way and kissed her neck then gave it a swift bite. Meghana gasped in surprise. “Easy Vampire!” 

Harry smirked. “That little Ducklin’ was a warnin’. Do ya really think A’m gonna be easy on ya tonight?” 

Meghana looked down in reproach. “Of course not Sir.” 

“Good.” Harry spun her around to face him, as he hooked her around the waist then kissed her hungrily,running his free hand through her hair, clothes tore a little but Meghana didn’t care,as long as Harry forgave her,still wanted her to be his,then he could do whatever he wanted. 

 Still kissing passionately they made their way over to the small bed,clothes tearing and ripping in there rush to get them off. Harry stopped Meghana when she went for his pants and pushed her onto the bed. “Uhhu,not so fast,I told ya I was gonna ruin yeh and ah meant it.” 

To be Continued...

A/N: So yeah My Muse Disappeared....and was replaced by Chad Charming lol so I will be writing up a side story with Chad and Esme!

The Position is Filled

Day 2 @nalu-week  Stranger prompt

*Gomen.  I got nothing against Sting, just needed a bad guy for this story, and it’s a bit rushed to get it done in time. 

Lucy scans over the ad for the tenth time maybe, who was counting.  It wasn’t like anyone she knew would know she had placed it because a fictional name and generic email contact address should keep it on the low.

Looking for single hetero male, toned and fit body, clean cut, preferably charismatic, charming business type, fresh faced cute with positive disposition to take to an event.  Must provide a picture taken within the last month, stats (height, weight), and a job resume in your response.

She takes one last deep breath and closes her eyes as she clicks the send button.  Desperate times lead to desperate measures, and this was one of those times no matter how crazy the idea was.

Her 10-year high school reunion was coming up in just two months and according to gossip, her ex-boyfriend would be attending with a plus one.  The bastard.  Sting Eucliffe had been her high school sweetheart, but after twelve years together, she caught him cheating.  Lucy was devastated.  Well now she knew why he always changed the subject when the idea of marriage came up. But that didn’t mean she wanted him back, oh no.  What Lucy wanted, was to make him jealous and to show Sting she had moved on. Unfortunately, she hadn’t found anyone worth dating, hence the need to fake it.

The first few hits looked promising, but each one had something she didn’t like.  Not fond of the hair, no blonde guys.  Too short.  Visible tattoos, not that she really cared, but it wasn’t part of this vision, and problems with something on their resume.  After a week, the responses had petered down to a trickle and Lucy was starting to lose hope.  Maybe this idea wasn’t going to work after all.

She was almost ready to give up by the end of the second week when she heard the ding on her phone, signaling a new email.  ‘Please, please be decent,’Lucy chants in her head as she opens the message. Natsu Dragneel.  Her eyes widen to the selfie photo.  Cute smile, pretty green eyes, nice height.  Lucy bites her lip, he had a verynice body. So far so good.  One year older, works at a brokerage firm Dreyar & Dreyar as a junior broker.  ‘Hot dayum!’  If the BMW M5 parked behind him was his car…

“Wait a minute.” She pauses, a bit confused.  What was a guy like this doing answering a dating ad?!  He was hot and looked like he had some money, how was he still single? Was there some major flaw hidden behind the perfect features and pristine resume?  Oh, what the hell, her curiosity was peaked, and besides, he was the only candidate so far that looked good for the part. Lucy sends off her reply to meet for coffee and tosses the phone back on the couch beside her.

Ding.

‘That was quick,’she glances over and picks the phone back up.

Tomorrow, 11am at Fairies Cafe? Lunch my treat ;)

Lucy fires off a response. See you then!

Nervous was an understatement when Lucy walked up to the cafe.  She’d worn a casual summer dress, nothing fancy, but she had taken an hour just to settle on wearing it.  Her make-up was redone a couple of times, too heavy at first, now lighter to match the outfit.  Flats and hair done in a simple ponytail, completed her look.

She scans the room and almost immediately notices a pink head of hair in one of the booths.  It’s been a while since she’s patronized Fairies and the place looked exactly the same as she remembered it, cozy.  To her Starbucks felt more hectic whereas this coffee shop still had a homey feel thanks to the owner Mira.

“Hi,” Lucy walks up to the booth, holding her hand out in a gesture. “I’m Lucy, are you Natsu?”

“That’s me,” he shakes her hand but runs his other through his hair.

It was obvious the man was a little nervous too, but his smile looked genuine.  She sits down across from him.

“Order whatever you want,” Natsu pushes the menu closer to Lucy.  “I already know what I’m gonna get.”

Lucy opens the menu scanning its contents.  “Have you been here long?”  She hopes she hadn’t kept him waiting.

“Oh no, I got here a few minutes before you.  I kind of come here often since it’s close to work.”

Once their orders are placed.  Lucy gets right to it, starting with the one question that plagued her.  There’d be no point in staying long if she didn’t like the answer.  “To be honest I was surprised to get your response.  Tell me the truth Natsu.  You’re cute and have a good job, how is someone like you still single?

Natsu blushes, and there goes the head scratching again.  “Well would you believe I wasn’t the one who sent the response?”

“Come again?!  What do you mean?!”

“I was with my buddy and he took my phone when I wasn’t looking and found your ad.  I’m really sorry, he’s been trying to get me to date cause I’ve just been so focused on work, so at first, I was pissed and was gonna apologize and renege but then I thought what the hell, why not.  He’s right I do need to get out more.  Then when I saw you, I’m glad I agreed to come here cause you are smokinghot!”  He hangs his head.  “I’m sorry, I’m rambling.  Truth is I’m still single cause I get flustered with girls.  It’s okay if after learning that you wanna change your mind…”

Lucy’s soft laughter stops his blubbering cold, and he looks up wide-eyed at the giggling blonde.  He was sure he was bright red by now because he swore the temperature in the cafe had doubled.

“You’re so cute!”  Lucy chuckles.  “It’s quite endearing to me.  I was so nervous that you’d end up being some stuck-up playboy just looking for a one-night-stand or something, that to see you all flustered makes me feel better.”

“Um, thanks,” he cocks his head with a silly grin, “I think?”

She chuckles again. “Let’s start over, shall we?”

Over lunch Lucy tells Natsu that she was hoping to find someone to accompany her to her high school reunion, leaving out the part about Sting.  Of course, he asked her why find a stranger as a date, to which she replied, since she’s still single, she just wanted someone no one would know.

“So basically,” Lucy blushes lightly, “I was hoping we could pretend we’ve been dating for a while already.”

“Oh, so I’m gonna play like a fake boyfriend?”

“Yeah… if that’s something you’d be okay with.”

Natsu hunches his shoulders, “Yeah, why not.”

Over the next upcoming weeks, Lucy and Natsu spend as much time as they can in order to learn about each other.  The plan wouldn’t work if they messed up on simple questions, especially if cornered by anyone that knows Lucy’s past.  Family history to when they met, how long they’ve been dating all needed to be memorized. As a writer that works from home, her schedule was open, so they mainly worked around Natsu’s, sometimes at her apartment, sometimes at his.  

Once their nerves had calmed the friendship bloomed.  Natsu was a real sweet-hearted goof and Lucy loved spending time with him.  It was definitely a little awkward at first since Sting had been her only boyfriend since high school, leaving Lucy with very little experiences to draw from before or after.  But frankly, Lucy was also a bit surprised how natural their friendship was coming along, and by the fifth week she’d almost forgotten this was supposed to be a fake relationship.  She didn’t want to admit it, but the stock broker from Dreyar & Dreyar was really growing on her.

She fidgets on the couch one evening.  “I think we should practice um,” Lucy cheeks darken as she tries to get the words out, “you know k-kissing.”  They were only two weeks from the reunion and while they’d done things like holding hands, first base had not been attempted yet.  

Natsu gulps and nods. This was something he’d been dreading for a while, now that his feelings for the pretty blonde had steadily grown. He knew this was only supposed to be a faux situation, but in the back of his mind, he hoped it would turn into something more.    

They awkwardly shift their bodies closer until their legs are touching.  Despite his trepidation, he’s dreamt of this moment for the last couple of weeks and the only way it could work was, to give in.  Natsu reaches out to cradle Lucy’s face in his hand, sweeping his thumb along her milky skin.  It was so soft under his touch!  He lets his eyes drift over the lips he needed to claim next.  Would it be everything he’d imagined?  With a pause and coquette nod by the blonde, Natsu leans in coveting Lucy’s ruby lips.  Slow and gentle, he applies pressure to the kiss allowing the blonde to tell him how far to push things.  But she never pulls away, rather adds to the mix with a nibble to his bottom lip.  He swore his heart jumped into his throat by her actions and a light groan slips out.  

Emboldened by his response, Lucy runs the tip of her tongue against the seam of his lips.  Natsu relents and allows her to slip through.  She hums her pleasure and savors what this man was providing her.  The fears of allowing someone else to get close again seemed lost in this moment they were sharing.  A simple kiss that set off fireworks in her brain.  It was amazing, and something she hadn’t felt in so long.  Her fingers weave into his hair, threading through, gripping tightly as he suckles and cavorts with her tongue.  Oh wow, Lucy moans, this man was really good at finding hidden buttons she didn’t even know had existed till now.

She was almost saddened by the loss of contact when Natsu slowly pulled away out of breath.  It was probably for the best that they slowed things down anyways.  Her goal was supposed to be, just get through the reunion, not fall in love with the next guy that came her way.  But as he rested his forehead against hers, and she felt his hands gently resting above her hip, a crack appeared in Lucy’s resolve.  Natsu was so sweet, so attentive compared to how Sting had treated her.  How had she not known that men like the ones in her stories may actually exist.

Needless to say, sleep didn’t come so easily for either of them that night as they replayed the kiss they had shared on her couch.  Natsu knew he was hopelessly in love, but Lucy was more torn than ever.

The night of the reunion came swiftly enough and they both were not truly ready for it emotionally. They were dressed to impress, having pulled out all the stops with a custom fit Armani suit for Natsu, and an elegant red gown for Lucy that accented all of her assets.  Her plan was to make Sting jealous, but Natsu was still unaware of this secondary reason.  Lucy had toyed with the idea of telling him the truth, but every time she built up the courage to do so, she balked and now it was too late.

And low and behold, as they pull up to the valet station in Natsu’s M5, who but Sting and his date are exiting another vehicle.  Lucy takes a deep breath, willing herself to calm down.  She couldn’t believe it!  Yukino Aguria was his date!  The cheerleading captain and the football quarter back from their high school years. Oh, how cliché could this be?!  

“Are you okay,” Natsu had taken her hand when he’d noticed her jaw clench.  “Is that someone you know?”

“Yeah,” Lucy exhales, “they’re here for the reunion too.”  Like hell she was going to tell Natsu now, that they were the reason she’d brought him in the first place.  She turns on the fake smile, “let’s get this over with.”

It wasn’t all that bad Lucy realizes an hour into the event.  A few of her old friends, some she hadn’t spoken to in years were in attendance and it was nice catching up with them.  So far Natsu was playing his role perfectly, holding her hand or keeping his arm around her waist, making small talk with people, and doing what any old boyfriend would do.  But every so often, her eyes drift over to wherever Sting was hanging out.  As she suspected, he and Yukino was mainly around their former teammates.  Well it did make sense.  Theymade more sense.  Lucy hadn’t been part of that crowd to begin with because cheer just wasn’t of interest to her.  It still didn’t make her feel any better, only wonder if she’d been the one played their entire relationship.

She didn’t wanna see much more of it and excuses herself to the restroom to calm her nerves.  

After freshening up and composing herself, Lucy exists the lady’s room and is startled to find Sting waiting right outside, alone, leaning against the wall.

“Didn’t think you’d come,” he smirks at her, “I knew you wanted to see me again.”

“Oh please,” Lucy tries to get around him, but he blocks her.  “Sting, move.”

“You thought you could just break up with me and I’d let you go so easily?”  Sting corners Lucy against a wall with his arms braced on either side of her.  “That ain’t happening baby.”      

Lucy seethes.  “Y-You’re the one who was doing the cheating Sting! I wasted 12 years of my life on you and I’m glad to have found someone new.”

“Who, Armani boy out there.”  He scoffs, “think I don’t know you only met the guy two months ago on some dating site.” When he sees Lucy’s eyes widen, he taunts her more.  “Yeah…” Sting trails a finger along her jaw and down her neck, “that’s right, I found out from Minerva cause she works at that company checking through profiles.  Couldn’t land a guy so you dug one up.  Cute baby, real cute, but you’re not gonna replace me so easily.”

“Y-You have Yukino,” Lucy spat back.  “Why are you still bothering me…”

Sting grabs Lucy’s jaw hard.

“You’re hurting me Sting, stop it!”

He narrows his eyes, “I just don’t like losing what’s mine.”

Natsu had grown worried at how long Lucy was taking and went to investigate.  As he rounds the corner of the hallway, he sees the same man from earlier pinning her to the wall.  Furious, he runs as fast as he can, cold cocking him before he even knew what hit him. Sting flies a few feet away but quickly scrambles to his feet.  “Back off pretty boy.  This is between me and my ex!”

Ex?  Natsu glances at Lucy confused.  

“Oh, I see,” Sting snickers, “she never told you.”

But Natsu didn’t care. No woman deserved to be treated the way this bastard was hurting Lucy.  “Last chance,” he narrows his eyes, brows furrowing in a death glare.  “Walk away and don’t ever come near her again or I’ll lay you out right here right now Eucliffe!”  Sting’s eyes widen a tad, that this guy knew who he was.  “Yeah I know who you are.  Quarterback of Crocus High.  I recognized Cheney too from the times we whipped your asses on the field.”

Sting does a double take. “Magnolia.”

“Exactly.  You stuck up rich kids always looked down on us, but on the field, we owned you.  Now walk away or I’ll refresh your memory.”

By that moment, other partygoers had flooded into the hallway.  Rogue grabs Sting telling him it ain’t worth it and to just come with them.

“Fine,” Sting spat back, “you can have her cause she ain’t worth it.  I’m outta here!”

“Are you okay?” Natsu grabs Lucy and pulls her to him.  

She collapses against his chest, sobbing.  “I’m sorry Natsu.  I should have warned you…”  

“It doesn’t matter if he’s you ex, that doesn’t give him the right to put his hands on you.  But tell me the truth Lucy, is he the reason you wanted to come here tonight?”

Lucy hesitates a moment but nods and hangs her head.  “I’m sorry Natsu…. When I’d heard he had a new girlfriend, I just wanted him to think I’d moved on too.  Just never thought he’d do something like this.”

Natsu exhales and kisses the top of her head.  Speaking in a soft tone, “I know I was supposed to just play a role but, after spending the last few weeks with you, I don’t…  I don’t want things to end between us.”

“You don’t?”  She looks up.  “Even after all this?”

He shakes his head and smiles, cupping her cheek gently, “permission to kiss my new… girlfriend?”  

She smiles and pulls him in for a kiss, “permission no longer required…”

Sam Winchester : High School Reunion Series

Pair: Sam x Reader

Word Count: 3.1 K (got carried away WHOOPS)

Warnings: CURSING AS ALWAYS. Implied smut ;)

A/N: Why am I such trash I swear to Chuck...

“No. No! Absolutely not!” (Y/N) yelled, running out of the library to their bedroom.

“Oh, come on (N/N)! You can ask him! I swear he’ll take it so much better than any guy from high school!” Dean belted in his usual gruff voice, following close behind. “I mean, it’s not like you’re confessing your undying love for him!”

(Y/N) whipped around, “Oh sure! ‘Hey Sam how are you? Is that a new flannel? By the way, can you pretend to be my husband at my upcoming high school reunion that way I don’t feel as bad about not becoming a doctor or lawyer or scientist like all my other friends?’ You mean like that, Dean?!”

Dean just nodded, “Yep, sounds good.”

(Y/N) rolled their eyes and groaned in frustration. Their high school reunion is in less than a week and they were hoping to find a date. However, being a hunter basically killed one’s social life as if it was a repeating Tuesday. No one they talked to was willing to be their date. Not even Gabriel! Their final option was Team Free Will. Unfortunately, Castiel was busy with other matters and (Y/N) didn’t want to risk bringing Dean. Open bar and lots of women… So, much to their dismay, they had to ask the only person they were avoiding; Sam Winchester. The man that they’ve had feelings toward ever since the Brothers saved them 5 years ago.

They were so close to their room, the doorknob at the end of their fingertips, until a large hand spun them around and gripped them by the shoulders.

“Ask. Him.” Dean threateningly whispered, close enough to (Y/N)’s face for them to smell the beer he just had on his breath. Both of their heads whipped when they heard the door to the bunker slam shut.

“I’m back with food!” The Moose called out, walking to the table and slamming the food down. He almost went down with it as someone was shoved into his back.

(Y/N) almost growled at the older Winchester, murder in their eyes. Dean held his hands up in defense, as if he totally didn’t just push (Y/N) into his brother, and picked up his food before making himself scarce.

“You ok?” Sam asked, snapping (Y/N) out of their murderous trance. They looked up at him, wide-eyed and embarrassed.

“Oh, yeah I’m fine. Just Dean being an ass, but what’s new?” (Y/N) chuckled, and Sam joined. That laugh melted them a bit and helped them to relax around Sam.

“I know that feeling too well. But hey, Dean’s gonna be Dean. Anyways, I got your favorite. You wanna sit and eat with me?”

“I would love to!” (Y/N) beamed, taking a seat and digging in as the younger Winchester plopped down across from them. They started talking while eating, discussing a range of things from past cases to books they’ve read. However, Sam was doing most of the talking. (Y/N) was mainly thinking about how to ask Sam to be their date. It could either go really well and their feelings wouldn’t be so one-sided, or it could go up in flames (I swear to Chuck if there are any jokes) and they will crawl in a hole to shrivel up and die. Then come back because (Y/N) is a part of the team.

After they finished eating, Sam offered to take the trash and (Y/N) sighed. He’s a real gentleman. One of the many reasons that they fell for him. Not to mention he’s incredibly smart, funny, and good god his figure. (Y/N) could watch him work out for DAYS. They could barely contain how much they loved him. Now (Y/N) let out a sigh of sorrow. They’re like a sibling to Sam. All those missions and late nights spent talking. It never really meant anything past friendship.

Sam soon came back to find (Y/N) spaced out, arms tucked under their neck. He snapped his fingers in front of their face and they yelped, almost falling off their chair until a handsome brunette caught them in their arms. (Y/N)’s wide eyes stared at Sam’s as he put them back in the chair and smiled the most perfect smile.

‘Stop it (Y/N)...’ They cleared their throat in embarrassment.

“You alright, (Y/N)? You really zoned out there.” He laughed, obviously amused by what just happened, but (Y/N) wasn’t laughing at all. They’re mind was racing, contemplating whether they should ask Sam now or forever hold their tongue. “Earth to (Y/N)?? You ok?”

“Oh, um, yeah. I’m fine, I just… Well, I just wanted to…” Sam’s now-worried face urged (Y/N) on and somehow gave them the courage they needed. They took a deep breath and quickly asked, “I wanted to know if you would be my date for my upcoming high school reunion.”

There was silence for a few seconds before Sam spoke, “That’s it? I thought you were about to tell me something bad. Like you were dying. Or you saw Dean with a girl.”

Sam gave a face and (Y/N) chuckled now, a little relieved that he didn’t say no.

“Ok, but by date, do you mean…”

“Preferably husband or fiance. I don’t really feel like bringing my ‘boyfriend’ to it. I just want my friends to feel like I did SOMETHING with my life.” (Y/N) explained. Sam nodded along and replied as soon as they finished.

“I’m in. I’ll be your husband.”

“Wait, really?!” (Y/N) almost yelled. He nodded, laughing at how utterly baffled they looked.

“Why are you so surprised? Did you really think I would say no? I would love to help you show off to your old classmates. Besides, you never show us ANYTHING from when you were in high school. I need more material to tease you with.” (Y/N) scoffed and elbowed him in the ribs. He yelped and made a face (you know the one) while rubbing the area. “Jerk.”

“Dick.”

-

“Nope. No. Nuh-uh. Uggh!!” (Y/N) frustratedly yelled, throwing different clothes from the closet onto the bed. Soon Dean came in, wondering what was going on.

“Hey, what’s all the whining about? You’re going on a date with Sam, be happy.”

“First of all, it’s not a date Dean. Second, I can’t find an outfit to wear for tonight. I mean, Sam is built like a fucking god, and I’m just the servant.”

“Well, doesn’t that sound like a fun sex game.” Dean saw the face (Y/N) was giving him and felt like a scolded child. “Sorry… Look, how about the outfit from that werewolf case a year ago?”

“Tried it.”

“Vampire?”

“Nope.”

“Vampire case 2?”

“No.”

“Vampire case 3?” (Y/N) grew tired.

“Dean, I swear to Chuck…”

“Alright, fine.” He put his hand over his face, thinking before he spouted out, “What about from the Leviathan case? The only one you ever dressed up for.”

(Y/N)’s eyes lit up. “Dean you’re a genius!! I forgot I had that, it’s been in the back of the closet all these years!!”

“Hey, glad I could help. Now you should hurry up because Prince Charming is waiting and I’m only giving you Baby for the night. If I see a scratch on her…”

“Yeah yeah, dad, I’ll have her back by curfew clean as a whistle.” (Y/N) joked as Dean waved it off and walked out.

An hour later, (Y/N) stood in front of the mirror and took a deep breath. They weren’t really worried about how they looked, because, in all honesty, they looked stunning. (Y/N) was more worried about how Sam thought they looked. A knock came at their door, and they turned around to find the younger Winchester in a suit. Not his usual FBI suit either. This one was newer. Nicer. Damn.

He was leaning against the door frame and looking at his watch.

“Hey listen if you wanna get there on time we have to g-” The rest of the sentence failed to leave his lips as he looked up at (Y/N), his breath taken away. (Y/N) sheepishly shifted under his gaze, too nervous to look him in the eyes. “You - I mean, you, um… You look beautiful.”

Now (Y/N) felt the blood rush to their cheeks, but all the nerves about how they looked washed away. “Thank’s Sammy. You clean up pretty well, too. Now, we should go.”

An hour filled with driving, singing, and laughing later, they arrive at (Y/N)’s high school. They came from a small town on the outskirts of a major city, so (Y/N)’s graduating class was a few hundred people, but by the looks of it, everyone and their mother came. Their old gym was almost packed like a can of sardines.

(Y/N) felt as if they were stuck to the floor. They couldn’t do this. What were they thinking? High school was the time of fake friends, depression, and anxiety. Being here, seeing all of these people… This is the sad truth that (Y/N) never told the Winchesters. They weren’t always the badass hunter that the brothers know now. Deep inside, there’s an insecure child that rarely wanted to get out of bed. (Y/N) could fight demons and hellish creatures all day long, but this was one demon (Y/N) could barely get a grip on. Right now, it was winning.

They were about to bolt right back to the car until a warm hand placed itself on the dip of their back.

“You ready?” Sam smiled, and in that smile (Y/N) felt all their worries melt away. They realized the person they needed most is here, and he wasn’t forced to be here. He actually wanted to come along. Sam really was (Y/N)’s rock, and they were glad that he was here. With him, they thought they stood a chance.

(Y/N) nodded, feeling a bit stronger than they were a minute ago. They linked arms with the giant and walked over to a secluded table in the corner of the gym. The music wasn’t too loud, it was close enough to the bar and restrooms, and not many people sat here. Perfect. Of course, their little paradise was disrupted by some old friends.

“(Y/N)! Oh my god, how have you been? You dropped off the face of the Earth a few years ago!” Bella questioned, gripping (Y/N) in a bear-like hug with an unsettlingly large smile on her face. Behind her was Chris and Alex, other former friends of (Y/N). All of them were beaming at them like they depended on it. Oh, what (Y/N) wouldn’t give for a shapeshifter right now…

“Uh, I’ve been really good, Bella. Yeah, I left the area a few years ago after, umm…” (Y/N) couldn’t tell them the real reason why they left. Supernatural creatures and civilians do not mix. Luckily, Sam stepped in.

“After they met me. I kinda stole (Y/N), but it was worth it. Oh, sorry, let me introduce myself. The name’s Sam Winchester. I’m (Y/N)’s husband.” Sam winked at (Y/N)’s and wrapped his arm around their waist. They turned into a tomato. Why was he so good at acting?

“Husband!? No way! (Y/N), why didn’t you invite us to the wedding?” Alex chimed in, looking as if (Y/N) just kicked a puppy in front of them. Why was everyone so dramatic today?

“Well, we didn’t have an actual wedding, just married in a courthouse since we move around a lot. Besides, you guys are probably busy all the time with your own lives.” (Y/N) explained, hoping they would move on. Sadly, they would not.

“Yeah, you’re right. We are busy a lot. With me going for my doctorate in microbiology, Alex’s law firm, and Bella’s hospital rounds, we’ve barely found time for even this.” Ah yes, there was the punch that made (Y/N) feel inadequate. “So, what do you guys do?”

“Oh, we’re with the FBI,” Sam stated, pulling out both of their fake IDs. (Y/N) was impressed and relieved. They didn’t even think about that. “That’s actually how we’ve stayed together, too. Our work takes us all over, but I’m happy we’re always together. I don’t know what I would do without them by my side.”

With that, Sam’s hand swooped down to tightly grip (Y/N)’s as he pressed a feather-like kiss to their temple. (Y/N) friends swooned, obviously impressed by what (Y/N) has ‘accomplished’. Meanwhile, they were blushing so hard they thought their head would explode. Sam was so good at acting like a loving husband. Almost too good. It was filling (Y/N) with false hope, but dear Chuck they never wanted this fantasy to end.

Sadly, the facade had to come to an end. Soon enough, the reunion ended and everyone went their separate ways, leaving (Y/N) and Sam to drive back to the bunker. The Impala wasn’t filled with laughter like before. Now it was awkward one-sided conversation from Sam and silence from (Y/N).

“That was a lot of fun.”

“...”

“So, were you as successful as you wanted to be?”

“...”

A few minutes later, Sam’s voice died out as he stopped trying to talk and just focused on driving. Not even music filled the car. It was pure, unnerving silence. And both of them knew that this was the loudest silence they’ve ever heard. Halfway into the drive, the silence still bearing heavily down on them, Sam had had enough. He pulled over into the grass and turned off the car, leaving (Y/N) confused. If they didn’t know any better, they would’ve thought they were about to be murdered.

“What have I done wrong?” Sam questioned harshly. (Y/N) was more confused.

“What do you mean? You haven’t done anything wrong.” They replied calmly, earning a huff from Sam.

“Yeah right. You’ve been ignoring me ever since the reunion ended. Is it me? I mean, you asked me to be your husband and I tried to be the best damn husband I could. I thought you were having a good time, so I have to ask.” I grew visibly upset, and (Y/N) felt guilty.

“NO! No, god Sam I’m sorry. It’s not your fault I just…” They faltered, not wanting to let him know the real reason why they were so tight-lipped the ride back. He grew even more upset, almost angry.

“Just what, (Y/N)?! We were doing so well up until now. We’re so close, usually I can tell what you’re thinking, but right now it’s like you’re putting up every fence you can!!” Now (Y/N) was getting stirred up.

“Well, I’m sorry, ok?! I just have a lot on my mind right now!”

“So let me in! I’m always here for you, you know that!” (Y/N) softened a tiny bit.

“Sammy…”

“Don’t ‘Sammy’ me!! TELL ME!” (Y/N) was done being yelled at.

“I LOVE YOU!” (Y/N) yelled out, exasperated and embarrassed that the truth is out. Sam just sat there, any traces of rage replaced with shock and another emotion that (Y/N) couldn’t quite read. Now (Y/N) had tears welling in their eyes. “I just… Tonight, for once, we were normal. We were together. That’s all I ever wanted, Sam. I love you so much, but I never wanted to risk our friendship. We have a great dynamic that we spent years building. Tonight was fun, but I knew you didn’t feel that way about me, so I tried to distance myself away from you. I’m sorry.”

(Y/N) stared at their hands in their lap, suddenly fascinated at their cuticle situation in order to avoid the younger Winchester’s intense gaze, but now the silence was getting to them.

“Sam, say something. Anythi-HMPH!” Sam forcefully grabbed (Y/N) face and slammed their lips together, their lips molding and moving in harmony. It didn’t take long for (Y/N) to respond once they figured out what was going on, wrapping their arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around their waist, moving them to straddle his lap in the driver’s seat. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other as the makeout session went on for what felt like an eternity. They would barely pull away for a second to breathe before going back in with such ferocity. Some tongue here, some teeth there, but love was everywhere.

Eventually, they figured they should slow down, so they pulled away for good this time and rested their foreheads together. Sam took in the sight of (Y/N); breathing heavily, almost-bruised lips, hooded eyes. Sam figured he didn’t look much different, but he didn’t care. He had the person he loved most in his arms.

“That was, um… Really… Wow.” That was all (Y/N) could say, too giddy to even think straight. Sam was the same.

“Yeah. I know…” He beamed and they giggled, still seated in his arms on his lap. Sam cleared his throat, gaining (Y/N)’s attention. “Listen, I know that tonight was supposed to be fake, but I really can’t help it. I can’t just fake my feelings for you. Everything I did tonight, everything I want to do. It’s all real. I love you so much (Y/N). More than I should in our line of work, but I’m willing to put it all on the line for you. You’re worth everything.”

(Y/N) teared up again, this time from happiness. They felt truly happy in his arms and they didn’t want to move. They didn’t have to. They had all the time in the world.

Well, at least that’s what they thought. Sam’s ringtone blasted throughout the car and he almost rushed to pick it up. Almost.

“Sammy, where the hell are you guys? You were supposed to be back an hour ago.” Dean’s voice ripped through.

“Sorry Dean, something came up. We’ll be back on the road soon.” Sam replied. Dean sounded annoyed.

“Well hurry up.”

“Don’t rush us, Dean. We’ll get there when we get there.” (Y/N) snapped back. Dean hesitated.

“Wait, so… You two are alone together in my baby.” He put two and two together and got aggravated. “I SWEAR IF YOU DO ANYTHING IN MY CA-”

Sam hung up and threw his phone in the back seat before turning his unwavering attention back to (Y/N).

He gave a wolfish grin as his hands that were on (Y/N)’s back moved south. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite ready to go home yet…”

x

x

I AM SUCH TRASH

I’m not opposed to writing smut, I just don’t wanna write it yet.

Lemme build up to it lol.

Complicated (Sam Holland Imagine)

Summary: Your friends with benefits situation with Sam gets a little messy when you go to Montreal with him

Word count: 4.2k+ (wow)

A/N: Just in time for the actual wrap of chaos walking lol!! Also I’m so sorry this took so long to get up I rewrote the ending like 7 different times. I hope you guys enjoy and pls send in anymore requests you have!!

Things between you and Sam were….complicated, to say the least.

You were stuck in this strange place, somewhere between friends and lovers. The status of your relationship was never spoken about, and you certainly weren’t going to be the one to break the silence.

Though complicated, you loved what you had with Sam. You had started out as friends, then growing into best friends, and then eventually becoming best friends who occasionally (okay...way more than occasionally) hooked up. It was like the fun part of the relationship without the responsibility and work….at least, that’s how you wanted to see it.

Every pillow talk conversation you had with Sam after sex made you fall a bit harder for him. In times like those, it almost seemed like he really cared about you as more than a friend. But of course, that illusion was shattered every time he left before dawn, or called you an uber home. Of course, he knew nothing of your growing feelings for him, so it wasn’t like he was intentionally hurting you.

One night, after a particularly steamy hook up, he seemed to linger in your bed a little longer than usual. Not that you were complaining.

“Come to Montreal with me.” he proposed suddenly, reaching up and brushing a stray hair out of your face.

“What?” you questioned, clearly confused.

“Come on! Tom’s wrapping Chaos Walking in a week and he’s flying me out for the wrap party. He said I could bring a friend with me if I wanted.” he smiled softly, and you realized that you wouldn’t be able to say no even if you wanted to.

“And, out of all your friends, you want me to come?” you quizzed.

“I mean, yeah. We’re like….special friends.” he smirked, running his fingers lightly down your arm. A trail of goosebumps appeared following his touch.

You somehow felt butterflies at his comment while also feeling your stomach drop, wishing for something more. You quickly sat up, crawling over him and sauntering towards the bathroom.

“So, is that a yes?” he called after you.

You popped your head back in the doorway, “You and I both know that it isn’t an option for me to say no.”

He laughed quietly, “Good. The flight is six days from tomorrow. Or actually, today, since it’s two in the morning.”

“Can’t wait.” you shouted from the bathroom, rubbing face wash into skin vigorously.

As you were patting your face dry, Sam called out to you from your room.

“Come baaaaack, the bed’s already gotten cold.” he whined.

You sighed, taking the few steps back to your room with less enthusiasm than you usually would have if Sam was begging for your presence.

You slipped under the covers easily, pressing your feet against Sam’s shins.

“Jesus Christ, your feet are cold!” he whimpered, followed by a giggle that made it hard to keep a smile off of your face.

You woke up the next morning with Sam still sleeping by your side. You flashed back to the last time he actually spent a full night with you, which was probably around 6 months ago, the first time you slept together. Every time after that it was “Sorry darling, I’ve got an early class tomorrow!” or “Sorry love, don’t wanna risk Harry coming in and seeing you.”.

You tried to exit the bed as gently as possible, so as not to wake Sam, but as soon as you laid your leg on the opposite side of him in an attempt to crawl over him, his eyes slowly blinked open.

“Shit...guess I fell asleep last night.” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes with the pads of his fingers.

“Not like it’s a crime.” you mumbled to yourself as you surveyed your closet.

“What was that?” he questioned.

“Nothing! Just trying to pick out an outfit for today.” you lied, your back still to him.

He hummed in response, and you can hear him shuffle out of bed and back into his clothes.

“I’ve gotta run. I’ll text you, okay?” he informed you.

You shot a thumbs up at him, “Sounds good.”

He hesitated awkwardly for a moment, before swiftly exiting.

The next few days pass by with limited contact to Sam. A few texts here and there, and one facetime so you could quiz him on a biology concept he was having trouble understanding. But with the imminent problem of your growing feelings for him and the upcoming trip, you thought distance would be the best cure. That maybe if you go a few days without feeling his lips on your neck, or his hands on your hips, you would be cured. You hated feeling so estranged from him, and it hurt every time you made up an excuse to avoid hanging out with him, but it seemed that being with him hurt more.

Sam wanted to spend the night before the flight, but you insisted on him meeting you at your flat a few hours before leaving for the airport.

He arrived earlier than you had planned for, leaving you in nothing but a pair of lacy underwear and a shirt that he had given to you months ago.

“Sorry, I’ll just throw on some pants. Make yourself comfortable!” you called over your shoulder after letting him in.

“You don’t have to put on pants...I’m kinda enjoying this view.” Sam remarked, and you could practically hear his smirk.

“Well someone’s hot and bothered today.” you shot back, re-entering the room donning a pair of sweatpants that you subsequently realized also belonged to Sam at one point.

He shrugged, “It’s been a while. I miss you.”

“And one thing I don’t want to miss is our flight. We gotta go!” you quickly changed the subject, much to Sam’s dismay.

Traffic was way worse than either of you had anticipated, so you had to practically run through security to make it onto the plane, exactly a minute before the doors closed.

“You are so lucky we didn’t miss that.” you playfully glared at him as you made your way down the aisle towards the only open seats on the plane, situated in the last row.

Sam gently tugged the luggage out of your grasp, placing it in the overhead bin with ease. As his arms stretched up, his shirt lifted to reveal a tiny section of his stomach. You forced yourself to look away before he noticed you staring.

“You can’t fall asleep.” Sam bluntly informed you as he got situated in the seat next to you.

“You can’t tell me what to do.” you retorted, making a face at him.

“Love, it’s gonna be eleven pm when we arrive in Montreal. So, if you sleep during the flight, you’re gonna be up all night and then you won’t be able to wake up tomorrow morning.”

You sighed in defeat, unable to argue with his logic.

“So,” he started, reaching into the backpack he stowed underneath the seat in front of him, “I brought some cards to keep us busy.”

“Oh, you’re on, Holland. I happen to be the best go-fish player in the whole world.” you bragged.

“We’ll see about that.” he smirked, beginning to deal the cards.

As soon as the plane landed, Sam shot up and pulled both of your bags down at once, rushing towards the exit despite the many protests from the flight attendants. You knew he was excited to see his brothers, and you couldn’t help but feel warm inside knowing that he was about to be happier than he had been in a while.

You expected to take an uber to the hotel and meet the boys there, but as you were taking the escalator down towards the exit, you noticed three boys holding a giant handmade sign reading “SAMUEL ANTHONY HOLLAND (+ guest)”.

You heard Sam let out a small gasp when he saw them.

“Go.” you told him quietly, knowing how important this reunion was to both parties.

“What?” he asked, turning towards you.

“Go! They’re waiting for you!” you exclaimed, pushing his shoulder lightly.

And with that, he left his luggage with you, racing down the rest of the already moving steps and towards his brothers.

The boys threw the sign onto the ground as he approached, and they all leapt towards each other, engulfing themselves in a giant, bouncing group hug.

As you reached the bottom, you quickly pulled out your phone and took a few pictures, knowing that one of them would want to post it later.

“Oh wow! Y/N!” Harrison enthused, breaking away from the group to approach you.

“It’s so nice to see you, Haz!” you smiled, hugging him lightly.

“You ready for the wrap party tomorrow? It’s gonna be epic.” he remarked.

“That’s kinda the whole reason I’m here.” you replied jokingly.

You greeted the other boys just as cheerfully before finally heading back to the hotel. In the car, you sat in the back between Harry and Sam. As soon as the car pulled out of the parking garage, you felt a wave of exhaustion wash over your body. You laid your head on Sam’s shoulder, telling yourself that you were only gonna rest your eyes until you got to the hotel.

You were jolted out of your rest by Sam exiting the car, causing your body to fall towards the seat.

“Oops! Sorry, love.” Sam apologized, giggling when he saw you just barely catch yourself before your face hit the seat.

“Shut up.” you mumbled sleepily, more or less crawling out of the car.

The boys talked about plans for tomorrow in the elevator, but you were too focused on trying not to fall asleep while standing up to pay attention.

As the elevator doors opened (on the top floor), you saw Tom and Harrison retire into one room, and Harry into the one right next to it. As you checked the room number on your key, you found your room right next to Harry’s.

You slid your key in and shoved open the door, desperate to get into bed and sleep. As you turned to shut the door, you saw that Sam had followed you in, suitcase in tow.

“Wait, are you sleeping here?” you questioned.

He hesitated, “I mean, yeah. Why not?”

You shifted your feet, “It’s just, your brothers….and I don’t want them to assume anything….because we’re not like…...you know….” you trailed off uncomfortably.

“Oh,” realization washed over his face, “yeah. You’re totally right. I’ll just go to Harry’s room then.”

You nodded, wanting nothing more than to lay in bed with him, and to fall asleep to his fingers tracing patterns up and down your arm. But you knew that this was just the way things had to be.

You were awakened the next morning by a loud banging on your door. Expecting it to be Sam, you didn’t bother putting pants on.

As you opened the door, revealing Harry, you immediately slammed the door in his face, running and slipping into a pair of sweatpants before reopening the door.

Harry was still standing there, a slight shade of pink coloring his cheeks, not unlike your blushing face.

“What’s up?” you wondered, desperately trying to ignore the awkward situation at hand.

“We’re going sight-seeing today. Wanna come?” he offered.

“Uh, yeah! Let me just get dressed and I’ll come over to your room.” you agreed.

He nodded, turning and heading back to his room, only a few feet away.

After silently cursing yourself for being stupid enough to answer the door wearing no pants, you changed out of your pajamas and into a sweater and jeans. You met up with everyone at the room and quickly headed out.

“We wanna see as much as we can before we have to be back at the hotel at six to get ready for the party.” Tom explained on the way down to the lobby.

The whole time you were out, Sam seemed to avoid you. Any time you were even standing next to him, he would not-so-subtly move so that there was at least one person separating the two of you.

You were quiet for the majority of the time spent out, wishing that you hadn’t agreed to come in the first place if this is the way Sam was going to treat you.

Back at the hotel, while sliding your key card into the door of your room, Harrison approached you.

“You okay?” he asked casually, leaning against the wall.

You look up at him, mustering up your best fake smile, “Yeah, totally!”

He nodded, clearly not believing you. “He’s an idiot, just so you know.” he mumbled, not giving you a chance to reply before walking back to his own room.

You sighed, trying to get into the mood to party as you shut the door behind you and began rummaging through your suitcase for the dress you bought especially for this occasion. You smiled to yourself as you held the dress out in front of you. If Sam was going to ignore you, then you were sure as hell going to make it hard for him.

The boys finished getting ready in a fraction of the time that it took you, which led to them all piling into your bathroom as you applied makeup (Sam lingered in the doorway silently). They alternated between whining about how long you were taking and picking up random makeup products and asking you what they did.

As you finished, you turned around, showing them the final product. “So, what do you think? Wrap party ready?”

“More like ready for the Oscars.” Harry taunted, causing you to shove his shoulder.

“My makeup would be much nicer if we were going to the Oscars, you div.” you playfully remarked.

“You look great, Harry’s just stupid.” Harrison interjected, and out of the corner of your eye, you swore you saw Sam roll his eyes.

“Well I’d love to continue this little praise circle,” Tom said sarcastically, “but as of right now, I’m late to my own wrap party.”

And with that, everyone piled out of your room and down to the lobby, where a large black SUV was waiting for them outside.

As the car pulled up outside the party venue, a club that was rented out for the night, you began to feel nervous. Usually at events like this, where you didn’t know anyone, Sam was your ally. That didn’t seem to be the case tonight.

The music was blaring as you entered, Tom and Harrison immediately splitting off to greet the producers. Harry went straight for the dancefloor, disappearing into the crowd almost instantly.

You looked over at Sam, who seemed to be looking everywhere but you. You sighed, saying nothing as you headed towards the bar.

You tapped your fingernails against the hardwood bar top as you waited for the bartender to make his way over to you. A large silhouette appeared next to you, flagging down the bartender in a matter of seconds.

“I’ll take a round of bourbon shots.” the mystery man stated.

You kept your eyes trained on the bar, trying not to be pissed about the lack of service you were receiving.

As the shots were given to him, he slid one in front of you. “You seem like a bourbon kind of girl.” he pronounced.

You looked up, preparing yourself to reject him, and were met with the sight of your biggest childhood crush: Nick Jonas.

You had completely forgotten that he was in this movie, so of course you had no idea that he was going to be here. You wanted to punch yourself in the face for that and also the fact that an embarrassing amount of time has passed without your response.

“Thanks.” you replied stupidly, clinking your shot glass with his before downing the bourbon faster than you should have. Your throat burned, but you did your best to ignore it as you downed another one.

Two more shots went by before he introduced himself. “I’m Nick, by the way.”

“Y/N.” you returned, “Oh and thanks for the drinks!”

He laughed, “It was my pleasure. What’s a girl as pretty as you doing by yourself, anyways?”

You tried your best to keep your cool, but the bourbon allowed a schoolgirl giggle to fall past your lips. You took a second to think about how to best describe your reason for being here to Nick. Tom’s brother’s fuckbuddy? No, that was too...complicated.

“I’m a friend of Tom’s.” you settled for a much more simplified version of the truth.

He smiled, “Tom’s a great guy.”

You nodded in response, hoping that he was going to follow up with something so you didn’t have to scramble to keep the conversation going.

“I don’t want to come on too strong or anything, but, uh, do you wanna dance?” he asked, and your heart nearly stopped.

“Yeah, definitely!” you exclaimed, immediately hating yourself for sounding so eager.

You both downed the last two shots before heading out the the dance floor. The dancing was somewhat innocent at first, nothing too x-rated. But halfway through the second song, you spotted Sam from where you were on the dance floor. He was sitting at a high table with Daisy Ridley, talking animatedly. Your heart sunk into your stomach at the sight of them laughing, leaning in towards each other.

You knew it was wrong to feel jealous when you were literally dancing with another guy, but the bourbon running through your veins told you to get revenge. As a new song began, you closed the gap between you and Nick, grinding on him heavily to the beat.

His hands gripped onto your hips, maneuvering them against his. You reached up with one hand, placing it on the back of his neck. You placed your other hand on top of his.

Throughout the song, you knew you loved dancing with Nick. But you also knew that you were thinking about Sam the whole time. And you hated yourself for not being able to enjoy yourself in the way that Sam clearly was.

At the end, Nick asked if you wanted to drink more, and you agreed, hoping that more alcohol would help your forget about Sam.

Five shots later and you were having a hard time standing on your own.

“You know, I don’t think I hold my alcohol as well as you.” you bluntly stated, causing Nick to laugh.

“Yeah, maybe the second round wasn’t a good idea.” he shook his head.

“I’m gonna….” you trailed off, pointing towards the bathrooms, “It was nice meeting you, though! If you and Tom ever do a movie again I’ll be sure to visit the set.”

He smiled, watching to make sure you made it to the bathrooms without falling over.

As you entered the bathrooms, you used the sink to hold you steady. “I-I...can’t believe I just blew off...Nick fucking Jonas. Am I...stupid?!” you slurred to yourself, jutting your palm into your forehead.

Your conversation with yourself was interrupted by the door swinging open, revealing Harry sauntering in coolly. He stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing you.

“Harry!!!” you exclaimed, hobbling over and wrapping your arms around his shoulders.

“Oh, jesus. You are so wasted.” Harry observed, the aroma of bourbon almost suffocating him.

You nodded, still holding on to him, mostly for the sake of your balance.

“Did you know you’re in the men’s room?” he questioned, gently leading you towards the exit.

“Oh noooooo!” you cried, burying your face into Harry’s neck in embarrassment.

He did his best to stifle a laugh, obviously failing.

“Where are you taking me?” you questioned, noticing that you were no longer in the bathroom.

Harry ignored you as his eyes scanned the club, searching for the one person that he knew would be able to handle you in your current state. He finally found Sam, still at the table with Daisy. He practically dragged you over there.

“Hey, Sam,” Harry shouted over the music, tapping on Sam’s shoulder.

Sam turned, his smile falling as soon as he saw you latched onto Harry.

“We have a...situation.” Harry explained, tilting his head towards you. You smiled weakly at Sam, knowing this was upsetting him even in your drunken state.

Sam nodded, turning back towards Daisy, “I’m really sorry, but I have to go.”

And with that, he got up and grabbed your arms, taking them from Harry’s shoulders to his, beginning to lead you out of the club.

Before exiting, Sam turned to Harry, who was following close behind.

“I got this. You stay.” he insisted.

“Are you sure, mate? I don’t mind leaving if you need me.” Harry offered, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I’m sure. Go have fun.” Sam affirmed, waving goodbye as Harry disappeared back into the doors of the club.

The car ride back to the hotel was completely silent. You stared at Sam, who stared at his hands, occasionally glancing out the window.

It wasn’t until you had made it into your hotel room that you broke the silence. “I’m sorry, Sam.” Your voice quivered, and you stared at the ceiling to keep from crying.

“Sorry? Why are you sorry, love?” he furrowed his brows, making actual eye contact with you for what felt like the first time this whole trip.

“I-I didn’t mean to make you leave. You were obviously having fun with Daisy.” you explained, twisting your hands together. That was a habit you had when you were drunk.

He scoffed, rolling his eyes dramatically, “You’re seriously gonna give me shit about Daisy when you were practically fucking Nick Jonas right in front of my face?”

“Oh, please!” you spat, trying your hardest to keep your speech from slurring, “The only fucking reason I even met Nick was because you were being an asshole and ignoring me! Just like you have been this entire fucking weekend!”

“Right, go ahead and blame all of your mistakes on other people, just like you always fucking do!” he yelled back.

Your jaw dropped at this insult. Sam had never once spoken to you like this.

“Why are you calling it a mistake? I went out and had fun at a party, that’s not a fucking crime. It’s not like I cheated on you, right? Because we’re just special friends, right?” your volume increased with every word spoken, but you couldn’t help it. You were just so damn angry.

Sam was stunned into silence. He turned and took a few steps away from you, making you think that he was going to leave. But before he reached the door, he quickly made his way back towards you.

“Tell me why you’re mad.” he requested quietly, much calmer than he had been a few seconds ago.

“Because you’ve been ignoring me.” you replied simply.

He shook his head, “No, tell me why you’re really mad. Because you were mad before that.”

Before your conscience could stop you, you blurted out, “Because I’m in love with you.”. Your hand flew up to cover your mouth, unable to believe what you just said.

“And I know you don’t feel the same way, so let’s just pretend that I didn’t mean that because I’m drunk.” you quickly added on, unable to deal with a prolonged silence.

Sam smiled, shaking his head as he took a step closer to you. “But that’s where you’re wrong, love.”

Your throat felt as if it closed up, so all you could do was furrow your brows in response.

“Why do you think I would bring you all the way to Montreal?” he laughed lightly, “I’ve been in love with you since I met you. I just thought you wanted to stay-”

“Special friends?” you finished for him, failing to fight back a smile.

He laughed, grabbing your hands, “I never said I was the smartest guy in the world.”

He leaned down and pressed his forehead against yours. You smiled widely, feeling like everything happening wasn’t real. You had thought about this moment for so long, imagining hundreds of different scenarios. A drunk argument after clubbing was not what you pictured. But now none of that mattered. All that mattered was him.

“I need to sleep.” you mumbled, regretfully pulling away and making your way towards the bed. Sam lingered at the foot of the bed, watching you get situated.

“I’ll see you in the morning, love.” he softly spoke before stepping towards the door.

You heard the door click open, and you knew you couldn’t let him leave.

“Sam,” you called out. His head popped back around the corner eagerly.

“Stay with me.” you requested, patting the empty spot next to you.

He quickly flipped off the lights and crawled under the covers, engulfing you in his warm embrace.

You weren’t sure how much time passed in content silence, but you could’ve stayed like that forever and been happy.

Right as you were dozing off, Sam whispered softly, “Will you still feel the same in the morning?”

You smiled, “Tomorrow morning, and every morning after that.”

Childhood Friends / 6844 words

Catch up

July 2017

Part One

I had to act on impulse, even though it wasn’t necessarily in my nature. When it came to Harry, I just had to, or we wouldn’t have seen each other. Since March, we’d only managed to see each other once, at the beginning of June before he went home to spend some well-deserved time with his family, and I didn’t want to intrude in on that. It was July, and the fact that I’d only seen him once in three months had been awful. He had so much going on, between the upcoming tour and film, he was rushed off his feet constantly, so committed to his work it was both admirable and frustrating. We just hadn’t been able to fit one another in, our relationship based entirely around texts and phone-calls and made up media articles. They’d eventually got my name right, at least.

I’d managed to make my social media private in time to avoid a lot of hate, but it didn’t mean that people hadn’t found some way of getting hold of pictures of mine, tweets and old photos of me and Harry. Thankfully, I’d become pretty good at ignoring it pretty quickly, but it was definitely strange having a relationship that so many people watched, scrutinized, doubted. It did add an extra strain, though we both decided that not discussing it was one of the best ways of dealing with it. There wasn’t much to discuss. I bitched about it to the girls every now and then, and that was enough. But it was the distance that was really starting to get to me, the way that seeing him felt like a rare treat rather than something normal. It felt like our moments were rushed, frenzied, like everything had to be in the heat of the moment since we could literally count the minutes before he had to leave and get on with his life again. It would have been nice to have some time where I could just be normal with him. He said once all the Dunkirk work was over, that he’d have some spare time before the tour started, and we’d even get a few weeks of down time where we could just be together, but I’d realised I couldn’t wait that long. Even though I hated the place, I’d got a flight out to LA. I’d been in touch with Jeff, and the two of us had planned a little surprise for Harry. It was absolutely bizarre, being in some giant warehouse with my suitcase still in hand, walking past bloody spitfires they had set up with Jeff excitedly storming at my side, but it felt good. “Alright, he’s in there.” He told me, almost squealing he was so excited. “Fuck, I really wanna see that fuckers face, but I think it ruins the moment if I’m there.” “I think it might, yeah.” “Alright. Go. Have fun!” “Thanks for helping me sort this.” “Don’t mention it!” He turned and began walking away, yelling over his shoulder. “Let me know how it goes!” Jeff always seemed like he was in a rush, darting from one place to another. I swear, he didn’t walk at a normal pace. He was always on the verge of running. At first I thought it was weird, but once I’d gotten a bit more of an insight into Harry’s work schedule, it made sense. With tension trapped in my nerves, I finally opened the door ahead of me, seeing Harry stood by a water boiler, filling up a mug and making himself a green-tea. He lifted his eyes unenthusiastically to the door, and his face completely dropped when he saw me there. “No way.” He shook his head, lifting his finger off the button so there was no risk of him burning himself. “No fucking way.” “Hi.” I giggled. He took another few seconds to stare at me, having great difficulty grasping at my presence, and then as soon as it sunk in he ran over to me, picking me up off my feet and making me scream, impulsively wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck once our bodies had collided together with such force I almost felt like he’d knocked the wind out of me. “What the fuck are you doing here?” He grabbed at my hair to reposition my head and kiss me restlessly. “Once in three months is not enough.” I said between our agitated kissed, unable to take the smile off my face. “I missed you. Needed to see you.” “I can’t believe you’re here.” He kissed again, hands completely lost in my hair. “I missed you so much. I’m so happy to see you.” We stumbled a little, my back crashing against the door I’d just walked through, and then I heard a click and I knew he’d locked it, and I knew exactly where his mind had rushed to already. He was so excited that I could literally feel the exhilaration frolicking through his body with glee, making him shake, making him warm to the touch, making his skin prick upwards to greet me. It was so nice to know that my presence could do that to his body, out of his control and totally out of mine. It was just something we shared. Those sparks between us that he’d spoken about danced across our skin and glistened in our eyes as his hands searched through my hair and hips drove me further against the door. Though my space was incredibly restricted, I managed to start unbuttoning the shirt he was wearing, hearing an appreciative groan come from his throat, which was much prettier than the noise that followed. The handle of the door shaking, which was swiftly followed by a knock, and then Jeff. “H, we gotta go, man. They’ve scheduled in some extra interviews.” He stopped our heated reunion, resting his forehead against mine and scrunching his eyes tightly. Harry was brilliant at holding in his real emotions in order to politely make his way through a situation without ever causing upset. He’d gotten so used to it over the years, living in the spotlight, that it leaked into his every action. It was a good thing, in some ways, that it didn’t matter what was happening, he’d just calm himself and work his way through it with kindness and tranquillity. But sometimes I just felt as though he needed to snap, and just allow himself to be pissed off and share that things were frustrating rather than just pushing it aside. My mind rushed back to when we were in the art gallery in London, and the girl he called a friend tried to intrude on his personal business like he owed it to her, and I had to force him to complain about it as we made our way home. Obviously his life had thousands of perks, but sometimes I knew he just wanted a little bitch about the things that weren’t as great, and he barely ever allowed himself to do it. He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. I’ve gotta go.” He whispered, and Jeff yelled his name. “YEAH, I’LL BE ONE MINUTE!” “Harry, just say it’s shit.” “It’s fine. It’ll probably just be-” “Harry, just say it’s shit.” I grinned. “Fucking supposed to be my one night off, and you turn up, and they schedule in more fucking interviews?” He screeched. “Do you know how many people have asked me about cutting my hair today? Fionn looks like he’s ready to jump off a cliff!” I laughed as I dropped back down to my feet, a weight being lifted from Harry’s shoulders as he let out a monotonous moan, throwing his head back. “Oi, Haz.” I pulled him a little closer again, placing my lips on his. “If you ever want to just complain about mundane stuff, just do it. I’m not gunna judge you or think you’re ungrateful. You need to learn how to complain.” “HARRY, MAN, C’MON!” Jeff cried again. “YOU’RE GUNNA LOOK LIKE A DIVA!” Harry shook his head before taking my cheeks in his hand and kissing me hard, showing utter adoration in the brief moments it lasted. “I’ll be a few hours. Tops.” He unlocked the door. “I’m sorry.” “It’s okay. Go do your job.” “I fucking love you.” “I love you too, now piss off.” He puckered his lips to mimic a kiss before walking out of the door in a rush, leaving me alone, in LA, in some room I wasn’t familiar with that didn’t hold much more than a sofa and his green tea that he’d abandoned. It was strange. I felt kind of lonely.

Part Two

Harry woke me with numerous soft kisses against my lips, and I swear I never wanted to be woken in a different way ever again. It had been four hours by the time Jeff came into that room, Harry’s house keys in hand, and telling me to just go home. Thankfully, they sorted a car for me because I would have never been able to manoeuvre around LA on my own. I’d put a film on and tried to keep my eyes open for as long as I could, but it was useless. Hours went by, and I fell asleep, on top of the covers with some rubbish rom-com playing on the tele on his wall. I was pretty fucking miserable. But it was hard to feel too sad when his lips were waking me that way, an innocent smile forced upon his lips when he noticed me stirring, and then he dove back in, kissing me over and over again. “Seeing you in my bed is one of my favourite things.” He cooed. “You’re home!” “I’m so sorry. They arranged some drinks afterwards and I can’t say no. I just can’t.” “Haz, you don’t have to explain yourself.” “No, I do.” He sighed, flopping down to his side of the bed and staring up to the ceiling. “It’s just… I can’t ask for any favours on this job, y’know? I’m just one of the lads and I have to do everything. Those guys are all new to this-” “It’s new for you too.” “But it’s different for me. I don’t want any of them thinking that I think I’m special or that I get special treatment. They’d give me hell. I couldn’t leave, I’m sorry.” “It’s okay.” I moved across to him. “I get it! Jetlag caught up with me anyway, I was knackered.” He tucked me under his arm and turned his head so that he could kiss me fully, our tongues working together as I stoked my fingers down his cheek, enjoying the ease I could feel beginning to wash over him. He pulled our lips apart, and for a few moments we just stared at one another, our breathing falling in time and our drowsy eyes being dragged downwards. “Just do me a favour,” He whispered eventually. “Next time you wanna surprise me, just check with Jeff first, okay? He’ll tell you the best time to come.” “Harry, I did check with Jeff.” I told him. “This is it! This is the best time.” “Fuck. When do you leave?” “Friday.” “Fuck. Fuck.” I think we both had this moment of realisation that even if I went out to surprise at the best possible time, it still wouldn’t be a great time. We still wouldn’t get to see that much of each other. I was leaving on the 7th, meaning that really we only had two full days left to spend together, and I was dreading asking him what he had scheduled in. “You’re busy, aren’t you?” “We’re interviewing all day tomorrow and then there’s a party going on, but I’m sure you’ll be able to come with us. That won’t be a problem.” “Okay, and the day after?” “We’ve got a few shoots going on, but I should be done by lunch. Hopefully.” “Okay, so we have some time.” I sighed. “Not much, but some.” He nodded, the two of choosing to discard our feelings of utter frustration thanks to the situation, and instead he just kissed me again, soft slow, Harry pulling me as close as he physically could. It wasn’t long until we were undressing one another, his flimsy shirt practically falling apart at my fingertips, my hair dishevelled as he dragged my vest over my head and kissed down my chest. There was a stillness between us that I didn’t feel often, this calm that spoke through our silence and sent shivers down my spine. Usually we were so rushed, eager for one another, hot and bothered and almost messy in our rush to feel each other, but it wasn’t like that. I think maybe there was an element of sadness there that we didn’t want to admit. Once we were both bare, he lay me down on the bed gracefully, placing himself between my legs and kissing at my neck as he worked his hand up and down his member a few times, readying himself for me. He entered me slowly, closing his eyes as his entire body became immersed in the feel of me, his hands either side of my hand and his fingers clasping onto the pillows. He lowered his mouth back to mine as he began to move, slowly driving his hips forward and delicately moaning to my lips, my hands searching down his broad back. I didn’t want to feel utterly swallowed by the sadness that seemed to shroud the room like a dull mist, fog hanging over our heavy heads and attempting to cloud everything else. I was there, I was with him and I was in love with him and everything on the outside of that shouldn’t have mattered. When I just focused on us, and how we felt, everything seemed perfect. It was when I started taking in the outside noise of our relationship that things began feeling daunting. We were having to learn to build a bubble around ourselves, to separate ourselves from everything else and I wasn’t sure that would be healthy in any other situation, but it was the only way to do it. Harry’s hands found their way to my waist, pinching at my skin as he rolled his hips into me, slow but precise, the kind of sex that you feel lost within, like you could burst into tears at any moment and you just want to tell them over and over again that you love them, with everything you are and everything you ever will be. “I love you so much.” I whispered against his lips, wishing there was more I could say to explain the way I was feeling. “I love you.” He spoke, his voice husky and warm. “Nothing else matters.” And for that short while, he was right. Nothing else did matter. It was just us.

Part Three

I kept my head down, gripped his hand tight, and tried with all my might to ignore the consistent flashing lights that blasted at us from every angle. This was another reason I fucking hated LA. I’d only ever been around paps twice, and both times it was in LA. They’d crawl out of the fucking cracks in the pavements and yell and get so close and they were just utterly relentless. I also hated how damn calm Harry was, just reminding me that this was just another part of his life, completely normal, fucking mundane. This was just something else he had to put up with, and he did it with ease. The same could not be said for me. All their words blurred together and became like a siren as we made our way to the bar that had been hired out for the evening so the cast could drink and mingle in peace. But you had to work your way through the anarchy in order to get there, and to say I wasn’t coping well would be an understatement. Harry squeezed my hand a little tighter, wishing the men a good evening as we finally reached the venue, swerving off to our left and getting indoors. I felt like my heart was going to break out of my chest just to get further from the men outside. I snatched my hand away from Harry’s as soon as we were in and the door was closed, placing the shaking thing against my chest and holding in tears. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Harry asked. “Lamb, what’s wrong? Hey hey, don’t cry!” “That was fucking horrible. I can’t do that. I can’t do that again.” He looked kind of puzzled by my state, so used to those scenarios that it was utterly foreign to him that it might have toyed with me in a negative way. Even Harry’s friends were famous, a lot of them anyway! I could tell that he was struggling to add up why that had been so hard for me. He'd had people snapping his picture as he went about his life since he was sixteen years old. I’d been thrown into it all, completely blind, and with no reasoning behind it. It was thanks to Harry’s career that they wanted to get pictures of him, but I worked in a shitty editing office in Swanage and I didn’t ever expect my life to take that kind of turn. I’d never wanted it to. It hadn’t been something I’d really thought about when me and Harry began to find our friendship again. I’d never meant to fall for him. I didn’t even know how the press had found out who I was. I just hadn’t seen it coming, which was probably naive of me, but it was the truth. “Do you… Do you wanna go home?” He asked, obviously completely unaware how to deal with the situation. “To get home, we have to go back out there, Harry, and I can’t!” “Hey, c’mere.” He pulled me into his chest, the noise of the party happening in the next room only just drowning out the noise of the idiots outside trying to take pictures through a brick wall. “Little Lulu Lamb, I don’t like seeing you upset.” “I’m sorry.” I mumbled against his shirt, but then pulled away quickly. “Oi-” “No, I don’t wanna get mascara on your shirt.” “I… That’s… thoughtful of you.” “I’m sorry, I just… You’re used to that, Haz, but I’m not!” I cried, wiping away my tears furiously. “You’re right, I’m sorry, I didn’t even think. Shit, I’m sorry. It’s because, like… they were calm and-” “But I’m not used to it at all! Calm or not!” “Holy shit, I’m so fucking, numb to this stuff. I’m so sorry, I didn’t… Fuck. I just wanna take you home and wrap you in a blanket I swear to fucking god.” I managed to laugh, getting rid of my final few tears and calming down, the moment passing and taking the harsh thud of my heart with it. He grabbed at my cheeks and kissed him until it was impossible not to be smiling. “Okay, stop!” I giggled, pushing him from me. “Do you wanna leave?” “No, Harry, you can’t.” “I don’t care, Lulu. If you want to leave, we will. We’ll find a way out of here where we can avoid them, if that’s what you need.” “No. You’re amazing, but no. Let’s just… get a drink. I’ll just get so off my face that when we’re leaving I won’t care.” I sighed. “Sort my face out.” He crouched down a little so that his face was in line with mine, taking his thumbs and rubbing away at the mascara that had journeyed down my cheeks and then wiping it on his jeans, the tip of his tongue poking out from between his lips as he concentrated on making me look somewhat presentable. “Okay. You look good. You look great.” “You’re full of shit.” I huffed. “You do! You always look great.” He grinned. “Now c’mon, I really want you to meet the lads.” He offered his hand to me, shooting me a smile that almost felt encouraging. I took a deep breath in before I placed my hand in his, and then we finally walked from the entryway and into the party, which was a lot rowdier than I had been expecting it to be. Or maybe it was just Jeff, who was already there, and already completely wasted. His girlfriend was stood relatively nearby looking like she wanted to kill him as he danced around with his glass held high and yelled something or other that I couldn’t quite work out. “Bloody hell,” I gawped. “Is Jeff alright?” “He’s fine. He’s a nightmare after a few drinks. Don’t look directly at him.” He began walking a little quicker in order to avoid him. “Isn’t he like, your best mate?” I laughed. “Yeah, and if I was as drunk as he was, I’d be over there dancing with him. But, I’m not, and he’s hard work.” He smiled. “Now look at those boring bastards in the corner.” He pointed me in the direction we were heading, to three absolutely beautiful boys who were sat together chatting away on some sofas, kind of separating themselves from the anarchy around them without meaning to. “They’re the boys?” “That’s Fionn, Jack, and Tom. Look at them! Quietly talking. All drinking pints of lager. That’s where I’m at right now. They’re my boys! You’re gunna love ‘em.” I looked back over my shoulder briefly to get a look at Jeff as he tried to climb onto a chair, gathering a small crowd of people who were cheering on his actions, and I had to agree. The calm image ahead of me looked much more appealing. As soon as we reached them, I practically froze up, seeing all their happy little faces as they turned to greet Harry. They all shot kind greetings our way, hard to differentiate who was who because they all spoke at pretty much exactly the same time. It wasn’t hard to miss that the four of them had formed a bond. “Lads, this is Lulu. Be nice to her.” They all stood up immediately to shake my hand, and I had to do the rounds, practically whispering my hellos to them all. Jesus wept they were all so pretty. The one with the bright red hair and pretty features looked like he was literally glowing. Fionn, who I knew because Harry had shown me selfies he’d taken with him on set whilst they were filming, had this weird charm to him that I couldn’t really place, one of those quiet boys that just intrigue you. And then there was the Scottish one, who was so annoyingly good looking and confident that I was literally shaking when I got around to shaking his hand. And Harry was stood next to me holding in laughter the entire because he knew full well how bloody terrible I was around attractive men. He was highly amused by my state. They all told me their names, Tom and Fionn shuffling a little so they could make room for Harry, and I placed myself down next to Jack, trying to rustle up a little confidence. “Nice to meet you, finally.” Fionn smiled to me. “You too. Not just you, all of you. Sorry.” “I’m the special one though.” He smirked. “Fionn thinks he’s special because he’s the lead.” Jack leaned a little closer to me, rolling his eyes. “Likes to rub our faces in it.” “You are special, Fionn. Don’t let them take this away from you.” I smirked. “Thank you, Lulu.” He grinned. “They’re just jealous.” “Obviously.” They all sat up and became very animated in their arguments against him, clearly all in good spirits and something that had been going on since filming, and I loved the rapport they all had between them. Harry had once told me it was like a brotherhood, similar to what he had with the boys in the band but not quite as strong, but that was a given. Even though I couldn’t involve myself in their conversation really, it still felt nice to be a part of it. It was nice to just sit amongst it and see them smiling and laughing and bickering and proving to me that none of them had snubbed him just because of his background. I liked it. I liked them all automatically. They all just seemed so bloody normal, it was joyful. If the paparazzi weren’t stalking outside, there would have been no indications that it was a celebrity party celebrating one of the biggest movies of the year. Tom, Fionn and Harry continued to bicker and giggle between themselves as Jack leaned back on the sofa and turned his head to me, giving me a soft smile. “So, how’re you finding LA?” “Um, it’s actually my second time here.” I’d taken a deep breath in before replying, still trying to ease. “And… uh… I dunno if it’s for me.” “Me neither.” We both seemed to relax once we’d found common ground. “It’s like a different… existence out here. I dunno. It’s weird. I’m just not used to it, I guess.” “I guess not.” I shrugged. “I only come out here to see Haz, otherwise I wouldn’t. Will you be here a lot for work?” “Depends if I get any roles.” “I’m sure you will. This is a pretty decent project to have under your belt.” “I suppose so.” He grinned knowingly. There was something about his accent, and the way he held my eye contact, he was slightly captivating. I knew he’d go far. I hadn’t even seen him acting, but I didn’t need to. He was gorgeous, and that was often more than enough in his line of work. “I’m gunna go get a drink. Do you want anything?” “No, I’m good, thanks.” He picked up his full pint. I got to my feet, which thankfully caught the attention of the other three, who were, surprise surprise, still fighting. “Do any of you want a drink?” They all politely said no, even though Fionn and Tom’s glasses were almost empty and they were definitely due one. I shot them a disappointed look. They caved. “We’re both on lager.” Tom spoke softly. “Thank you.” “I’ll come with.” Harry jumped to his feet. We began our journey to the bar, Harry behind me as he wrapped his arms around me waist and made our journey twice as difficult as it needed to be, the two of us waddling in the right direction as he kissed playfully at my neck. “Y’know, Jack fancies ya.” “Shut the fuck up.” I laughed. “I’m serious! Showed him a picture of you a while back and he said you’re his type. Thinks you’re fit. Proper fancies ya.” “Well, tell him I fancy him, too. You can hook us up.” “You’re a dick.” He sniggered, unlinking us and coming around to my side. “Put in a good word for me, yeah?” “Fuck off.” He pinched my cheek, grinning so wide I thought his cheeks might be aching. “I’m just gunna nip outside and talk to Chris. I’ll be back in a minute to help you carry the drinks back, alright?” “Okay.” He cooed, watching him wander off with an equally wide smile on my face. “Get me a beer!” He called over his shoulder. I nodded, swerving off to go and stand at the bar and wait to be served, routing through my bag to retrieve my purse before I took my opportunity to scope around the room. There were only a select few faces I knew, the venue mainly filled with the unknown stars of the future that Chris had purposefully cast, and I liked it that way. It helped me to feel more comfortable than I would have done otherwise. If the party had been filled with hundreds of famous faces, I would have just wanted to go home, really. It wasn’t really a world I wanted to be a part of. Glitz and glamour had never really been my kind of thing; I found the idea of it intimidating rather than alluring. I was feeling relatively blissful before I noticed Jeff stumbling over, and I tried to hold in my laughter because really, the two of us didn’t know each other well at all. I didn’t know if he was one of those guys who’d deny they were drunk and get mad at you for accusing them of it even though they were utterly wasted. I made a poor attempt at greeting him as casually as I could. “Evening, Jeffrey.” “Lulu! You came!” He practically fell into the side of the bar, but he looked extremely chipper regardless. “I did!” “Are you alright? Is everything okay? Are you okay? How’re ya holding up?” “I’m… Yeah, I’m fine.” I puzzled over his concerned tone. “Are you al-” “Harry’s super worried about you, babe. Like, freaking out.” “Why?” He made sure he was standing as upright as his body would allow before he continued, and I kind of wished I’d just said that he had nothing to worry about and left it at that. I knew the conversation was going to take a sour turn before it really had. “Because of everyone finding out, and all that shit.” He sighed. “But I just need you to know, that it didn’t come from us. Sometimes, this shit leaks from us because we know it can sell, but we didn’t do this to you. We can’t sell you, alright? It wasn’t us. It wasn’t.” I was saved for a few moments when the bartender came over to us, and I ordered the drinks for me and the rest of the lads, who I was wishing I hadn’t opted to leave, even if I had just been being polite. I looked over my shoulder and saw them all conversing quietly, and honestly, an image had never looked so dreamlike. I was feeling damn wistful over a situation I had been in only moments before. I turned back around to face Jeff as the guy behind the bar poured our drinks. “Well, thanks.” I mumbled uncomfortably. “When Harry’s fucking supermodels, we can sell that, you know what I mean?” “Uh… Yeah.” “But we can’t sell you! When he’s with high profile people, it gets the public talking and it’s gets people interested. Next thing ya know, they’re listening to music. Next thing ya know, they’re buying albums, right?” “Right.” “No one’s gunna buy an album because of you. We can’t sell you. So I don’t want you to worry, alright? We’re gunna keep all’a this on the hush hush.” I understood entirely what he was trying to do. He was trying to ease my mind and let me know that the fans would know as little as possible when it came to me and Harry. Nothing would be set up to try and advertise our relationship to the rest of the world, so I didn’t need to worry. I didn’t need to panic and I didn’t need to fret, because we weren’t going to sell our relationship out to people who were willing to pay to know about us. But it was just the way he was wording it. He could barely stand, his eyes bloodshot and droopy, his finger pointing at me as he told me that I wasn’t an image worth selling. It wasn’t because of Harry’s wish for privacy, or the fact that I actually wanted to continue my humdrum existence even though my boyfriend was a celebrity. They weren’t his points. What he was telling me, was that I was an image they couldn’t physically sell, even if they wanted to. I attempted to pay for the drinks, but the man serving me informed me that it was an open bar and I needn’t. I wished I did have to pay, just as a way to keep me from talking to Jeff for a little longer. “Well, I’m glad.” I tried to brush over it. “I don’t want anyone knowing our business, so…” “They’ll know as little as possible, for sure. When it comes to people like you, better to let people build their own narrative, y’know?” “People like me?” I finally allowed myself to scowl. “You know what I mean.” He finally let his wrist go loose. “I don’t think I do, actually.” Jeff tried to find the right thing to say as Harry bounced back over to me with a smile on his face; that was until he took in the atmosphere he’d just jumped into, and then his face dropped. “Lulu, you know what I mean!” Jeff tried again. “What’s going on?” Harry butt in. “Jeff’s just telling me about how it’s best to know as little as possible about people like me.” “I didn’t mean it like that! You’re twisting my fucking words!” He argued. “Jeff, calm down.” Harry tried. Maybe I was just being touchy, and I knew I shouldn’t have let it get to me and I shouldn’t have been snapping at him, but the topic itself was enough to send my mood sour, never mind when he’d presented it the way he had. I’d tried so hard to bite my tongue, but I’d completely lost my cool. “You and Harry are just from two totally different worlds.” Jeff continued. “I think you’ll find we’re actually from exactly the same world,” Harry’s tone lowered, moving to stand next to me, shoulder to shoulder, shooting Jeff a similar look to the one I was. “That’s how we know each other.” Jeff darted his eyes between the two of us, and I think he finally accepted then and there that he couldn’t word his thoughts in a way that I would feel okay with. He gave up, shrugging and rolling his eyes at the two of us before he slowly began to distance. “Forget I ever said anything. I’m sorry, Lulu. I didn’t mean any offense, really.” “I believe you.” I nodded. “It’s fine.” I think that was the worst part. I did believe him. Absolutely. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Jeff had never meant to offend or upset me, but he had anyway. He’d kind of pointed out to me that my life and Harry’s life weren’t compatible. He didn’t know the same Harry I did, the innocent kid who’d formed a band with the only people who knew who could play instruments. He didn’t know the Harry who was just discovering Pink Floyd, or filling his mother’s vodka bottles with water after he’d stolen sips of substances that were still illegal for him. He knew rock-star Harry. That was the only Harry he would ever know. And the two of us, in those terms, were not well suited. Not because we weren’t similar, or that we didn’t love each other, but our lives had become so disconnected and disassociated, that we shouldn’t have worked. Jeff walked off and physically shook off the conversation, drinking a little more, and I just watched him leave. “I told you he’s fucking hard work.” Harry groaned, moving to stand in front of me. “What did he say to you?” “Nothing. Forget it.” I clasped and the back of his neck and pulled him so that his lips were on mine, kissing him slowly. He was tense, at first. I think he still wanted to quiz me and find out exactly what had just gone down, but it wasn’t worth dwelling on. Because I just wanted to prove everyone wrong. I wanted to prove to every single person, who was looking at the two of us and thinking we weren’t compatible, and that we were worlds apart, that we loved each other regardless, and we were going to make things work. I was thankful to feel him ease, kissing me back with this tender passion, and we just let the moment wash away. Because there was nothing else we could do.

Part Four

Harry pulled up outside the airport, the two of us looking around and seeing that the coast was as clear as we had been praying it would be. It looked like we’d gotten pretty lucky. “I’ll walk you in.” Harry said, unbuckling his seatbelt. “No, don’t.” I shook my head. “It looks like I can get in unscathed now. If you come in and we get spotted together, it could end badly. Me on my own is fine.” “But-” “Harry, c’mon.” I sighed. “It’s easier this way.” That morning, he’d begged me to stay for a few more days. It wasn’t long until he was getting a flight back to the UK to continue promoting the film and attend the premiere, and he’d told me it would be easy for me to just jump on the private flight they had arranged, but it just wasn’t possible. I had to get back, for work, and to just continue my regular life. I’d genuinely missed it. But I hated how sad he seemed. Our goodbyes were getting increasingly difficult, and Harry never handled them well. I watched him as he leaned back in his seat, slouching downwards and running a hand through his hair, nostrils flaring. “You okay?” “I’m done with LA.” He grumbled sourly. “What?” “I’m gunna move back to London. Full time.” He turned to face me. “I think I’ve spent too much time here and… I dunno. London is so much calmer than this, and I think I need that right now.” I knew that for the past few years now, Harry spent most of his downtime in LA. It had become his base, really. He had friends there, he knew it well, knew exactly how his life worked when he was there. He may have been from the UK, but spending the percentage of his time in London was bound to be a huge lifestyle change for him. I think a few things had triggered his decision, and I didn’t really need to question it. “Okay.” I swallowed, laying my head on the rest. “Whatever’s gunna make you happy.” “I just… I just wanna go home.” He trembled. There was an overwhelming sense of sadness that emulated from his body and filled the car like thick smoke, and I hated it. I snapped my seatbelt off and shuffled as far towards the centre of the car as I could, my arms open, and Harry closed the gap, and for a while we just held one another. We gripped each other so tightly, and it felt like I’d been thrown backwards, back to a time where me and Harry didn’t really voice how we were feeling. But it was different, because this time, we didn’t need to. We didn’t need to say a word. All we needed to do was hold each other. It was a long time before we pulled from the embrace, and I kissed sweetly at his lips. “Will you do something for me?” He almost whispered. “Anything.” “Start looking for jobs in London.” I opened my mouth to reply, but he cut me off before I had the chance. “Then maybe you could move there. Not with me, but you could just be… in London. Then when I’m around, we can be close.” “Harry-” “Just tell me you’ll think about it? Please?” I stroked my thumb across his bottom lip, and all I wanted to do in that moment was inject even a little bit of happiness into him, because it seemed to be something he was completely lacking. “Okay,” I nodded. “I’ll think about it. I’ll look at my options.” I’d managed to pull a smile out of him, somehow, and it felt amazing even just doing that. I’d never thought about moving to London. The whole place intimidated me, to be honest. But I wasn’t lying, I would think about it, because with each touch and each frustratingly difficult meet-up, Harry was becoming a bigger and more important part of my life. It was something we needed to start thinking about, no matter how scary and huge it seemed. We were taking the relationship very seriously, and maybe being a bit closer to one another was our next step. “Thank you.” He whispered. “I have to go.” I stroked through his hair. “Can’t miss my flight.” “I love you.” “I love you too.” We kissed briefly. “Promise me we’ll see each other soon.” “I promise.” He managed a bigger smile, and it just made me want to stay even more. We kissed one last time, and then I checked once again that the coast was clear of frantic fans or paparazzi, and I got out of the car, swinging my oversized bag over my shoulder and hoping that nothing would crop up and get in the way of him keeping that promise.