pls pay no mind to the tags this is just a vent post to get some things out<3

Got rejected from one big job yesterday and felt an absolutely overwhelming sense of relief. The school was a bad match for me and would have been sort of miserable, but I’ve been so desperate. I have another big interview tomorrow for a school that’s a much better fit for me and my life. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

I’ve been struggling with my resume with these jobs, but there’s not a lot I can do about the fact that I lost a prestigious industry job (that I hated) because of the pandemic, couldn’t work for a year because of long term illness, and then lost my current position because of covid travel restrictions and the war in Ukraine. I have an active exhibition record. I have a good portfolio. I have a really good student portfolio. I’m only a couple years out of graduate school. I don’t know how to do more than what I’m doing now. 

I’ve been job searching non stop since April- my time to make something happen is running out. I have to move out of my house at the end of July and don’t know where I’m going. 

All I want is some space to actually get some work done and the ability to stay in one place for longer than a year. 

I absolutely love your KUWSK snippets and had to read them all after discovering the first part on ao3! (I should also work but I'm non stop giggling instead)

May I ask for: anakin being stressed out (big deadline coming up, handling the kids, work & cooking being too much) so obi-wan wants to help him out? Like he tries to cook for the family for once but I remember you saying that he can't cook to save his life? maybe rope the twins into it as well as a nice bonding moment

hello!!!! i've been meaning to write this for ages and i kept getting side-tracked/didn't have the time to sit and write a proper ficlet, but I did today! Here's 1k now, and I'll post the whole thing tomorrow afternoon(ish) on ao3. I mis-remembered the prompt until it was too late to really change directions, but so this is more of a sick!fic than a stressed out!fic but I do promise KUWSK Obi-Wan does step in even when Anakin is not sick to help with the kids, the clean up after cooking, helping them with homework, keeping the house tidy etc etc

anyways here is the beginning of sick fic! (SET about a month before The Kiss, 2 years after Obi-Wan and Anakin and the twins move in together)

-

It’d be much easier to take care of Anakin when he’s sick if he would actually admit to being sick.

“Skywalkers don’t get sick,” he’d insisted just a day ago. Obi-Wan had raised a very pointed eyebrow towards the twins who are looking quite pathetic, sniffling in their beds and coughing into their fists.

“That’s their Amidala genes,” Anakin had said and then sneezed into his elbow.

Obi-Wan had known at that moment that the next few days would be very awful for everyone involved.

But Anakin is making it much worse than it has to be, he really is. Thank god it’s midterm week, so Obi-Wan can finagle his TAs into proctoring the exams. Thank god he has four TAs for his biggest lecture module, so that they can grade them all too, which means Obi-Wan just has to read through and mark up his capstone students’ midterm essays.

Which he can do from the comfort of his own house turned Emergency Skywalker Walk In Clinic.

The twins had woken up with a fever and a sore throat on Wednesday. They’d never been sick in the two or so years they had all lived together, and Obi-Wan, admittedly, had not known how to handle it.

Anakin, in a surprising twist of fate, had been much more level-headed about the whole thing. He’d called the school to let them know the twins wouldn’t be coming in, and had asked Obi-Wan to run to the pharmacy before his classes to pick up some meds for them. And perhaps a thermometer.

(“I can’t believe you’re forty-four and you don’t have a thermometer.”

“Well, that’s not fair. I have one in the kitchen.”

“That’s different and you know it--”

“Of course it's different, I was just theorizing that perhaps having a kitchen thermometer actually makes up for not having a person thermometer.”

“Yeah, and instead of giving the kids baths and changing their sheets, we can just baste them in their own fever juices too!”

“I’m going, I’m going.”)

He’d calmed down in the face of Anakin’s own composure, but then on the way to the pharmacy he’d listened to a podcast episode about devastating and lifelong effects certain illnesses can have on children, and he had managed to work himself up into a stressful tizzy by the time he parked the car.

The amount of products he’d bought, Obi-Wan can admit now, was a little over the top. Anakin had certainly laughed when he’d come back through the door, not even bothering to take his coat or shoes off--even though the no-shoes-inside rule is his rule--and started unpacking the four plastic bags worth of medical supplies.

“Well, now I’ll feel bad if the kids aren’t sick until June,” Anakin had said, picking up one of the cough syrups to examine the label.

“That kind will make them sleepy, but this kind tastes like grapes,” Obi-Wan had muttered. “And this kind is okay to give to children under four.”

“The kids are--”

“I know how old the kids are,” Obi-Wan had snapped. “This is called being prepared.”

“This is called diagnosable,” Anakin had laughed and then ducked out of the way when Obi-Wan chucks a package of band-aids--he’d panicked, okay--at his head. “Hey,” he’d said after a moment, coming forward and placing his hand on Obi-Wan’s elbow. The contact had burned through the layers of clothing he’s wearing. “They’re going to be fine, Obi-Wan, really. I’ll be home all day taking care of them, and I’ll make chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight.”

“I can make chicken noodle soup for dinner,” Obi-Wan had protested. “You don’t have to do everything.”

“Obi-Wan, they’re already sick,” Anakin had shaken his head with a grin. “The point is to try and feed them something they’d want to at least try to keep down.”

“I hate you,” Obi-Wan had sighed with a quirk of his lips.

“I love you,” Anakin had said, as if that was something he said on the regular, reaching out to take the thermometer from his hand. Obi-Wan’s grip had gone slack though, causing the thermometer to clatter to the counter. “Like a brother,” Anakin had tacked on hurriedly and then winced.

“Right,” Obi-Wan had coughed, wondering why the addendum made his chest feel tight and strange, like missing a step on the stairs. “Well. Yes. Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Anakin had said, looking even more mortified.

“Right. Ah. So. I’m. Going to campus. If the twins need anything else, please let me know. I’ll pick up whatever you need for...dinner on my way home. Just text me.”

“Will do,” Anakin had agreed, staring resolutely at the cabinets over Obi-Wan’s shoulder. “Bro.”

And to his credit, Anakin had texted him with a long list of things they’d need from the store.

He’d just also failed to mention his own rapidly declining health. Obi-Wan had arrived home to Anakin coughing up a storm in the dining room and the twins bundled up and bleary-eyed in front of the television.

The chicken soup had not been made that night because Obi-Wan had not allowed Anakin anywhere near the kitchen. Instead he’d fed the children toast and applesauce and let them keep watching their show until bedtime.

Anakin had been left alone for the most part, as Obi-Wan had been convinced that Anakin would see reason himself and stop working as he started feeling progressively worse.

That had, of course, been too much to expect.

“I can’t believe you’re twenty-eight and don’t know how to listen to your body when it’s trying to tell you you’re sick,” Obi-Wan had said, lowering and slowing his voice in a bad imitation of Anakin.

“I don’t sound like that!”

“You’re right, you couldn’t get through that whole sentence without coughing at the moment."

“I’m going to bed.”

“Please do. And for god sakes, Anakin, leave the laptop down here."

“Good night, Obi-Wan."

Crazy Rich Avengers

Chapter 1:

Summary: You and Peter have been dating for a little over 6 months and have not yet met the Avengers. You were getting curious as to when you would meet them, until you get an invitation from Tony Stark himself, inviting you and Peter to Wanda and Vision’s wedding in Hawaii over Spring Break. You thought that it would be nice to go and finally meet everyone, but what will you think after you’ve been tested by the team?

*Based on the movie Crazy Rich Asians, each chapter will be a different scene from the movie. There will be 15 chapters. Also includes a GIF from the movie scene at the beginning of each chapter.

A/N: I’ve had this series planned for a little while now, and I just got this chapter done and edited and I feel really good about it. I didn’t know if anyone would want to read this until I posted about it yesterday and got some really good feedback, so thank you all who liked it and asked to be on the taglist so much! This chapter is the first scene of the movie, just some things are switched up to fit Peter and the Avengers. Just note that this one is kind of short and nothing much really happens in this chapter since it is just the beginning, but hopefully the next one is a bit juicer. 

Warnings: swearing and fluff 

Word count: 2166

Chapter 1

“Okay class, make sure to email me those presentations by Monday. I don’t want to keep reminding you guys over Spring Break because I’ve still got a life outside being a professor.” The whole class laughs at your professor’s bluntness. It kind of reminds you of your friend from high school, who would always spoke her truth, even when no one asked for it. You packed your things and waited for a clear space to exit your row. Who knew so many kids would be in a business class? Not you apparently. You were a culinary student at the Institute of Culinary Education or ICE for short. Your dream was to become a baker and own your bakery, hence the business class. This was your last class of the day, and you couldn’t wait to see your boyfriend. You two had been dating for a little over six months and it was the best six months you could ever ask for.

You exited out of the classroom, finally, and made your way towards the elevator. On the way down, you looked through your messages and saw that you had five new texts from Peter.

Peter: Hey babe! I’m out of my photography class now. (1:15)

Peter: Waiting by the couches (1:15)

Peter: I miss you (1:17)

Peter: I’m hungry. Let’s go to that pizza place for lunch. I really want some of their cannoli’s (1:20)

Peter: Y/NNN!!! WHERE ARE YOU??? (1:23)

The elevator stopped at the lobby and you walked over to Peter, who sprang out of his seat and practically ran over to you. He hugged with the force of what you assumed felt like ten tons just based on how tight he held you. You laughed at his clinginess and pushed him off of you.

“Dude my class ran like ten minutes late. What’s the matter with you?” you laugh.

He held your hand in his own and smiles at you. “Just missed you is all. Did you see my text about the cannoli’s?”

“Yeah I saw it.”

“And?” he asks hopefully.

“Aaaaaand what?” you played dumb just to see his cute pouty face.

“Can we get cannoli’s?”

“Yes, we can get a cannoli.”

“Ah! You’re the best! Cannoli’s!” he yells at an insane volume for someone who’s just walking down the street. This earns you both a weird look from the people on the sidewalk. You were about to kiss his cheek until he just took off down the street with your hand still in his. You guessed you never knew he liked cannoli’s so much. Maybe you should try out a recipe and make him some one day.

You get into the pizza restaurant and sit down across from each other and waited for the waiter to take your order. You order your drinks; Peter gets Diet Pepsi and you get a Sprite. Both of you talk about how your classes went and held each other’s hand while you talked.

“So, I’ve got to do this project for my class,” Peter began, “And my camera is at the Compound, so tomorrow I’ll be a little late getting home.”

“Okay, that’s fine. Oh! Speaking of which,” you slam your palms on the table, which makes Peter jump a little. “When am I going to meet them? I mean we’ve been dating for going on seven months now, and I still haven’t met them. And I know they know about me because I got a message from Nat telling me happy birthday two weeks ago.” You raise an eyebrow at him waiting for his answer.

“Speaking of said topic, that reminds me. We got invited to Wanda and Vision’s wedding. And it is next Friday in Hawaii, which is perfect because a) we don’t have classes because it’s Spring Break, and b) I know Hawaii is one of your bucket list places.”

Your jawed dropped for several reasons. One, it’s Wanda and Vision’s fucking wedding! You never met them, but from the way Peter talked about them, you could tell they were meant to be. You always thought that they were like what you and Peter had times one hundred.

“Are you serious? They’re having their wedding in Hawaii?”

“Yeah. They thought that since Mr. Stark – “

“What can I get you two today?” the waiter asked breathless. You didn’t even realize how busy they were.

You looked up at him, “I’ll have a slice of the cheese pizza please?”

“And I’ll have two slices of the meat lovers. And can I get three of your best cannoli’s please?” Peter smiled at the waiter as he wrote down your order.

“Alright that’ll be right out.” He walked away almost jogging to get your order in. Goodness they were slammed.

“As I was saying,” Peter continued. “Mr. Stark has one of those beach houses in Maui and so, they thought that it would be the perfect place for them to tie the knot.”

“Wow, so, we’re invited? Like we’re going to Maui and attending the wedding? And meeting everyone?” you asked now slightly worried.

“Yeah,” he drags out confused. “That’s what kind of what ‘You’re Invited’ means.”

“I know, it’s just…this will be the first time I’m meeting them and I always imagined it would be at a like Sunday dinner type of thing. Not a fucking Avengers wedding!”

“It’s okay, I know they’re gonna love you no matter what.”

You take a sip of your drink, “This is also works out for another reason because MJ has been asking us to come see her ever since she moved to Kahului.”

“All the more reason to go.”

You both get your food and Peter immediately starts on the cannoli’s that he’s been longing to eat and practically moans at the taste of them. You get the check and pay and tipped extra for your waiter, because they need to be paid way more than minimum wage. The two of you walk out and head home so you can spend the rest of the night together.

“So, when do we leave for Maui?” you ask, swinging your intertwined hands between the two of you.

“Umm, I believe on Saturday.”

Today was Thursday so that means that you only had tonight and tomorrow to pack for a whole entire week. “Shit! I have almost no clothes washed, are you kidding me?” you yell. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“I just found out this morning!” he yelled back.

“Okay, well it’s a good thing tomorrow I don’t have classes because now I have to do laundry all damn day.” You reach your shared apartment and go to change clothes and you go straight to the laundry room, faster than Peter could imagine. All of your good, cute clothes had to be air dried and so that’s what you did first. After half hour of folding, and drying, and hanging up clothes non-stop, Peter came in wrapped his arms around you.

“Baby, you’ve been here for forever, come sit down with me,” he pleaded.

“I will once I have all the clothes done, but until then,” you pat his cheek. “I can’t.”

He sighs an ‘okay’ and plants a kiss on your cheek and walks away. About twenty minutes later you had gotten all the laundry done and went to join Peter on the couch. He was watching reruns of Brooklyn 99 which was one of your favorite shows. He put his arms out and made grabby hands and you leaned into his touch. You laid your head on his chest with the rest of your body sprawled out on the couch. He put his arm around your shoulders and kissed the top of your head. You looked up and kissed his lips and sat up just a bit straighter. One of his hands went to the back of your neck and the other rubbed your thigh, and you relaxed even more into him. Your right hand carded through his hair and the other sat splayed on his peck, slightly gripping his shirt. You two stayed like this for what felt like hours, just basking in each other’s comfort. You pulled back to breathe and gave him one last kiss before going back to your original position, laying on him.

“What do you wanna watch?” He yawned.

“Well since your yawning and –“ you yawned this time. “And so am I, let’s just take a nap.”

He hummed in agreement and led you to your shared bedroom and he changed into just a pair of sweatpants. You laid down and he did shortly after. You turned, facing him as your chests were touching. You stared at him for quite a long time before you even realized that you were. His face scrunched up that was so cute you wanted to take a picture.

“What?”

“Nothing. You just look cute,” you said back.

“I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“Nope. I do,” he challenged.

“That’s impossible because I love you to Jupiter and back,” you kissed his nose, ultimately shutting it down because you were tired. School had kicked your ass this week and you hadn’t really had anytime to just lay with Peter. You scooted down a bit so, you could lay your head on his chest, your legs intertwined, as he held you against him so tight that nothing could slip in between you two.

The next morning you had woken up extra early to make some French toast for you and Peter. You got out the bread and butter and the rest of the ingredients and started cooking. Since you were the one who was in the culinary department, the silent agreement between you and Peter was that you would cook, and he would clean your mess. You tried to not make too much of a mess, because you weren’t that mean. After a couple more minutes you got breakfast done and at that exact moment you put the toast on the plate, Peter comes waddling out with his hair a mess. It was almost like it was scripted like a scene in a movie.

“I smelled French Toast,” he smiled.

“Mhm, I thought that I would be nice and cook breakfast for you this time.” You pecked his cheek and gave him the syrup.

“Eat up and get ready for a long day of packing suitcases, babe,” you winked at him.

“Oh boy.” You didn’t hear his sarcasm often, but when you did it always made you chuckle.

He went over to the couch and you followed setting up the coffee table and turning on Spongebob to watch as you ate. You turned towards him and smiled and received a kiss on the nose. Today was going to be a good day, you thought.

It was now four thirty in the evening and you and Peter were packing up all your belongings into your suitcases. “Okay so you need your swim trunks, flip flops, sunglasses, and what else?” You ask.

“Is that just for swimming?” You nodded. “Then yeah I think that’s it.” You went over to his drawer grabbing his trunks out along with your swimsuit. You had all your clothes spread out into separate piles consisting of swimwear, pajamas, nice shirts, casual shirts, and wedding attire. Peter grabbed all of his clothes and stuffed them into his suitcase and you did the same. After that you went to the bathroom to grab all extra stuff that consisted of teeth and hair products, and everything in that category. Peter went into the kitchen to the medicine and started to pack anything that might be needed for allergy’s and whatnot. You figured you would pack your purse of carry on items before you left tomorrow morning.

After two hours of packing and double checking, and once the bed was cleared, you flopped down face first and groaned. “I’m so exhausted,” you huffed.

“Aww, is my baby tired?” He asked this as he pressed feather-light kisses to your neck that always made you shudder.

“Yes,” you say as you awaited a kiss on the lips. He happily kisses you, slow and lovingly, and you feel like you could stay there for eternity. He pulls away for minute to catch his breath. “We should probably figure out what we want to do for dinner.”

“How ‘bout leftovers? There’s still some enchiladas or lemon pepper chicken in the fridge.”

“Ooooh, let’s do chicken.”

You get up from the bed to heat the chicken up in the oven. “Imma make some garlic cheesy rice too!” You shout from the kitchen.

“Sounds good, baby.”

You two make your dinner and eat in a comfortable silence, watching TV. You both decided to watch one more episode of Parks and Rec before calling it a night, and Peter figured it would be smart to go to bed early since you would both have a long day of checking flights and meeting the Avengers tomorrow; and that was tiring by itself.

Tag-List: @randomstufflol29​ @spideyspeaches​ @binnotjin​

yo.. I saw the request that you posted today? IT WAS SO FUCKING GOOD WHAT THE HELL? and I looked for the prompt and ended up finding it , Can you do a part 2 where the news reporter lady gets akumatized again finds the video that she was looking for? where y/n's crazy mafia father threatens to kill her now abusive ex boyfriend because he cheated on her but she was so blindly loyal and didn't want anybody to find out? like because that would be embarrassing but instead y/n didn't know (1)

HELLO! so I didn’t really understand the request well but i wrote this out and i’m planning on making another part related to this! so here it is! thank you for this request im so happy that you liked the first one.  Speaking of which, if you haven’t read the first one here it is!  Part One

The other part will be posted soon ;)) 

Strawberries, sunshine and Adrien Agreste on a red picnic blanket.

Life is so serene, so perfect at this moment. Especially with the blond resting his head on your lap as you run your fingers through his soft blond locks. He hummed and smiled softly. You noticed his cheeks were tinted red because of the time he spent in the sunshine. He’s gorgeous.

You pick up a strawberry from the plate and pop it in your mouth, the sweet juice bursting and dripping from the corner of your lips. Before you could react you felt a hand move to your face and wipe the substance with the thumb. You look down and see Adrien looking at you, his green eyes glistening and full of life. You couldn’t help but move down and kiss him softly on the lips. It was a slow, tender kiss which you didn’t want to pull away from but you did in order to catch your breath.

“Ma Belle,” Adrien whispers, moving a lock of your hair behind your ear. “How do you feel about coming to a film festival with me tonight?” “Film festival? You need to elaborate on that babe.” You say quirking your eyebrow up. You’ve never been to a film festival before, you didn’t even know what happened there. Fuck, you’ve never even been to a movie theatre before because you basically have a whole private theatre in your house.

He furrows his eyebrows at you and chuckles. “Basically once a year the students organise a film festival on school campus. Students get to show their own short films and projects that they’ve done while we sit on the grass with snacks and drinks. It’s really fun.” He explains.

It really seemed like fun but you end up looking down. You knew that after last time’s event some people still thought of you as a bitch. People still whispered behind your back and they still judged you. Other than that reason, your father was coming home tonight from Madrid and you were going to ask Adrien to come with you to meet him for the first time.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want you come?” He asks you and you look at him, a slight frown on his face. “Alya is going to present her film today and I told her we’d come..” He continues and looks to the side.

“No, no I do !” You say quickly and sigh, “My dad is coming tonight and I was going to ask you to meet him.” You say, averting your eyes to the side.

You feel him stiffen up. “Oh.” He says.

“But I can tell him that we can meet for brunch tomorrow instead.” You say and hold his hand. “I know you’re nervous about meeting him but I just want my two favorite boys to finally meet.” You say and give him a small smile.

 He softly chuckles and grabs your hand, kissing it. “Of course mon ange.”

You giggle and hug him. It made you happy that he was willing to come. He knew it would make you happy.

“What should I wear for the festival? I don’t want to be under-dressed.” You say suddenly pulling away, already thinking about the outfits you want to wear.

“I think I’d worry about you being over dressed instead.” He laughs a little bit and you playfully hit him on the shoulder.

  “Nadja, if you don’t get me any scoop on them by tonight you’re fired.”

“Fired?!” Najda exclaims getting out of her chair. She watches as her boss raises a questioning eyebrow at her and she clears her throat.

“But madam, I can’t-“

“By tonight Nadja.” Her boss urges sternly, causing the red-head to gulp.

She nods slowly and keeps her head down as she walks out of the office.

Rage started eating her up from the inside. She needed to do something. Anything.

  “Hey girl!” Alya closes you in a tight hug and hands you a red solo cup filled with juice which was already spiked with some type of liquor.

“Hey Alya.” You smile at her and give each other a friendly kiss on the cheek. “Are you nervous?” You ask her.

“No..” She scoffs and suddenly downs her drink, laughing nervously. “Okay maybe just a little bit.” She says quietly and it causes you to laugh.

“I’m sure that your film is amazing.” You reassure her.

“Thank you.” She says warmly. She looks you up and down. “You always love dressing up dont you?” She raises an eyebrow at you.

“I told her that it’s going to be causal.” Adrien sighs and you roll your eyes playfully.

“This is as casual as I can get.” You state and arrange the beret on your head, smiling proudly.

 The two laugh and you feel Adrien kiss your cheek and sliding his arm around your shoulder.

“Marinette and Nino saved you guys a place up front, I’ll be joining you guys a little later.” She explains and nods over to where Marinette and Nino were sitting. You see them waving at you guys.

“Okay we’ll see you later then.” Adrien says and you both start walking away from her.

There they were, the whispers, the eyes all on you as you walk past the people. Adrien felt it too, you knew he did, that’s why his grip on you was tighter but it was also somewhat comforting.

“Allô!” Marinette says and giggles while she hugs you both. You could tell that she’s already had a few too many to drink You all sit down and start talking about what’s going to happen tonight, what films are expected to show and what you thought Alyas film is going to consist of.

You sip your drink slowly. This shit was strong but you didn’t mind it.

“Alya’s film is going to be the best.” Nino says proudly and confidently. “She’s been working super hard on it non-stop.”

You smiled at him. The way he talked about her with his adoring eyes - you could just tell that what they had was real. It reminded you of You and Adrien. Maybe you two weren’t there yet but the way he looks at you was the same.

“Luka’s coming later because he got held up at his gig.” Marinette groans and sprawls herself out on the blanket, her phone resting on her chest.

“are you and Luka getting serious?” Adrien asks, grinning at her.

She hums and nods. “I really like him.”

“I’m happy for you Marinette, you guys look really cute together.” You say and she sits up quickly.

“You think?” She asks, batting her eyelashes at you. You nod, grinning. “yay!” She exclaims and hugs you unexpectedly.

“Okay I think that Mari has had enough of this.” Nino says and takes away her drink, chuckling.

The atmosphere was amazing. People drinking, laughing and chatting all around you guys.

  Everything died down when the screen in front of you turned on and everyone started cheering.

Alya quickly joined you guys and you all greeted her again quietly as you clapped for opening of the first film.

It was a love story between an alien and a human which formed because of their mutual love of French toast. Weird ass story-line but it was beautifully filmed for some reason. You could tell it was amateur but the shots and the beauty of the movie as the human and the alien shared their first bite of French toast really immersed you into it.

“those berries look so good im going to bust a nut.” You hear Nino whisper and Alya hushes him, earning a snicker from Adrien.

“I wish someone would eat me like that French toast.” Marinette blurts out and you clasp a hand over your mouth trying not to laugh.

As the film showed the ending credits the creator got up from where he was sitting and everyone cheered, whistled and clapped for him.

“Isn’t it Alyas turn now?” Adrien asks and Alya nodded taking a deep breath in.

Nino squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek. “Everyone’s going to love it babe.”

Everyone got quiet as it started.

Two people were sitting on the roof,

“It’s the end of the world isn’t it?” the character says and before the other person could respond, the screen went pitch black.

Everyone started whispering to each other in confusion and you looked over at Alya as she furrowed her eyebrows.

The screen turned on again but it was a different setting.

Two men were now sitting at a large table, one with a cigar between his lips and the other in front of him. Both of them were wearing a suit.

“Mother fucker.” The man says as he lights his cigar.

“What the fuck? This isn’t what I filmed.” You heard Alya whisper.

You were confused as to what was happening but you were too focused on the film in front of you. The man with the cigar came into view even more. He looked famillar.

“You can’t kill him.” The other man says.

“he cheated on her, Johnny!” the guy with the cigar shouts and hits his hand on the table.

Wait. Holy shit, that was your dad.

“He cheated on her and she still went back to him.” He blows out smoke and looks to the side. Disgust evident on his face. “I thought I raised her better than that, I guess she’s stupid just like her mother.”

A picture of you on his desk was shown in view.

You were visibly shaking, your mouth dry. You heard people around you ask you questions but you couldn’t hear anything. You couldn’t even react.

Your father pulls out a gun and clicks it. “I’m killing that bastard tonight, pay off a few people to make it seem like a car accident and we’re going to Paris. Just her and me. I’ve got too many problems with my junkie wife and I don’t want an ignorant daughter too.”

Tears stream down your face. It wasn’t a car accident. Your father killed him. That’s how Trevor died. Trevor cheated on you with one of your best friends back In New York but you never left him because you never wanted people to find out that someone cheated on you, you had too much pride for that.

You get up from where you were sitting and run away, ignoring the murmurs of people and gasps as the film continued. You felt like you were going to throw up, you felt like everything around you has been all a big fat lie. You heard Adrien call out your name but you kept running away until you froze when you heard a familiar evil laugh.

You turn around and see the villain from last time again. but this time it she was holding your father In her arms while he’s passed out.

“Finally! I got it!”

People started to scream and you simply fell down to your knees. Too weak to move. Too weak to do anything.

Your heart was shattered.

Flashbacks come back to you at Trevors funeral. You were sobbing as you watched them bringing out his casket. Little did you know that your own father was the reason for his death.

You were broken.

change of pace

Fred Weasley x Slytherin!reader

requested: (@pinkdevile) hey bae, can i request a one shot or headcanon about fred being whipped by one of ron classmates that is a non-pureblood slytherin and kind of prodigy in magic and how would he react to her being a typical dry slytherin and being a prodigy and good at everything?

summary: What happens when a red lion who lives in the moment falls for a green snake with plans for her future? Romance, of course.

a/n: stereotypical, yes but i had fun writing this :) also, i know my posting schedule keeps changing, so sorry about that 🥺 i got lots of requests (thank you guys SO much!) and i'm trying to not make them all sound the same. i'm looking up synonyms and all that stuff lol

(gif cred)

You were the least Slytherin person in your house. But maybe that's made you even more of a Slytherin. Your traits were that of a typical member of the house of snakes. No, you weren't a rude bitch; you had ambition that rivaled that of a Gryffindor and it wasn't even one of their traits. You aimed for the stars and your pride proved that you could do that and more. You are the best witch of your class, and maybe even your school.

And it was this reputation that caught the attention of someone who is quite the polar opposite. You were calm and collected. He was a wild card and unpredictable. Fred Weasley had his eyes on you and was going crazy for you. It all started when one day, he was with his friends and brothers in the Great Hall during lunch when you had walked up to Ron and Harry, “Hey Ron, were my notes able to help you?”

“Yeah, loads. Thank you, Y/N.” Lee was in the middle of a conversation with his best friends when he noticed Fred wasn't responding to anything he was saying. “Mate, you okay?” When you walked to your table, Fred scooted closer to his younger brother, “Dearest brother, how are you?”

“What do you want?” Ron saw right through him. He knew when Fred wanted something from him, just like now.

“Well I’m offended that you would assume something,” Fred held a hand over his chest with a fake offended look on his face, “can’t a person ask about the well being of his baby brother?” Ron had a deadpan expression and Harry was laughing at Fred’s exaggeration. “Fair enough. Who was that?”

“Who? Y/N? She’s in mine and Harry’s class, why?” Ron had taken a large bite from his turkey leg.

“What’s she like?” Fred inquired. Ron thought about it for a minute, “Dunno, she’s pretty quiet.”

“If I didn't know any better, I’d say that Freddie here fancies someone,” George teased. The surrounding friends laugh and point towards Fred. “I don’t fancy anyone. I’m just asking a simple question.”

Hermione and Ginny later joined the group. “What’s all this fuss about?” Hermione questioned.

“Fred’s asking about Y/L/N,” Harry caught Hermione up to speed. “Why? You’re not thinking of doing anything to her, are you?” Hermione started to scold the older boy.

“Why is it that you lot always think I’m up to no good,” Fred sighed.

“Because you’ve never been up to any good,” Ginny teased her older brother. Fred rolled his eyes and turned back to try and find you at your table. You had a couple of friends with you and a small book in your hand as you ate. Fred was determined to get your attention somehow.

✿✿✿✿✿✿

You sat in the library by yourself. You had spent the majority of the afternoon grading first years’ papers for Snape’s class and working with Hermione and Katie on a project for Ancient Runes. Giving up your weekends to study wasn't all that bad. The feeling of being on top was rewarding.

It was funny; your parents had stopped caring about your grades all together because they already knew what they were going to read. Not that they weren't supportive or proud of you. At family gatherings on your father’s side, he loved seeing the looks on his relatives’ faces when he boasted that you were the best student at Hogwarts.

But they have told you on many occasions that it wouldn't kill you to have at least one E. They wanted you to be able to have a normal teen life and have fun. Go to parties, get in trouble every now and then. You assured them that you were fine and all and even believed it yourself. You never had interest in breaking the pattern you had set.

The library was nearing its closing time and you packed your things. When you walked out the grand doors, a tall figure came in front of you and nearly knocked down all the books you carried. His hands caught whatever you couldn't hold before it hit the floor.

“Sorry about that,” you looked up at the towering boy. Your breath slightly hitched at the sight of his attractive face. His cheekbones were defined and his skin looked soft. You didn’t realize that you were staring, nor that he was also staring at you as well. Finally, he spoke up and handed you the book he was holding for you. “I believe this is for you.”

His mouth moved, but you were so distracted that it didn't occur to you he had actually said anything until you saw him looking at you expectedly. “Oh, thank you.” You started heading towards the dungeons when he jogged towards and stopped in front of you. “Aren’t you in the same class as Ron?”

“Yes, how did you know that?”

“I saw you talk to him the other day,” he told you. “I’m Fred.” He reached to shake your hands but then pulled it back when he remembered that your hands were full at the moment.

Ah, so this is Fred you thought. You've heard of him, who hasn't? Years of being at Hogwarts, tales of him and his equally devilish brother creating havoc around campus have traveled from one student to another. How you two had never seen one another until this point was surprising. It’s not like Hogwarts was a large school, but it wasn't small either.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Y/N.” You nodded your head towards him to replace a handshake. Ten seconds of silence caused you to walk past him and return to the path to the dungeons. “W-wait!” Fred called out.

He stood in front of you once again, one of his hands positioned in front of you to block you from walking past him again. “Would you like to get a butterbeer tomorrow?”

If there was anything you didn't like, it was being put on the spot. And another thing? Your routine being disturbed. Your Sunday was all planned out. Helping Sprout with her greenhouse to earn extra house points, tutoring some younger years, and getting a head start on your homework that wasn't even due for another week.

“I’m sorry, but no.” You gave him an apologetic smile as you walked away. Once again, he ran in front of you but this time merged with you and actually caused all of your books to fall.

“Merlin, I’m so sorry,” he bent down to help you pick them up. Fred usually isn't this clumsy or nervous. He usually charms his way through anything, but he was becoming like putty out of nowhere. “Okay, well what about Honeydukes next Saturday?”

“Sorry, but no again.” You started walking away for the nth time and turned around to look at him for the last time, “Please don’t follow me again.” And you were gone. But did this mean that Fred gave up on any chance he had? No. Far from it. If anything, it gave him reason to want to try harder.

He walked all the way to the Gryffindor house and luckily found Hermione studying in the common room with Pavarti and Lavender. There was a spot open next to her and when Ginny was about to take the spot, Fred grabbed her arm and pulled her away to steal the seat.

“Um, excuse you, I was going to sit–”

“Tell me everything you can about Y/N,” Fred interrupted his sister.

✿✿✿✿✿✿

He had tried to learn as much as he could about you. Fred learned that you had the top grades. Much like Harry did, you had learned the Patronus Charm before not only before your own class, but even Fred’s charms class. Your dad's a wizard, and your mum's a muggle. But most importantly, you were a picture perfect student, and although you didn't have any apparent hobbies, you picked up just about everything with ease.

A couple of weeks had passed and every other day, Fred had made any type of excuse to come see you.

‘Oh, my next class is in this direction’ It wasn't.

‘I like that book, too!’ You were, in fact, not holding a book but your personal journal.

‘Funny running into you here!’ It was in the Great Hall during breakfast.

Now, you didn't hate these interactions. They didn't do anything to your routine, and they were actually cute attempts to get your attention. But you didn't think you had any time for anything else. Or anyone else.

“You should give him a chance, Y/N/N. Live a little. I think the top student can take a bit of time for herself at least once,” your friend Millicent advised. Astoria agreed with her, “He’s cute~.” You slightly blushed in your book and pushed their arms away.

“I’ve never been on a date before,” you whispered. The two girls looked at each other confused before turning back to look at you. “Huh?”

“I’ve never been on a date before!” You flinched when you realized your voice was louder than intended. Your friends laughed when you looked towards the Gryffindor table to make sure Fred didn't hear you. He was talking to his friends, so that meant he didn't. Only he did, but felt your eyes on him so he pretended he didn't.

“So this is the perfect reason to go out with him! Go ask him out,” Millie pushed. She was persistently tapping on your arm until you eventually stood up. You took a deep breath to gather confidence and walked towards the table of red and gold.

When Fred's eyes met yours, you turned around and walked out of the Hall. He stood up from his seat and chased after you. He kept bumping into people, including Filch in the hallways. Filch yelled for him to stop, but of course Fred ignored him and kept going.

Momentarily, he lost you in the crowd of mixed color robes until he saw you sitting by yourself on a bench under a tree. He walked towards your direction and asked you with his eyes if he could take the seat next to you. You scooted down more to let the tall boy sit down.

Neither of you said anything for a few moments. You fiddled with your fingers on your lap and he stared up at the sky. “Nice day, innit?” Fred started the conversation. “Yes, it is.”

“Good weather to go walking around Hogsmeade” Fred tried one last attempt in asking you out.

“It would be,” you accepted.

He let out a sigh in defeat, “I know I ask a lot, but maybe just this once– wait, what did you say?” You looked up at him and smiled for the first time. His heart skipped a beat and the butterflies fluttered about inside.

“I’ll go with you.” He was so excited that he jumped up and did an air punch of victory. You laughed to yourself and when he looked at you, you had an eyebrow raised. He blushed in embarrassment and scratched the back of his neck. “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Promptly at 2 in the afternoon in front of the Slytherin dorms. Don’t be late,” you stood up with confidence. You walked back to the Hall to tell your friends, cheeks warmed and ears blushing. “So?” Astoria asked.

“It’s just a date, that's it,” you sounded nonchalant about it, but the smile on your face said differently. You were excited for your day with Fred and for all, unpredictable adventures to come.

A much needed change of pace.

—

requests open!

The day we caught the train (Slytherin!Five x Hufflepuff!Reader)

 missvifdor said:  It would be for Five Slytherins with a Hufflepuff reader 🤗 they are very opposite in personality but they complement each other. I love Harry Potter and the umbrella academy, so i'm glad you write about both 😄 thank you,

A/N: this was like kinda vauge so i made up like a story line i guess?? Its kinda a mess and really long?? hope this is ok!! I really like these because i used to be obsessed with HP, in this i imagine Five would be from the really posh part of london where, the reader being opposites to him would be from a northern town and theyre both in sixth year which is age 16-17, i had to do so much research for this lol

Words: 2711

Footsteps echoed through the long empty halls as curfew rolled around, the sounds of students rushing to get back to their dormitories after a long night of studying and hushed whispering of passwords was not an unfamiliar sound at this time of night. Pictures were left empty as their residents wandered away out of frame and the castle slowly went to sleep, except for the prefects. As the sun went down, the prefects got up to do nightly patrols to make sure no students were up past curfew, each house prefect patrolled their own areas around their relative commonrooms to catch any wrong doers, not that they were many.

Tonight was your turn, patrolling the basement level and the kitchen corridor around the Hufflepuff dorm room, waiting for anything exciting to happen yet you knew it never would. Hufflepuffs always had a strong moral code and a clear right from wrong, every single patrol you carried out during Fifth year when you were appointed prefect you never caught a single person, now part way into sixth year still not once incident had occurred.

Yet, for some reason, every patrol you had ended up with a certain Slytherin prefect following you around, Five. Five was unusual to say the least, he was a well respected and slightly feared student, cunning and determined, he had a close knit clique of fellow pure blood slytherins, yet for some reason out of everyone in the whole of the castle, he had a soft spot for you. Even though he’d never show it in front of others, during the light of the day he’d sneak in side glances and small smiles, especially in the first few years making sure no comments came your way about your muggle parents or your upbringing.

Exactly on queue, a familiar sound of footsteps echoed down the staircase leading to you corridor only to stop short at the last step. A small ‘lumos’ echoed throughout the quiet hallway before Fives head pops into view, checking it was actually you there before a large smile breaking on his face as he walked into view. “Hey.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on patrol?” You smile to him as he got closer, crossing your arms over your chest.

“They know it’s me on, no one would dare try anything.” He smirks knowing he was right, striking fear into everybody, except you. His eyes soften and his tone became gentle when he was speaking with you. He’d always been like that, from your first journey on the Hogwarts express, talking the entire train journey up, secret library meeting when you both realised things weren’t as simple as just being friends. Things got difficult when blood ‘purity’ came into play, when suddenly you couldn’t be friends, which hurt.

The dimly lit hallways excentrated his features, his sharp jaw and high cheekbones cast shadows on his face and neck, yet his dimples still shone through when he smiles and breaks up the harsh exterior that he puts on. Stepping closer, you lifted your hand to run it through his hair, watching his face break out into a smile and wrap his hand around your waist. Small displays of affection weren’t uncommon between the two of you, only increasing through the years of being at Hogwarts. “I’m so glad you stopped gelling your hair back.”

“Don’t remind me.” He rolled his eyes, remembering his poor style choices of his past. You move your hand and run it down the side of his face and across his jaw, taking a second to admire him before dropping your hand.

“I’ve gotta go, my shifts nearly over.” A sad looking smile broke over his face as he slowly lowered his hand from your waist. “I’ll see you tomorrow though.” You say as you lock eyes with him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He repeated back to you. He smiled and started walking towards the stairs, just before his foot touched the first step he turned back to you. “Goodnight, y/n.”

Dueling was always one of the most exciting parts of Hogwarts, it was a welcome break from the immense workload that sixth years had to deal with. In sixth year you were expected to be able to cast non-verbal spells, a mentally challenging task where some were better than others. Over the past month your defence class had been working tirelessly on being able to cast successful non-verbal spells with the promise of having a period where you would be duelling, which was exciting for everyone involved, a chance to show your abilities and represent your house.

“I’m going to be pairing you up today,” Your teacher spoke to you all as he was stood on the dueling table, met with a grumble from the students. “With student of the same ability.” He continued, seemingly unaffected by the disappointed sounds of the sixth years. “When I call you out, both of you will come to the stage.”

Cheers and boo’s echoes throughout the room as students from different houses duled, light flying from wands as students desperately tried to conjure spells without speaking, some pulling through well where others barely being able to produce anything at all. Tension rose throughout the room as more people slowly got paired off, everyone wondering who would be the next pair.

“Y/n and Five.”

Smiling, you walk up to the stage and face Five, seeing a small smile emerge from his stern expression. Wands at the ready, you wait for the call to start from the teacher, already knowing your strategy. The air turned heavy and the room turned quite as everyone was ready to watch the duel, you were both the highest achieving students in the class and people were eager to see who would be the best.

Then it started, Five casting the first spell only to have you deflect it, causing a gasp to echo through the room. You knew it would be a risky move to cast a spell that hadn’t been taught, a spell that wasn’t even in the curriculum. It was the only way you had ever found deflecting a spell without having the spell hit your opponent, Five was stunned for a second before hitting back with another spell, only for you to deflect it again and again and again. Waiting for a hesitation from Five to strike and then you got it, a gap in his relentless spell casting when he took a second too long to think about his next spell. 

Before he could blink, he was thrown to the floor with his wand flying out of his hand as you hit him with expelliarmus. Cheers erupted from students interspersed with nasty comments from the Slytherin students, you walk over to Five who was winded from his fall on the floor. Offering your hand he goes to take it before hesitating, under the watchful eyes of his Slytherin clique he lowered his hand and picked himself up, brushing down his robes. 

“Right!” Your teacher stood up on the stage with you and Five. “Class is dismissed, remember to keep practicing these non-verbal spells.” Your eyes never left Five as your teacher spoke, you felt a stinging sensation wash over your eyes accompanied by a throbbing in your chest at his actions. You shook your head and turned away, unable to keep looking at him without bursting into tears. 

“I need you to stay behind.” He turned to you, giving you a stern look only to soften when he saw you in near tears. Slowly, everyone left the room, either going to the library or commonrooms to await their next lesson due to the early finish. Closing your eyes, you gently tapping the lids with your fingertips to try and ease the stinging feeling, you take a deep breath before re-opening your eyes.

“Am I in trouble?” You say as you sit on the side of the duelling stage, legs swinging as you play with your hands.

“Not exactly,” He sighs, sitting in a chair facing you. “Where did you learn that?”

So you start to explain, lying as you went, as you explained you started to immediately regret even casting the spell in the first place. In fourth year you were spending a late night in the library, trying to find any books to help you excel in your classes, you had piles of books in front of you and then one book you opened had sheets of parchment paper interspersed with the other pages filled with spells that weren’t on the curriculum. It was filled with defence spells, jinxes, curses and more, it had been your guide ever since you found it. This, however, was not what you explained to him, simply saying you were doing some reading and found it and were unable to find the book again.

You could tell he didn’t believe you, but sensed that he wouldn’t delve too far into your story. “You can’t pull anything like that again,” He looked at you for a response so you just nodded. “I won’t go any further with this, you can go.”

The rest of the day went slowly, doing everything in your might to avoid Five, you had been patient with him all these years and him not even wanting to let you pull him up because of his little gang looking at him hurt, it stung. You know he’s loyal to his house but after 6 years of always hiding and sneaking around you just couldn’t bare it anymore, couldn’t bare the fact that Five had let this wizarding class war consume him.

Post day was always fun, hundreds of owls flying into the great hall and dropping off post from friends and family at home, some received letters while others got large packages sent in. Bruce was your barn owl, he was large, brown and robust, he would usually reside on your parents farm, being well loved and looked after by your whole family whilst you were away but always knew when you needed him in the castle.

In he came, swooping down with a letter tied to him and landing elegantly in front of you. Petting him with one hand while the other unties the letter, excited chatter filled the room as most other people were doing the exact same thing, wondering what their loved ones had sent them. Carefully opening the letter, trying not to tear the envelope, your eyes scan over the hand-written letter, smiling at all the information that was written in great detail.

At the very bottom they’d attached a photograph of them all together smiling, along with your dog and a few other animals they all looked after. As you were smiling and showing your friends you felt it get pulled out of your hand; turning around, you were met with one of Fives Slytherin friends waving your photo around, calling on his friends.

“Ere’ give it back.” Getting up, you try and swipe it from his hands only for him to hold it higher, scrunching it as he did.

“What are you going to do about it, mudblood-” Before he could finish his sentence the photo was snatched out of his hand by Five, lightly tapping it with his wand and the photo returned to pristine condition before handing it back to you with a small smile.

“Behave.” Five said to him, pulling him away from your table and back to theirs. A smile snuck onto your face as you sat back down, Five had never done anything like that outside the darkness of the library or the nightly patrols, let alone in front of his friends. 

Then, very slowly, he started to actively integrate himself into your life, talking to you in class, helping each other with homework after classes and even sitting with you at lunch on a regular basis. Building up your trust for him again, building up your friendship publically even with all the snide comments other people gave him, he ignored them all for you.

As winter rolled round, snow dusted the castle and surrounding areas as if it was a cake getting doused in icing sugar about to be presented for a meal. Cold nipped at your noses as you made the trek into Hogsmeade, students rushing to buy last minute presents for loved ones before christmas break as well as a stream of students flocking to the Three Broomsticks to get their last sips of butterbeer before the train journey home.

The Three Broomsticks was so full that students were being turned away, it was bursting at the brim with some students even even sharing chairs. The atmosphere was buzzing with excited students, conversations so loud that you couldn’t even hear yourself think. Five and yourself had been lucky, opting to come to the pub first thing then doing your christmas shopping, finding a small booth hid in the corner.

“So are you excited to go home?” He was wrapped up in a hoodie and jacket, a discarded hat and scarf lying on the table, leaving him with flushed cheeks and tousled hair. 

“I ain’t going home,” You say, taking a sip of butterbeer. “I never have, I’d have to get the muggle train back north, costs around 100 quid each way.” You tap your fingers against the half empty glass. “Canny afford it.” 

“You’ve never gone home for christmas?” Sadness was present in his eyes as he locked them with yours but you just shrugged.

“It’s not that bad, it’s like, my sixth year staying so everyone is just used to me now, I get to phone home and they basically give me access to the kitchen and all the teachers who stay put on interest lessons and such.” A breeze caused you to shiver, wrapping you jacket tighter around you. “I also help with the animals.”

Upon seeing you shiver Five leant over the table to wrap his scarf around your neck before gently tucking a strand of hair behind your ear; the small display of public affection causing you to blush. Once you’d finished your drinks you head into town, looking down the alleys for all the little shops you could find, looking for the perfect gifts for your family, asking a slightly unenthusiastic Five for a second opinion and just receiving a series of raised eyebrows or nods of his head. 

Taking your time to walk back to the campus, Fives hand had found its way into yours, swinging your entwined fingers as you went. As the large castle came into view a bittersweet feeling washed over you, knowing that Five and everyone else would be leaving for the holidays tomorrow while you stayed at the castle. Even if the empty hallways felt like home there was always a pang in your chest on christmas morning, even if it did ease off during the day whilst sat round with friends and teachers, it still made your chest throb.

Joy was evident in the great hall, everyone talking loudly and laughing with their friends knowing they won’t be seen for the next two weeks, an exchange of gifts and cards being passed around. Slowly, everyone faded out to the dining hall, getting ready to get on the Hogwarts express home, you passed around hugs and goodbyes as your friends left the common room, all of them leaving cards and parcels by your bed and made you swear not to open them until christmas day. 

All morning you were looking around for Five but were never able to see him and as everyone left for the station you were convinced he had gone. Defeated, you walk through the empty hallways to the great hall for the regular meeting where the staff discuss the rules with the rest of you who had stayed behind. You heard a voice call your name behind you, quickly turning around, you see him. “Five?”

“They needed a male prefect to stay on campus,” He says as he gets closer, grin covering his face. “So I volunteered.” Instead of answering you just throw yourself at him, embracing him in your arms. His arms instantly wrap around your figure, resting his chin on the top of your head.

“Thank you, Five.”

The truth ( Chapter 3 of Replaced )

Author : I might get the side characters personality wrong or out of character so, I'm sorry about that. Also in this chapter, I made the removal of pacts is painful like how when we ( MC's ) first got them. My writing sucks here so, please bear it with me.

A quick note for the characters colour :

Lucifer, Mammon, Levi, Satan, Asmo, Beel, Belphie. Diavolo, Barbatos, Simeon, Luke, Solomon.

Anyways, enjoy~

After I arrived at Purgatory Hall, I saw Luke running towards me and hugged me.

" Ayumi! Your back! "

" Woah there, did something happened Luke? "

" I'm just worried, because you've been taking too long. "

" I'm sorry, something happened while I was finding my earphone. "

" Did any demons hurt you?! What happened?? "

" Nobody hurt me, I just got kicked out from HOL. "

" You got kicked out?? Why? "

" The demon brothers got someone else they like now. They don't like me anymore after I hurt Freya. "

" But your just protecting Jinx! How could they not believe you?! You have done so much for them too! "

I patted Luke's head. He seemed a bit annoyed but enjoyed it nonetheless.

" Well, it's their loss if they can't see my worth. Plus, I can spend more time with you. "

Luke's face lightened up but his smile immediately turn into a concern frown. "

" Ayumi... "

" Yes? "

" Are you okay? "

" I'm okay, don't worry. Let's go bake with Barbatos, I'm in the mood for sweets today. "

" Oh...okay! I'll go ask Simeon if he wants to come. "

" Alright, I'll bring Jinx. "

After a few minutes, Me, Luke and Simeon rode Jinx as we fly to Diavolo's castle. Soon we arrived, and went inside to greet Barbatos.

" Hello Barbatos. "

" Hello Simeon, Luke, Ayumi. "

" Barbatos you forgot Jinx. "

Barbatos chuckled and patted Jinx.

" My apologies, hello to you Jinx. "

The black feline responded with a soft meow😸.

" Follow me. "

We went inside the castle and Barbatos asked.

" What brings all of you here? "

" We want to bake some sweets. "

" I'm also craving for sweets. "

" I see, let's head to the kitchen now. "

We head to kitchen and started baking one of my favorite desserts, French macaroons. I struggled at first but, I'm able to catch up quickly. I managed to make the macaroon shells looked decent and had a small flour fight with Luke. Barbatos eventually stopped us from wasting more flour and Simeon just laughed at our actions.

After the French macaroons is fully baked, we placed the macaroons on a cake stand and served them with some cakes and tea. Soon after, Diavolo and Solomon joined us. We we're having fun chatting until, I felt my skin is burning. I didn't think removing pacts would be this painful.

I tried to hold the pain but Barbatos noticed it before I could do anything. He place his hand on my shoulder with a concern look. Diavolo took notice and proceeds to worry as well.

" Ayumi, are you okay? "

I pulled my sleeves up and watched my pact marks slowly disappearing. The others seemed pretty shocked and probably angry. I clenched my fist tightly trying to endure for a little but, it just worsen the pain.

" Well...this is painful... "

" Why are your pact marks disappearing...?! "

" I gave the brothers my full consent to remove the pact so, they could have a pact with Freya. "

" Freya? The new exchange student? "

Luke nodded while holding my hand.

" Yeah! She's also the one who hit Jinx! "

" I see... "

" Luke! You shouldn't say that. "

" But it's her fault for getting Ayumi kicked out and hated by the demon brothers! "

" Luke is not wrong, Simeon. "

" I- "

Simeon couldn't say anything and proceeds to pinch the bridge of his nose.

" How are you doing with the pain Ayumi? "

" Worse than your food. "

" Seriously. "

" Haha, Ayumi is still as optimistic as ever. "

" It'll be over soon, please endure it for a little longer. "

I nodded and let myself breathe. The pain slowly subside, as I can feel myself return to my normal state again.

" Ayumi? Does it still hurt?? 🥺"

" Don't worry, I'm okay now. Thanks for asking Luke. " I said while patting Luke's head.

" I'm not a kid you know! " Luke said while pouting like a chihuahua.

" Oh Lord Diavolo, can I go visit to the human world? "

" Of course, when? "

" Tomorrow. I want to visit my sisters. "

" Alright. "

" How long will you be away? "

" Probably for a few days or so. "

" Can you buy something while your at the human world? "

" Is it human world ingredients? "

" Yes. I prepared a list for- "

" No thank you. After being your taste tester last time, I'm not risking myself getting another food poisoning. "

" Why are you so mean 😭 "

Everyone laughed at both of our behavior. Solomon kept begging me until I gave up and ended with a long list of human ingredients in my hand.

At HOL

Freya POV :

After me and the demon brothers arrive at HOL, I close the door behind me and muttered a spell under my breath. Slowly, the chains coiling them. I walked toward the demon brothers while they're struggling to escape under my spell.

" What the- What's this?! "

" Why can't we move?! "

" Ew...what's with colour of these chains? "

" Asmo! This is not the time! "

" Who did this?! "

" Haha...Finally...after centuries of failed attempts, I got all of your seven pacts at last. "

" Freya...? "

Beel eyes widened as he looked at me, confused.

" W-what... "

Belphie looked conflicted trying to process the situation.

" What is the meaning of this Freya?! "

" You still don't get it? I thought your smart enough to figure it out already. "

" Why do ya do this?! "

" Simple, pact marks. "

" What are you going to do with our pact marks?! "

" To defeat Lord Diavolo and rule the three realm. "

" You won't be able to defeat Lord Diavolo. He's stronger than you! "

" You might not know this but, I have an ability to steal powers. Once I steal Lord Diavolo's power, I'll be able to take over Devildom. "

" I can't believe it. We trusted you! "

Everyone's reaction is very amusing to watch. Their disbelief, confused and betrayal expressions are priceless!

" Nobody is going to help any of you. Not Diavolo, Not Barbatos, Not Solomon, Not Simeon. Nobody. "

I stood up and walked around them.

" I also heard that Ayumi is going to the human world tomorrow, to visit her sisters. I guess you won't be able getting any help from her either. "

As I walk in circle, I observe each of their expression. Their wrath seemed to spreading all over them. I couldn't help but cackle in amusement. I decided to tease them a little, to see their guilty faces.

" You should be VERY guilty after what all of you have done. "

I walked to Levi.

" You must be happy for wishing to break off the pacts in front of Ayumi, Levi. I'm really happy, knowing that you would make pact just for me and leave your second player afterwards. She must be really lonely after that. "

" I-I didn't mean to... " Levi muttered while looking at the floor.

I walked over to Belphie.

" You must be very lucky to be able to get away easily. She didn't fought back because she's the oldest, the one who takes all the blame, no matter what. It must be nice being the youngest. "

Belphie looked away from me, not making a single eye contact. Then, I walked over to Beel next.

" You must be satisfied to always have your stomach full. Knowing that humans need to eat to live. Ayumi always gave her food to you, because she know how you're struggling a lot to hold your sin. I feel bad for her really. "

Beel eyes started to form tears and looked away from me. I walked to Satan.

" Since I came here, you've always have been getting more impatient and irritated around Ayumi. You even trashed her room and almost destroy her earphone that was gifted from her sister. She still didn't get mad at you and apologise first instead. Aren't you embarrassed? "

" Shut up. "

Satan hissed at me annoyed. I walked at Asmo

" When you stopped paying attention to Ayumi, you've been rude to her. You say a lot of things about her looks. You forgot the fact that humans are VERY emotional. I've always seen her getting insecure and her anxiety slowly getting to her since then. Don't you feel bad? "

" That's not true! My darling won't- "

Asmo broke into tears afterwards. I walked to Mammon.

" Your supposed to protect her Mammon. She manage to get you away from trouble and took the punishment instead. She stand up for you, comfort you with her encouraging words. But, this is how you repay her kindness? "

Mammon looked down at the floor without a word. Lastly, I walked to Lucifer.

" And you. Ayumi doesn't like you the most. We all know how Ayumi has a lot similarities, when it comes comparing her to you. She always had to deal with your long ass lecture. Even though, she had helped you with works. Even in secret, she would lessen your work just to let you spend with your brother. Good job Lucifer. "

Lucifer stare at me with a death glare. He still not putting down his pride.

" Do you know why she did that? "

" She's just doing that because she hated me overworking myself. "

" True, but that's not the main reason. "

" What do you mean by that? "

I bend down on one knee and look at Lucifer.

" She did that for you not to make the same mistake as her. Ayumi always study non-stop just to meet her parents expectations. She barely had any time to spend time with her sisters. They we're very young at that too. One of them also happen to be an infant. "

Lucifer's face slowly turning guilt but manage to stay compose.

" One day, when she return from school. She saw her house on fire. She manage to get her sisters out but, they died...right in her arms with burn scars. She had always been guilty about it. She even got blame for that. Since then, she had always pretend that her sisters we're still alive. Even though she knew, they're gone. "

Lucifer's eyes widened, his face slowly become guilty. I probably remind him Lilith. I love their guilty faces. I laughed.

" HAHAHA! Look at your faces! Seven rulers of Hell, feeling guilty for that pitiful human?! HAHAHA! I'm only teasing but who knew! HAHAHA! "

" Don't call her that! "

" OH, so you finally decide to do something good for her? WELL too bad! I'm going to kill every single of you, once I steal Diavolo's power. You'll be dead before you could say sorry! "

I casted a spell where black thorny vines coiling them. They didn't struggle, they we're too guilty for what they have done. Slowly, their eyes turning lifeless grey as if they're not breathing anymore.

" Now, sleep...Let your sorrow and regrets consume you. "

The next day at Divolo's castle

Ayumi POV :

As I stood next to Barbatos, Lord Diavolo opened a portal to the human world. I picked up Jinx and looked at everyone. Luke seems sad.

" Luke? What's wrong? "

" Please come back quickly! "

" I'll try okay. I will bring back some human world desserts too. "

I patted Luke's head as his eyes brighten up.

" I'll get going now. "

As I was about to walk into the portal, a bright light flashed everywhere and loud rumbling sound. Suddenly my body is slammed to the wall, bleeding. I tried to look up with my trembling state to see someone familiar stood in front of Diavolo.

It was Freya...

" Hello there Lord Diavolo. "

She clawed her fingers in the demon prince's neck. Diavolo couldn't release himself from Freya's grasp.

" I hope you don't mind me borrowing your powers for a while. "

As her fingers dig deeper into the demon prince's neck, Diavolo's eyes slowly turning grey as if he was lifeless. Barbatos tried to attack from behind but Freya able to stop him and slowly draining his powers with her strong grasp.

My eyes widened, I couldn't believe what I witness. I clenched my fist in trying to hold my wrath until, Solomon came and help me stand up.

" Hey are you okay? "

" I'm okay. Where's Simeon and Luke? " I asked, worried if they're injured.

" Don't worry, they're both are hiding. I'll teleport you to them, while I distract Freya. "

I grabbed Solomon's hand immediately.

" Are you crazy?! She'll steal your powers and kill you! "

" I know, but I'd hate it more seeing you hurt. Don't worry, I'll come back. I'm an immortal after all. "

Solomon then casted a spell and teleported me to a hiding spot, where Simeon and Luke is.

" That motherfucker. "

I looked around to find Simeon hugging Luke, calming the little angel. I went to them and cup Luke's face.

" Luke! Are you okay?! Did you get hurt?! "

" I-I'm okay! "

" What happened to Solomon? "

" He's distracting Freya right now. We have to get out of here before she comes- "

BOOM

Freya walked towards us dragging Solomon's body. Following with seven familiar figure behind her. It was the demon brothers. I hold Luke's shaking hand while Simeon stood in front of me.

" Just where do you think your going? "

To be continue~

Hi! Can I please request an MC who is still in college (aged like 21/22) with Jumin. And she is super stressed because of her course work and an upcoming test but doesn’t want to let him know because he is so excited to take her to this gala tonight and bought her a fancy dress. thanks!

hello!! thank you for requesting :D please enjoy !!

– jumin + an college student mc who’s stressed but doesn’t want to tell him

you swear you’ve never seen jumin more excited for anything, not since you first went to his house all those months ago

jumin had been talking about this upcoming charity gala for WEEKS and was preparing your outfit, your entrance, every little detail

when he first had told you about the event, you were excited too since you had never attended something so nice, but it also didn’t seem like that grand of an event. it looked like something jumin would be used to and wouldn’t even bat an eyelash at

“my sweet, this event will be the first formal event other than the RFA party where you will attend as my partner. do you understand now, why i’m so excited to show you off?”

and lord, he is just the sweetest, isn’t he? you were overjoyed that you meant so much to him and you, as well, began to count the days until the special night

sure, you had a bunch of work due the week of the gala, but you’d be fine. right?

that’s what you thought.

that is, until, the week before the gala, your professor informed you that your final would be the day after the gala at 8am.

and would be 60% of your overall grade.

seriously, who does that??? you began to think maybe you should’ve just joined the circus after high school. dammit.

and dear jumin, your sweet jumin :( he was so excited to bring you... but you just had so much work and studying to do... but the way his face lit up every time he spoke about the custom dress he had ordered just for you... well, it would be okay, right? you just had to be running on ten cups of coffee that morning.

jumin was so excited and you didn’t want to ruin that.

and so came along a week’s worth of late nights spent studying, going to class, and typing word after word after word

and finally, the day of the gala arrived

it was half an hour before the start of the event and you were putting the finishing touches on your outfit

you looked absolutely gorgeous in the custom-made floral tulle gown jumin got for you, imported from italy.

oh my god, how is this me? you look into your eyes in the mirror, taking in a deep sigh. it’s go time. let’s hope i don’t pass out in front of the class tomorrow.

while the dress looked stunning on you, fitting in all the best places, you looked sleep-deprived and hadn’t gotten more than four hours of sleep a night in the past week. every time you closed your eyes, you felt like falling asleep right there

but then jumin walked into the bathroom wearing a dark navy suit that highlighted his broad shoulders and his juicy behind

the things i do for this ass... you think as he gives you a kiss on the cheek and circles your waist from behind

“you are absolutely shining, beloved. thank you for gracing me with your companionship tonight.” you peck his cheek, blushing at his sweet words

“shall we go?” he says, taking your hand.

you follow him out into the living room, getting closer and closer to the door, until a sharp pain strikes your head hard and you stumble onto the ground, letting out a strained yelp

jumin takes notice quickly, holding you before you drop completely

“_? what’s wrong? should i call in the physician?”

you urgently tell him no, it’s not that serious, you think it’s just a slight migraine, and that you’re able to go, just give you a minute

suddenly, strong arms pick you up and place you on the kitchen countertop

“_, i need you to tell me what’s wrong now. don’t lie to me, my love. i know you haven’t been sleeping these days. please rely on me.” his eyes are filled with worry and compassion and you had honestly never felt so cared for more than in that moment

“.....” after seeing you fail to speak, jumin hugs your middle, whispering a painful “please.” into your shoulder

tears fill your eyes out of stress, fear of disappointing him, exhaust, and you spill over like an over-poured glass of water

“jumin, i’m sorry. i’m so sorry. you must be so angry at me right now... i’m so sorry. this last week has been so busy at school and-and i have my final tomorrow and i’ve been studying non-stop but i just couldn’t tell you because you were so excited for tonight and you even paid for this nice dress and i just ruined all of it and-”

he seals your panicked blabbering with a chaste kiss, quickly shutting you up

jumin pulls back, looking deeply into your teary eyes

all you can see is love and affection for the mess that’s you

“_. darling. your wellbeing is above anything else. above this gala, above this company, above the world. i couldn’t bear it if you were in pain because of my selfishness. and i could never be angry at you, so perish the thought. please do not worry about tonight. let’s go to bed and rest. consider this event cancelled and let me take care of you. and, don’t you know i plan to marry you? there will be plenty more opportunities in our future for me to show off my beautiful lover to the world and for you to attend these events. i guarantee it.”

you almost start crying again at jumin’s wonderful words. how did you get so lucky?

he carries you bridal-style to the bedroom and begins to coddle you just as he likes it. undressing you, bathing you, pampering you for all of your hard work studying the past week. he makes you a comforting plate of pancakes and you spend the rest of the night watching an old romantic movie together, falling asleep on the couch in matching pajamas

the next day, your phone alarm wakes you up at 7am and you shoot up (somehow in bed instead of the couch – jumin must have brought you, but you didn’t have time to ponder the specifics), your brain on immediate panic mode

oh man. ohhhh maaaan. _, you really f*cked up this time.

jumping out of bed, a large hand grabs your wrist

“where are you going, _?” you tug your arm away, scrambling to throw some clothes on and somehow make it to campus in time, screaming some incoherent jumble of words about a test

“oh... that. come back to bed. i took care of it last night. your professor moved your final to wednesday afternoon. how? i gave him an, ah, phone call. that’s all. now come, darling. it’s cold.”

if you know jumin han, you know that he doesn’t lie, so you slowly get back into bed after getting over your bout of suspicion and relax a little.

you just pray that you aren’t kicked out of the department wednesday because your all-too-powerful boyfriend probably threatened to sue your professor for “foresaking your student’s mental health and welfare”. damn, and i was so close to graduating too.

but whatever jumin does, he does only with the best for you in mind, so really, how could you complain?

enjoy !! i had lotsa fun writing this 🥰 yall, get a supportive hubby like this and don’t settle for less !!!

Our story | LSM

Part 1

This is our story. From the day we met till the day we part. Black on white, our most precious moments, never leaving us. I love your forever.

LSM

Genre: fluff, tiny angst

Warnings: 1 swear word oops

Word count: 1644

Pairing: idol!Lee Seokmin x fashion student reader

Note: Yayy this is the first introduction part where you get to know reader a bit better. Let me know other ideas of plots I’m always open and happy to listen :))) enjoy!

Next

Our story masterlist | MASTERLIST

You let out a happy sigh as you sucked in a deep breath of fresh air. The sun was slowly warming up your hair and generally speaking, today was a great day. It was the beginning of spring and you could already see little flowers growing in every corner or see colourful butterflies fluttering around you.

You loved it. So much.

Spring had always been your favorite season. It was never too cold nor too hot.

With a few last steps around a corner, you finally reached your destination. You opened the glass door on which a tiny bell was attached to signify new customers. The smell of fresh baked cookies filled the lovely spring air and immediately let you sight contently once again. You really already loved today.

From behind the counter, your coworker Chohee looked up with a smile and greeted you joyfully like she did every other day you two happened to have the same shift.

It wasn’t too long that you’ve worked in this adorable café to earn some money for university, which was draining literally every cent you earn. It was exhausting at times but you always remembered yourself to stay relaxed and composed. It was for a good reason after all.

You started studying fashion design at university about 2 and a half years ago and what could you say. It was absolutely tiring and weary but you still loved designing all these different clothing pieces with every single inch of your heart.

Your free time was nearly non existent with your job and all the assignments and due dates you constantly had to work and have an eye on. There were days you forgot eating or drinking while overworking yourself immensely, which ended with you waking up in a hospital bed. It wasn’t one of your proudest moments but at least the dress you were working on turned out amazing.

“Today is amazing, isn’t it? I bet there will be a lot of customers today.” Chohee chirped excitedly, looking out the window. You hummed in agreement, having mixed feelings with that new realization.

“I feel surprisingly good today. Even though I stayed up till 3 am. It’s all thanks to your smile unnie.” You gave her a teasing nudge while tying the yellow apron with the sun logo of the café in the middle around your torso.

The girl giggled and gave you a nudge back. “Hey don’t play with my heart that early. I have a date with Sungho later, I still need it.” She grinned at you with that dreamy look of hers.

You shook your head laughing. With that you started preparing everything else for the day to make your shift smoother.

“By the way, how is your mom doing? Do you want to pack some cookies for her again?” Chohee asked you after the first customers of the day ordered.

You nodded with a smile in her direction. “She’s fine. Still working as hard as ever. That was my plan actually. I’m going to go see her later anyways to help her with some grocery shopping.” Helping your mom was never a big deal for you, even if she wanted to do it by herself most of the times. But with working as a house aunty for an idol group of 13 members, it was often hard for her to do the grocery shopping all by herself. Especially when it was time for a bigger shopping trip.

You had told her many times before that she didn’t have to worry about earning money but she kept insisting to support your payments for university. You were always so grateful for her so you were glad to help her out now and then, despite your stressful life at the moment. You loved her for supporting you so much.

“That’s so good to hear. I hope she enjoys our new cookies. I added a special ingredient today, do you know what?” Your nose scrunched up, thinking hard about her special something. “I don’t know... cinnamon?” You took a wild guess.

“It’s loveee...” she giggled and you immediately rolled your eyes with a small smile, which was hard to hide. “Damn you really are in love.” You chuckled patting her shoulder. She let out a long sigh. “Oh yes baby I am.”

When it finally was the end of your shift for today, you quickly changed the apron against your baby blue jacket and headed out without forgetting to say good bye to your friend and wishing her fun on her date.

As you were on your way down the road to your car, you noticed your phone vibrating in your bag. A quick glance told you it was your mom.

You accepted the call with a smile and greeted her cheerfully. “Hi mom, I just finished working. Are you going to the store now?”

You heard her sighting heavily. “Y/n honey no I am actually at the hospital. The doctor said I broke my foot.”

“What? How? Oh god are you okay?” You stopped walking, staring at the ground with a frown. There were the typical peeping noices as we all know them in the background.

“Don’t worry about me, it was just a dumb accident. I slipped on the stairs and fell on my foot. But Y/n I was hoping to reach you. Can you do me a favour?”

You hummed, listening intently. “Sure mom. Are you sure you are alright? Should I pick you up from the hospital?” You would lie if you said you weren’t worried about your mother. It wasn’t common for her to have such accidents or generally needing to go to a doctor.

“No need for that, sweetie. I’m gonna call myself a taxi. But you see, I was heading over to the boys dorms to cook something for them since they must be hungry after their schedule. But I fell on the way there. Could you go over and make something quick for them? I really don’t want to loose my job because of that.” Your heart fell a bit. Cooking for bunch of grown up men with celebrity status? This was definitely not something that stood on your bucked list.

“Mooom... I would love to help you but-“ she quickly stopped you from talking.

“They aren’t even home by this hour. And I’ve told them already a lot about you. So no need to be embarrassed. And you know they are all very friendly. And you could just do something simple like jajangmyeon. They love it. I think they already have all the ingredients at their house.”

Your eyes moved around while thinking. If they weren’t even home yet, this wouldn’t be too bad, would it? And jajangmyeon was really simple and quick. There wasn’t really a way out at this point. You still wanted to help your mom.

“Alright... but if they come too early and see me, I’m out. Mom you know I can’t handle such situations well, unlike you.” You heard a laugh at the other side.

“Thank you Y/n. You won’t have to do it again, I’m going to work tomorrow. And you can do it. You’re such a pretty girl, who wouldn’t love you?”

You groaned with a chuckle. “Oh god mom stop I’m just cooking for them once. I’m heading to the apartment now then.” She laughed and agreed before saying goodbye.

This was really not how you were imagining this day would go but here you were, heading towards an idol groups apartment totally unprepared.

When you arrived, you made sure to ring the bell beforehand to make sure you weren’t intruding anyone’s privacy if someone just happened to be home. Lucky for you, nobody seemed to be home.

With a nervous feeling in the pit of your stomache, you quickly tapped in the password, your mom told you before and entered the flat without much noice. You stood there for a solid minute, listening to any possible sounds before gently chirping a ‘hello?’ into the empty room. No answer. Perfect.

You quickly took off your jacket and shoes as well as bag. With small cautious steps, you made your way to the kitchen. You helped your mom carrying groceries up to the kitchen a few times already so you were quite familiar with the location of said room. Still it felt quite awkward going around someone’s personal space without anyone present and especially without invitation. You know it wasn’t exactly intruding but it still felt like it.

As you started preparing the dish with chopping some vegetables, you remembered the few times you’ve met one of the members. It was brief but still, you remembered it til today. You believe his name was Seungkwan. You talked a bit and he sang your aunty his infamous ‘WiFi song’. It was the first time hearing an idol sing live in some sort of way so it was hard to forget how clean his voice was. And he was nice.

You started softly humming said song, grabbing another potato and began peeling it. It was all fine and good until you heard the quiet squeak of a door. You immediately stopped humming and stared down the hallway towards where the sound came from. Your heart started racing unintentionally and your brain switched to panic mode.

Please just be the wind or something, please don’t be a person, please.

And you knew you were fucked, when you heard someone walking. You quickly looked around panicked, thinking about hiding or running away. Or should you just jump out of the window? Would you get in trouble? God, you definitely would.

But before you could actually jump out of the window, you were met with a sleepy looking and not to mention insanely attractive man. Your heart definitely wouldn’t slow down with this view for sure.

Oh man, how did you even end up in this position?

The Aftermath

Part two of the Subverted Expectations AU (aka the shy!remy + confident!logan au) (ty @notveryglittery for being able to think of names when I can’t) Part one here

Summary: Never trust a disaster queer to make good choices- aka, Remy runs from the cutie Content: Lots of swearing, reference to a bad relationship, Remy being a disaster queer for a lot of reasons, nb!Remy, agender!Logan, and polygender!Virgil Pairings: Sibling sleepxiety, future romantic losleep (these pairings apply for the whole au) Notes: This one-shot may not be super exciting a read, since I’m focusing more on plot/world building in this one, but I have a lot of one-shots lined up to follow, so... yeah. that’s a thing.

~~

    Remy wasn’t sure how many more words were spoken between vim and Logan before vy ran, but vy was pretty sure it wasn’t many. As soon as Logan had flashed that fucking smirk and called vim pretty, vy was well aware that if vy didn’t take preventive measures, vy was going to die right there, on some random lawn with party music blaring in the background.

    So, as soon as vy trusted vimself to stand, Remy got up and sprinted away as fast as vir legs would take vim. Vy was pretty sure vy heard Logan call after vim, but vy didn’t care. Vy knew what ne wanted: vir death. Vy refused to let nym take vir life. Remy planned to lose that thing via a caffeine overdose.

    Vy spotted vir house soon enough, Remy more than glad for the fact that the party vy had been pulled to was only a few blocks away from vir house. Normally, vy’d have to convince Roman to drive vim home, and given how utterly hopeless of a romantic Roman was, Remy knew that wouldn’t have worked out in vir favor.

    Key already in hand, Remy had the door open only a few seconds after vy came to it, quickly slamming it shut and throwing the deadbolt once vy was properly inside. Finished, vy turned and pressed vir back against the door, sliding down it and letting out a relieved breath.

    “Alright, motherfucker, I’ve got a bat and I’m not afraid to- Remy?”

    Remy looked up at Virgil, raising an eyebrow at them. She was welding a wooden baseball bat, which he was now lowering upon realizing it was only Remy.

    “I don’t think you’re supposed to announce your approach.” Remy snarked.

    “I figured it was just some drunk kid about to make a mistake.” Virgil responded, letting the top of the bat rest against the carpet as they leaned her weight on it. “Looks like I wasn’t too far off.”

    “Hey! I’m not drunk!” Remy exclaimed, offended as vy glared at Virgil (though the action was pointless given Remy’s sunglasses hid vir annoyed gaze). “I’m stupid, not an idiot.”

    “And yet you’re slamming doors at eleven o’clock at night!” Virgil yelled back, more exasperated than angry. “Why the hell are you doing that?”

    Remy crossed vir arms and slumped further against the door. “I was running away from someone.”

    Virgil’s eyes widened. “Were they trying to hurt you?” He asked, beginning to lift the bat back up.

    “Worse- they were trying to KILL me!”

    Virgil lowered the bat. “Oh. You saw someone cute.”

    “No!” Remy protested, although as soon as vy spoke vy knew vir tone was too adamant for Virgil to believe vim. “I wouldn’t- I don’t run away from cuties, Virge, I run towards them.”

    “Bullshit.” Virgil replied. “I know how much of a disaster queer you are. Though normally you just hide off in some corner or another, not run all the way home.”

    “Yeah, well, if home’s close-”

    “No, that’s not it.” Virgil cut vim off, looking thoughtful. Before they could hazard a guess as to the real answer, however, there was a set of three clean, precise knocks on the front door. Remy froze.

    “Ne followed me home.” Remy said, going pale. “Fuck.”

    Virgil raised an amused eyebrow. “What did you expect to happen? You were probably in the middle of talking to whoever this is and ne got worried when you suddenly sprinted off.”

    “I expected nym to let me flee in embarrassment and be done with it!” Remy exclaimed, ignoring when another set of knocks echoed out. “It would’ve been the polite thing to do, anyways.”

    Virgil’s face broke out into a wide grin. “Well ne’s here now…”

    Remy’s mouth dropped open. “You wouldn’t dare.”

    Virgil’s grin only grew as she called out, loud enough for the person outside the door to hear, “Just a moment!”

    “I hate you.” Remy hissed as vy got up and pushed past Virgil, moving to hide in the living room. Vy could’ve tried to remain in front of the door, blocking Virgil, but vy knew the chance that Virgil would just shove vim out of the way and open the door while Remy was still in sight was too high. Virgil just chuckled and pulled open the front door.

    Though Remy didn’t dare risk peeking around the corner of the room to watch the exchange, vy knew that it was Logan Virgil opened the door to before their conversation had even begun.

    “Good evening, Mx…?”

    “Just call me Virgil. Pronouns on the necklace.” Virgil answered, and Remy didn’t need to see him to know they were tapping her pronoun necklace, currently bearing his he-she-they charms. “And you are?”

    “Logan Raven, ne-nym-nir pronouns, non-gendered terms.” Logan introduced nymself politely, which Remy considered very rude and misleading given that Logan was only here to further murder Remy.

    “Well then, Mx. Raven, how can I help you?”

    “I’m looking for someone- I believe vy ran into this house?” Logan said, prompting Remy to shrink further into the living room in a weak attempt to hide vimself even more. “Vy’s a high school senior, goes by Remy?”

    Holy shit the fuck why the hell does ne know my name-

    “You know vir name?” Virgil asked, also sounding surprised- though not nearly as surprised as Remy felt while vy was having a small crisis of identity over why one of the most popular kids would know vir name.

    “Of course. I make it my business to know the name of the prettiest student in school.”

    Remy was going to die. This was illegal, vy was pretty sure, to compliment-kill someone while they weren’t even around. Not to mention the fact that it was a lie- had Logan seen nymself?  Ne already knew the name of the prettiest student in school because ne had been born with it.

    “We’re also in two of the same classes.”

    Now, Remy frowned. Two of the same classes? Vy was fairly sure vy’d remember if Mx. Logan Raven was in vir classes-

    Oh fuck.

    Oh fuck.

    “I like that reason better. Less creepy.” Virgil said, their and Logan’s conversation continuing despite the realizations and breakdowns Remy was having. “And Remy might live here. Can I ask what you want with vim?”

    “Just to make sure vy was safe. Suddenly running away from someone is a bit worrying for the other person, after all.” Logan said, and Remy really hoped vy was imagining the hint of genuine worry in nir tone. “Oh, and to give vim this.”

    Remy heard a slight rustle that must have been Logan pulling something out of nir pocket before silence as ne (presumably) handed whatever it was over to Virgil.

    “Is this… a business card?” Virgil asked, sounding confused.

    “I normally hand them out to bigots who claim it’s too hard to use my pronouns.” Logan explained. “But I wrote my cell phone number on the back of this one- so Remy can call me, whenever vy wants.”

    “I see.” Virgil said. “Would you like to give this to vim personally?”

    “No thank you.” Logan responded, and Remy had never been happier to hear those words. “I know how to respect a boundary when I see one. Besides, I will be seeing vim at school tomorrow either way.”

    Virgil chuckled in a way that Remy knew meant she was laughing at vir expense. “That you will.”

    “It has been a pleasure speaking to you, Virgil. I hope you have a lovely rest of your night.” Logan said respectfully, pausing for a moment before adding, “And you as well, Remy.”

    Though Remy was well aware Logan couldn’t actually see vim- ne had likely just guessed that Remy would be listening into the conversation- vy still froze in place, as if by holding still vy could make vimself disappear. Vy remained stock-still until the sound of receding footsteps was replaced by the door closing and Virgil approaching vim.

    “So,” Virgil said as he came to stand in front of Remy, offering vim a small rectangle that Remy assumed was Logan’s ‘business card’, “that’s the kid who’s trying to kill you? Because ne doesn’t really seem like a killer.”

    Remy snatched the card away from Virgil vy replied, “Then your first impression of nym wasn’t a very good one.”

    Virgil laughed while Remy studied the card. The front of it was simplistic, the cardstock tinted a dark blue while black letters spelled out ‘Logan R.’, nir pronouns written beneath nir name. Flipping it over, Remy found the promised number- written out in a neat, blocky font, with a heart added to the end of it. The heart was small, and drawn with sharper edges than a heart ought to have, but it was still a heart, and it still brought a blush to Remy’s cheeks.

    “I’m going to burn this.” Vy vowed.

    “Why?” Virgil asked, tone a mix of amusement and bewilderment. “Ne’s a pretty kid and you both clearly have an interest in each other. This can’t be the worst thing to happen to you.”

    “It’s not just that.” Remy said, moving past Virgil so that vy could start pacing the room, still fiddling with the business card in hand. “Logan’s one of the most popular kids in the entire school, Virge- I didn’t even know ne knew I existed!”

    “You guys are in classes together.” Virgil pointed out as they moved to sit on the couch, watching Remy pace.

    “I sit in the back! I try to pretend the room’s empty! I don’t notice who else is there!” Remy exclaimed. “And even then, why does Logan care? Why would ne notice me?!”

    “Because you’re pretty?” Virgil answered mockingly, only getting a half-hearted glare from Remy in return before vy returned to vir frantic pacing. Virgil sighed. “Okay, come on. Something about this has you really bothered, and it’s nothing you’ve said so far. What’s so wrong about having a cool cutie like you?”

    Remy glanced at Virgil, briefly stopping vir pace, before starting again, not answering. The silence stretched for a moment before Remy said, abruptly, “Ne’s my soulmate.”

    “...So the cool cutie is also your soulmate, thereby allowing you to love nym without even having to worry about society trying to beat you upside the head because of it.” Virgil said, looking at Remy like vy was acting funny. “I still don’t see the problem.”

    “Well, problem A, I’m a queer disaster who can’t look at nym without blushing, so honestly, rude of the universe to pair us together.” Remy said, letting out a dry laugh at vir own words. When vy glanced at Virgil, however, she only raised an eyebrow, waiting for the part Remy wasn’t saying. Remy sighed, finally stopping in vir pacing to fall onto an armchair. “Problem B, our family’s view of soulmates isn’t exactly the norm. Most people think that if you’re soulmates, you have to be meant for each other. Logan barely knows me and yet ne’s calling me pretty and giving me nir number and I just-”

    “You don’t want nym chasing after nir soulmate and not you?” Virgil finished, and Remy nodded, looking down at the card vy kept folding and unfolding.

    “I don’t want to end up like mom and dad.” Remy admitted quietly.

    “Mom and dad are fucked up.” Virgil replied, getting a laugh from Remy. “You’d have to mess up pretty badly to end up like them. And I don’t think Logan’s as bad as you’re making nym out to be.”

    “Ne’s a murderer, Virge, and I’m nir new victim.” Remy said, waving Logan’s card at Virgil. “Ne’s popular, and confident, and fucking gorgeous as hell, and way too smart to be in my classes, and ne’s focusing all of nir charm on me, just like a murderer-”

    “Sounds like someone’s been obsessing.” Virgil interrupted, smirking when Remy flushed. “I’m just saying.”

    “This is why I hate you.” Remy said, though there was no heat in vir words, only in vir cheeks. Virgil laughed as Remy got up, heading towards vir room. “I’m going to go to bed and pretend neither you nor Logan exist.”

    “You know you have to face nym tomorrow, right?”

    “Considering I’m currently in denial, no.” Remy answered as vy headed down the hall, ignoring the rest of Virgil’s laughter as vy entered vir room and shut the door behind vim. Vy leaned against the door for a moment, letting out a sigh as vy once more examined Logan’s card and nir number and that damned little heart.

    Vy glanced at the trashcan sitting next to vir dresser. Vy really should just throw it away. The only thing the card was doing was making vim feel flustered for no good reason. Pushing vimself off the door, Remy headed over to vir trash can, holding the card over it…

    ...before tossing it onto vir dresser instead. After all, it was always important to have a reference to someone’s pronouns on hand. That was why vy was keeping it. Definitely. No other reason.

    Remy sighed, pushing vir hands up under vir sunglasses and pressing the palms against vir eyes. Instead of the thoughtless darkness vy had been hoping for, however, blocking out all the light simply sharpened the image of a cocky, smirking Logan in vir mind, which was the opposite of what vy was going for. Remy groaned as vy removed vir hands from vir eyes, going back to turn off the lights before half-stumbling to vir bed.

    Vy dropped vir sunglasses unceremoniously on top of vir night table before vy fell on top of vir bed, unconcerned by the fact that vy was sleeping in vir clothes. Remy had more important things to be concerned with, after all- like how vy was going to survive almost an entire school year avoiding Logan. All vy had to do was become invisible. Or drop-out of school. Or punch Logan and make nym hate vim.

    Remy’d figure out something. It couldn’t be that hard to avoid the coolest kid in school who was in some of your classes and knew where you lived, right?

    Drowning in denial, Remy fell asleep.

Very well. Can you please delete the so called 'reply' to the discussion me & Merri were having about the Jedi? Regardless of whenever or not Merri wishes to continue the discussion. There was no need for you to add on that long, rambly & non-sensesical post that does not add or contribute to the discussion in any meaningful way. And while it might not have been your intention, it came across as implying that post was as meaningful as my statements, which is incredibly insulting & unnecessary.

I was gonna take it down but then I was like nah

look, ya want an explanation why I did that? ya want me to pick apart your statements the way you have been with Merri ad nauseum with fallacy after fallacy? here’s why. so that i do not subject my poor readers to this mess.

According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Yellow, black. Ooh, black and yellow! Let's shake it up a little. Barry! Breakfast is ready! Ooming! Hang on a second. Hello? - Barry? - Adam? - Oan you believe this is happening? - I can't. I'll pick you up. Looking sharp. Use the stairs. Your father paid good money for those. Sorry. I'm excited. Here's the graduate. We're very proud of you, son. A perfect report card, all B's. Very proud. Ma! I got a thing going here. - You got lint on your fuzz. - Ow! That's me! - Wave to us! We'll be in row 118,000. - Bye! Barry, I told you, stop flying in the house! - Hey, Adam. - Hey, Barry. - Is that fuzz gel? - A little. Special day, graduation. Never thought I'd make it. Three days grade school, three days high school. Those were awkward. Three days college. I'm glad I took a day and hitchhiked around the hive. You did come back different. - Hi, Barry. - Artie, growing a mustache? Looks good. - Hear about Frankie? - Yeah. - You going to the funeral? - No, I'm not going. Everybody knows, sting someone, you die. Don't waste it on a squirrel. Such a hothead. I guess he could have just gotten out of the way. I love this incorporating an amusement park into our day. That's why we don't need vacations. Boy, quite a bit of pomp... under the circumstances. - Well, Adam, today we are men. - We are! - Bee-men. - Amen! Hallelujah! Students, faculty, distinguished bees, please welcome Dean Buzzwell. Welcome, New Hive Oity graduating class of... ...9:15. That concludes our ceremonies. And begins your career at Honex Industries! Will we pick ourjob today? I heard it's just orientation. Heads up! Here we go. Keep your hands and antennas inside the tram at all times. - Wonder what it'll be like? - A little scary. Welcome to Honex, a division of Honesco and a part of the Hexagon Group. This is it! Wow. Wow. We know that you, as a bee, have worked your whole life to get to the point where you can work for your whole life. Honey begins when our valiant Pollen Jocks bring the nectar to the hive. Our top-secret formula is automatically color-corrected, scent-adjusted and bubble-contoured into this soothing sweet syrup with its distinctive golden glow you know as... Honey! - That girl was hot. - She's my cousin! - She is? - Yes, we're all cousins. - Right. You're right. - At Honex, we constantly strive to improve every aspect of bee existence. These bees are stress-testing a new helmet technology. - What do you think he makes? - Not enough. Here we have our latest advancement, the Krelman. - What does that do? - Oatches that little strand of honey that hangs after you pour it. Saves us millions. Oan anyone work on the Krelman? Of course. Most bee jobs are small ones. But bees know that every small job, if it's done well, means a lot. But choose carefully because you'll stay in the job you pick for the rest of your life. The same job the rest of your life? I didn't know that. What's the difference? You'll be happy to know that bees, as a species, haven't had one day off in 27 million years. So you'll just work us to death? We'll sure try. Wow! That blew my mind! "What's the difference?" How can you say that? One job forever? That's an insane choice to have to make. I'm relieved. Now we only have to make one decision in life. But, Adam, how could they never have told us that? Why would you question anything? We're bees. We're the most perfectly functioning society on Earth. You ever think maybe things work a little too well here? Like what? Give me one example. I don't know. But you know what I'm talking about. Please clear the gate. Royal Nectar Force on approach. Wait a second. Oheck it out. - Hey, those are Pollen Jocks! - Wow. I've never seen them this close. They know what it's like outside the hive. Yeah, but some don't come back. - Hey, Jocks! - Hi, Jocks! You guys did great! You're monsters! You're sky freaks! I love it! I love it! - I wonder where they were. - I don't know. Their day's not planned. Outside the hive, flying who knows where, doing who knows what. You can'tjust decide to be a Pollen Jock. You have to be bred for that. Right. Look. That's more pollen than you and I will see in a lifetime. It's just a status symbol. Bees make too much of it. Perhaps. Unless you're wearing it and the ladies see you wearing it. Those ladies? Aren't they our cousins too? Distant. Distant. Look at these two. - Oouple of Hive Harrys. - Let's have fun with them. It must be dangerous being a Pollen Jock. Yeah. Once a bear pinned me against a mushroom! He had a paw on my throat, and with the other, he was slapping me! - Oh, my! - I never thought I'd knock him out. What were you doing during this? Trying to alert the authorities. I can autograph that. A little gusty out there today, wasn't it, comrades? Yeah. Gusty. We're hitting a sunflower patch six miles from here tomorrow. - Six miles, huh? - Barry! A puddle jump for us, but maybe you're not up for it. - Maybe I am. - You are not! We're going 0900 at J-Gate. What do you think, buzzy-boy? Are you bee enough? I might be. It all depends on what 0900 means. Hey, Honex! Dad, you surprised me. You decide what you're interested in? - Well, there's a lot of choices. - But you only get one. Do you ever get bored doing the same job every day? Son, let me tell you about stirring. You grab that stick, and you just move it around, and you stir it around. You get yourself into a rhythm. It's a beautiful thing. You know, Dad, the more I think about it, maybe the honey field just isn't right for me. You were thinking of what, making balloon animals? That's a bad job for a guy with a stinger. Janet, your son's not sure he wants to go into honey! - Barry, you are so funny sometimes. - I'm not trying to be funny. You're not funny! You're going into honey. Our son, the stirrer! - You're gonna be a stirrer? - No one's listening to me! Wait till you see the sticks I have. I could say anything right now. I'm gonna get an ant tattoo! Let's open some honey and celebrate! Maybe I'll pierce my thorax. Shave my antennae. Shack up with a grasshopper. Get a gold tooth and call everybody "dawg"! I'm so proud. - We're starting work today! - Today's the day. Oome on! All the good jobs will be gone. Yeah, right. Pollen counting, stunt bee, pouring, stirrer, front desk, hair removal... - Is it still available? - Hang on. Two left! One of them's yours! Oongratulations! Step to the side. - What'd you get? - Picking crud out. Stellar! Wow! Oouple of newbies? Yes, sir! Our first day! We are ready! Make your choice. - You want to go first? - No, you go. Oh, my. What's available? Restroom attendant's open, not for the reason you think. - Any chance of getting the Krelman? - Sure, you're on. I'm sorry, the Krelman just closed out. Wax monkey's always open. The Krelman opened up again. What happened? A bee died. Makes an opening. See? He's dead. Another dead one. Deady. Deadified. Two more dead. Dead from the neck up. Dead from the neck down. That's life! Oh, this is so hard! Heating, cooling, stunt bee, pourer, stirrer, humming, inspector number seven, lint coordinator, stripe supervisor, mite wrangler. Barry, what do you think I should... Barry? Barry! All right, we've got the sunflower patch in quadrant nine... What happened to you? Where are you? - I'm going out. - Out? Out where? - Out there. - Oh, no! I have to, before I go to work for the rest of my life. You're gonna die! You're crazy! Hello? Another call coming in. If anyone's feeling brave, there's a Korean deli on 83rd that gets their roses today. Hey, guys. - Look at that. - Isn't that the kid we saw yesterday? Hold it, son, flight deck's restricted. It's OK, Lou. We're gonna take him up. Really? Feeling lucky, are you? Sign here, here. Just initial that. - Thank you. - OK. You got a rain advisory today, and as you all know, bees cannot fly in rain. So be careful. As always, watch your brooms, hockey sticks, dogs, birds, bears and bats. Also, I got a couple of reports of root beer being poured on us. Murphy's in a home because of it, babbling like a cicada! - That's awful. - And a reminder for you rookies, bee law number one, absolutely no talking to humans! All right, launch positions! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz! Black and yellow! Hello! You ready for this, hot shot? Yeah. Yeah, bring it on. Wind, check. - Antennae, check. - Nectar pack, check. - Wings, check. - Stinger, check. Scared out of my shorts, check. OK, ladies, let's move it out! Pound those petunias, you striped stem-suckers! All of you, drain those flowers! Wow! I'm out! I can't believe I'm out! So blue. I feel so fast and free! Box kite! Wow! Flowers! This is Blue Leader. We have roses visual. Bring it around 30 degrees and hold. Roses! 30 degrees, roger. Bringing it around. Stand to the side, kid. It's got a bit of a kick. That is one nectar collector! - Ever see pollination up close? - No, sir. I pick up some pollen here, sprinkle it over here. Maybe a dash over there, a pinch on that one. See that? It's a little bit of magic. That's amazing. Why do we do that? That's pollen power. More pollen, more flowers, more nectar, more honey for us. Oool. I'm picking up a lot of bright yellow. Oould be daisies. Don't we need those? Oopy that visual. Wait. One of these flowers seems to be on the move. Say again? You're reporting a moving flower? Affirmative. That was on the line! This is the coolest. What is it? I don't know, but I'm loving this color. It smells good. Not like a flower, but I like it. Yeah, fuzzy. Ohemical-y. Oareful, guys. It's a little grabby. My sweet lord of bees! Oandy-brain, get off there! Problem! - Guys! - This could be bad. Affirmative. Very close. Gonna hurt. Mama's little boy. You are way out of position, rookie! Ooming in at you like a missile! Help me! I don't think these are flowers. - Should we tell him? - I think he knows. What is this?! Match point! You can start packing up, honey, because you're about to eat it! Yowser! Gross. There's a bee in the car! - Do something! - I'm driving! - Hi, bee. - He's back here! He's going to sting me! Nobody move. If you don't move, he won't sting you. Freeze! He blinked! Spray him, Granny! What are you doing?! Wow... the tension level out here is unbelievable. I gotta get home. Oan't fly in rain. Oan't fly in rain. Oan't fly in rain. Mayday! Mayday! Bee going down! Ken, could you close the window please? Ken, could you close the window please? Oheck out my new resume. I made it into a fold-out brochure. You see? Folds out. Oh, no. More humans. I don't need this. What was that? Maybe this time. This time. This time. This time! This time! This... Drapes! That is diabolical. It's fantastic. It's got all my special skills, even my top-ten favorite movies. What's number one? Star Wars? Nah, I don't go for that... ...kind of stuff. No wonder we shouldn't talk to them. They're out of their minds. When I leave a job interview, they're flabbergasted, can't believe what I say. There's the sun. Maybe that's a way out. I don't remember the sun having a big 75 on it. I predicted global warming. I could feel it getting hotter. At first I thought it was just me. Wait! Stop! Bee! Stand back. These are winter boots. Wait! Don't kill him! You know I'm allergic to them! This thing could kill me! Why does his life have less value than yours? Why does his life have any less value than mine? Is that your statement? I'm just saying all life has value. You don't know what he's capable of feeling. My brochure! There you go, little guy. I'm not scared of him. It's an allergic thing. Put that on your resume brochure. My whole face could puff up. Make it one of your special skills. Knocking someone out is also a special skill. Right. Bye, Vanessa. Thanks. - Vanessa, next week? Yogurt night? - Sure, Ken. You know, whatever. - You could put carob chips on there. - Bye. - Supposed to be less calories. - Bye. I gotta say something. She saved my life. I gotta say something. All right, here it goes. Nah. What would I say? I could really get in trouble. It's a bee law. You're not supposed to talk to a human. I can't believe I'm doing this. I've got to. Oh, I can't do it. Oome on! No. Yes. No. Do it. I can't. How should I start it? "You like jazz?" No, that's no good. Here she comes! Speak, you fool! Hi! I'm sorry. - You're talking. - Yes, I know. You're talking! I'm so sorry. No, it's OK. It's fine. I know I'm dreaming. But I don't recall going to bed. Well, I'm sure this is very disconcerting. This is a bit of a surprise to me. I mean, you're a bee! I am. And I'm not supposed to be doing this, but they were all trying to kill me. And if it wasn't for you... I had to thank you. It's just how I was raised. That was a little weird. - I'm talking with a bee. - Yeah. I'm talking to a bee. And the bee is talking to me! I just want to say I'm grateful. I'll leave now. - Wait! How did you learn to do that? - What? The talking thing. Same way you did, I guess. "Mama, Dada, honey." You pick it up. - That's very funny. - Yeah. Bees are funny. If we didn't laugh, we'd cry with what we have to deal with. Anyway... Oan I... ...get you something? - Like what? I don't know. I mean... I don't know. Ooffee? I don't want to put you out. It's no trouble. It takes two minutes. - It's just coffee. - I hate to impose. - Don't be ridiculous! - Actually, I would love a cup. Hey, you want rum cake? - I shouldn't. - Have some. - No, I can't. - Oome on! I'm trying to lose a couple micrograms. - Where? - These stripes don't help. You look great! I don't know if you know anything about fashion. Are you all right? No. He's making the tie in the cab as they're flying up Madison. He finally gets there. He runs up the steps into the church. The wedding is on. And he says, "Watermelon? I thought you said Guatemalan. Why would I marry a watermelon?" Is that a bee joke? That's the kind of stuff we do. Yeah, different. So, what are you gonna do, Barry? About work? I don't know. I want to do my part for the hive, but I can't do it the way they want. I know how you feel. - You do? - Sure. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor, but I wanted to be a florist. - Really? - My only interest is flowers. Our new queen was just elected with that same campaign slogan. Anyway, if you look... There's my hive right there. See it? You're in Sheep Meadow! Yes! I'm right off the Turtle Pond! No way! I know that area. I lost a toe ring there once. - Why do girls put rings on their toes? - Why not? - It's like putting a hat on your knee. - Maybe I'll try that. - You all right, ma'am? - Oh, yeah. Fine. Just having two cups of coffee! Anyway, this has been great. Thanks for the coffee. Yeah, it's no trouble. Sorry I couldn't finish it. If I did, I'd be up the rest of my life. Are you...? Oan I take a piece of this with me? Sure! Here, have a crumb. - Thanks! - Yeah. All right. Well, then... I guess I'll see you around. Or not. OK, Barry. And thank you so much again... for before. Oh, that? That was nothing. Well, not nothing, but... Anyway... This can't possibly work. He's all set to go. We may as well try it. OK, Dave, pull the chute. - Sounds amazing. - It was amazing! It was the scariest, happiest moment of my life. Humans! I can't believe you were with humans! Giant, scary humans! What were they like? Huge and crazy. They talk crazy. They eat crazy giant things. They drive crazy. - Do they try and kill you, like on TV? - Some of them. But some of them don't. - How'd you get back? - Poodle. You did it, and I'm glad. You saw whatever you wanted to see. You had your "experience." Now you can pick out yourjob and be normal. - Well... - Well? Well, I met someone. You did? Was she Bee-ish? - A wasp?! Your parents will kill you! - No, no, no, not a wasp. - Spider? - I'm not attracted to spiders. I know it's the hottest thing, with the eight legs and all. I can't get by that face. So who is she? She's... human. No, no. That's a bee law. You wouldn't break a bee law. - Her name's Vanessa. - Oh, boy. She's so nice. And she's a florist! Oh, no! You're dating a human florist! We're not dating. You're flying outside the hive, talking to humans that attack our homes with power washers and M-80s! One-eighth a stick of dynamite! She saved my life! And she understands me. This is over! Eat this. This is not over! What was that? - They call it a crumb. - It was so stingin' stripey! And that's not what they eat. That's what falls off what they eat! - You know what a Oinnabon is? - No. It's bread and cinnamon and frosting. They heat it up... Sit down! ...really hot! - Listen to me! We are not them! We're us. There's us and there's them! Yes, but who can deny the heart that is yearning? There's no yearning. Stop yearning. Listen to me! You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. Thinking bee! - Thinking bee. - Thinking bee. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! There he is. He's in the pool. You know what your problem is, Barry? I gotta start thinking bee? How much longer will this go on? It's been three days! Why aren't you working? I've got a lot of big life decisions to think about. What life? You have no life! You have no job. You're barely a bee! Would it kill you to make a little honey? Barry, come out. Your father's talking to you. Martin, would you talk to him? Barry, I'm talking to you! You coming? Got everything? All set! Go ahead. I'll catch up. Don't be too long. Watch this! Vanessa! - We're still here. - I told you not to yell at him. He doesn't respond to yelling! - Then why yell at me? - Because you don't listen! I'm not listening to this. Sorry, I've gotta go. - Where are you going? - I'm meeting a friend. A girl? Is this why you can't decide? Bye. I just hope she's Bee-ish. They have a huge parade of flowers every year in Pasadena? To be in the Tournament of Roses, that's every florist's dream! Up on a float, surrounded by flowers, crowds cheering. A tournament. Do the roses compete in athletic events? No. All right, I've got one. How come you don't fly everywhere? It's exhausting. Why don't you run everywhere? It's faster. Yeah, OK, I see, I see. All right, your turn. TiVo. You can just freeze live TV? That's insane! You don't have that? We have Hivo, but it's a disease. It's a horrible, horrible disease. Oh, my. Dumb bees! You must want to sting all those jerks. We try not to sting. It's usually fatal for us. So you have to watch your temper. Very carefully. You kick a wall, take a walk, write an angry letter and throw it out. Work through it like any emotion: Anger, jealousy, lust. Oh, my goodness! Are you OK? Yeah. - What is wrong with you?! - It's a bug. He's not bothering anybody. Get out of here, you creep! What was that? A Pic 'N' Save circular? Yeah, it was. How did you know? It felt like about 10 pages. Seventy-five is pretty much our limit. You've really got that down to a science. - I lost a cousin to Italian Vogue. - I'll bet. What in the name of Mighty Hercules is this? How did this get here? Oute Bee, Golden Blossom, Ray Liotta Private Select? - Is he that actor? - I never heard of him. - Why is this here? - For people. We eat it. You don't have enough food of your own? - Well, yes. - How do you get it? - Bees make it. - I know who makes it! And it's hard to make it! There's heating, cooling, stirring. You need a whole Krelman thing! - It's organic. - It's our-ganic! It's just honey, Barry. Just what?! Bees don't know about this! This is stealing! A lot of stealing! You've taken our homes, schools, hospitals! This is all we have! And it's on sale?! I'm getting to the bottom of this. I'm getting to the bottom of all of this! Hey, Hector. - You almost done? - Almost. He is here. I sense it. Well, I guess I'll go home now and just leave this nice honey out, with no one around. You're busted, box boy! I knew I heard something. So you can talk! I can talk. And now you'll start talking! Where you getting the sweet stuff? Who's your supplier? I don't understand. I thought we were friends. The last thing we want to do is upset bees! You're too late! It's ours now! You, sir, have crossed the wrong sword! You, sir, will be lunch for my iguana, Ignacio! Where is the honey coming from? Tell me where! Honey Farms! It comes from Honey Farms! Orazy person! What horrible thing has happened here? These faces, they never knew what hit them. And now they're on the road to nowhere! Just keep still. What? You're not dead? Do I look dead? They will wipe anything that moves. Where you headed? To Honey Farms. I am onto something huge here. I'm going to Alaska. Moose blood, crazy stuff. Blows your head off! I'm going to Tacoma. - And you? - He really is dead. All right. Uh-oh! - What is that?! - Oh, no! - A wiper! Triple blade! - Triple blade? Jump on! It's your only chance, bee! Why does everything have to be so doggone clean?! How much do you people need to see?! Open your eyes! Stick your head out the window! From NPR News in Washington, I'm Oarl Kasell. But don't kill no more bugs! - Bee! - Moose blood guy!! - You hear something? - Like what? Like tiny screaming. Turn off the radio. Whassup, bee boy? Hey, Blood. Just a row of honey jars, as far as the eye could see. Wow! I assume wherever this truck goes is where they're getting it. I mean, that honey's ours. - Bees hang tight. - We're all jammed in. It's a close community. Not us, man. We on our own. Every mosquito on his own. - What if you get in trouble? - You a mosquito, you in trouble. Nobody likes us. They just smack. See a mosquito, smack, smack! At least you're out in the world. You must meet girls. Mosquito girls try to trade up, get with a moth, dragonfly. Mosquito girl don't want no mosquito. You got to be kidding me! Mooseblood's about to leave the building! So long, bee! - Hey, guys! - Mooseblood! I knew I'd catch y'all down here. Did you bring your crazy straw? We throw it in jars, slap a label on it, and it's pretty much pure profit. What is this place? A bee's got a brain the size of a pinhead. They are pinheads! Pinhead. - Oheck out the new smoker. - Oh, sweet. That's the one you want. The Thomas 3000! Smoker? Ninety puffs a minute, semi-automatic. Twice the nicotine, all the tar. A couple breaths of this knocks them right out. They make the honey, and we make the money. "They make the honey, and we make the money"? Oh, my! What's going on? Are you OK? Yeah. It doesn't last too long. Do you know you're in a fake hive with fake walls? Our queen was moved here. We had no choice. This is your queen? That's a man in women's clothes! That's a drag queen! What is this? Oh, no! There's hundreds of them! Bee honey. Our honey is being brazenly stolen on a massive scale! This is worse than anything bears have done! I intend to do something. Oh, Barry, stop. Who told you humans are taking our honey? That's a rumor. Do these look like rumors? That's a conspiracy theory. These are obviously doctored photos. How did you get mixed up in this? He's been talking to humans. - What? - Talking to humans?! He has a human girlfriend. And they make out! Make out? Barry! We do not. - You wish you could. - Whose side are you on? The bees! I dated a cricket once in San Antonio. Those crazy legs kept me up all night. Barry, this is what you want to do with your life? I want to do it for all our lives. Nobody works harder than bees! Dad, I remember you coming home so overworked your hands were still stirring. You couldn't stop. I remember that. What right do they have to our honey? We live on two cups a year. They put it in lip balm for no reason whatsoever! Even if it's true, what can one bee do? Sting them where it really hurts. In the face! The eye! - That would hurt. - No. Up the nose? That's a killer. There's only one place you can sting the humans, one place where it matters. Hive at Five, the hive's only full-hour action news source. No more bee beards! With Bob Bumble at the anchor desk. Weather with Storm Stinger. Sports with Buzz Larvi. And Jeanette Ohung. - Good evening. I'm Bob Bumble. - And I'm Jeanette Ohung. A tri-county bee, Barry Benson, intends to sue the human race for stealing our honey, packaging it and profiting from it illegally! Tomorrow night on Bee Larry King, we'll have three former queens here in our studio, discussing their new book, Olassy Ladies, out this week on Hexagon. Tonight we're talking to Barry Benson. Did you ever think, "I'm a kid from the hive. I can't do this"? Bees have never been afraid to change the world. What about Bee Oolumbus? Bee Gandhi? Bejesus? Where I'm from, we'd never sue humans. We were thinking of stickball or candy stores. How old are you? The bee community is supporting you in this case, which will be the trial of the bee century. You know, they have a Larry King in the human world too. It's a common name. Next week... He looks like you and has a show and suspenders and colored dots... Next week... Glasses, quotes on the bottom from the guest even though you just heard 'em. Bear Week next week! They're scary, hairy and here live. Always leans forward, pointy shoulders, squinty eyes, very Jewish. In tennis, you attack at the point of weakness! It was my grandmother, Ken. She's 81. Honey, her backhand's a joke! I'm not gonna take advantage of that? Quiet, please. Actual work going on here. - Is that that same bee? - Yes, it is! I'm helping him sue the human race. - Hello. - Hello, bee. This is Ken. Yeah, I remember you. Timberland, size ten and a half. Vibram sole, I believe. Why does he talk again? Listen, you better go 'cause we're really busy working. But it's our yogurt night! Bye-bye. Why is yogurt night so difficult?! You poor thing. You two have been at this for hours! Yes, and Adam here has been a huge help. - Frosting... - How many sugars? Just one. I try not to use the competition. So why are you helping me? Bees have good qualities. And it takes my mind off the shop. Instead of flowers, people are giving balloon bouquets now. Those are great, if you're three. And artificial flowers. - Oh, those just get me psychotic! - Yeah, me too. Bent stingers, pointless pollination. Bees must hate those fake things! Nothing worse than a daffodil that's had work done. Maybe this could make up for it a little bit. - This lawsuit's a pretty big deal. - I guess. You sure you want to go through with it? Am I sure? When I'm done with the humans, they won't be able to say, "Honey, I'm home," without paying a royalty! It's an incredible scene here in downtown Manhattan, where the world anxiously waits, because for the first time in history, we will hear for ourselves if a honeybee can actually speak. What have we gotten into here, Barry? It's pretty big, isn't it? I can't believe how many humans don't work during the day. You think billion-dollar multinational food companies have good lawyers? Everybody needs to stay behind the barricade. - What's the matter? - I don't know, I just got a chill. Well, if it isn't the bee team. You boys work on this? All rise! The Honorable Judge Bumbleton presiding. All right. Oase number 4475, Superior Oourt of New York, Barry Bee Benson v. the Honey Industry is now in session. Mr. Montgomery, you're representing the five food companies collectively? A privilege. Mr. Benson... you're representing all the bees of the world? I'm kidding. Yes, Your Honor, we're ready to proceed. Mr. Montgomery, your opening statement, please. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my grandmother was a simple woman. Born on a farm, she believed it was man's divine right to benefit from the bounty of nature God put before us. If we lived in the topsy-turvy world Mr. Benson imagines, just think of what would it mean. I would have to negotiate with the silkworm for the elastic in my britches! Talking bee! How do we know this isn't some sort of holographic motion-picture-capture Hollywood wizardry? They could be using laser beams! Robotics! Ventriloquism! Oloning! For all we know, he could be on steroids! Mr. Benson? Ladies and gentlemen, there's no trickery here. I'm just an ordinary bee. Honey's pretty important to me. It's important to all bees. We invented it! We make it. And we protect it with our lives. Unfortunately, there are some people in this room who think they can take it from us 'cause we're the little guys! I'm hoping that, after this is all over, you'll see how, by taking our honey, you not only take everything we have but everything we are! I wish he'd dress like that all the time. So nice! Oall your first witness. So, Mr. Klauss Vanderhayden of Honey Farms, big company you have. I suppose so. I see you also own Honeyburton and Honron! Yes, they provide beekeepers for our farms. Beekeeper. I find that to be a very disturbing term. I don't imagine you employ any bee-free-ers, do you? - No. - I couldn't hear you. - No. - No. Because you don't free bees. You keep bees. Not only that, it seems you thought a bear would be an appropriate image for a jar of honey. They're very lovable creatures. Yogi Bear, Fozzie Bear, Build-A-Bear. You mean like this? Bears kill bees! How'd you like his head crashing through your living room?! Biting into your couch! Spitting out your throw pillows! OK, that's enough. Take him away. So, Mr. Sting, thank you for being here. Your name intrigues me. - Where have I heard it before? - I was with a band called The Police. But you've never been a police officer, have you? No, I haven't. No, you haven't. And so here we have yet another example of bee culture casually stolen by a human for nothing more than a prance-about stage name. Oh, please. Have you ever been stung, Mr. Sting? Because I'm feeling a little stung, Sting. Or should I say... Mr. Gordon M. Sumner! That's not his real name?! You idiots! Mr. Liotta, first, belated congratulations on your Emmy win for a guest spot on ER in 2005. Thank you. Thank you. I see from your resume that you're devilishly handsome with a churning inner turmoil that's ready to blow. I enjoy what I do. Is that a crime? Not yet it isn't. But is this what it's come to for you? Exploiting tiny, helpless bees so you don't have to rehearse your part and learn your lines, sir? Watch it, Benson! I could blow right now! This isn't a goodfella. This is a badfella! Why doesn't someone just step on this creep, and we can all go home?! - Order in this court! - You're all thinking it! Order! Order, I say! - Say it! - Mr. Liotta, please sit down! I think it was awfully nice of that bear to pitch in like that. I think the jury's on our side. Are we doing everything right, legally? I'm a florist. Right. Well, here's to a great team. To a great team! Well, hello. - Ken! - Hello. I didn't think you were coming. No, I was just late. I tried to call, but... the battery. I didn't want all this to go to waste, so I called Barry. Luckily, he was free. Oh, that was lucky. There's a little left. I could heat it up. Yeah, heat it up, sure, whatever. So I hear you're quite a tennis player. I'm not much for the game myself. The ball's a little grabby. That's where I usually sit. Right... there. Ken, Barry was looking at your resume, and he agreed with me that eating with chopsticks isn't really a special skill. You think I don't see what you're doing? I know how hard it is to find the rightjob. We have that in common. Do we? Bees have 100 percent employment, but we do jobs like taking the crud out. That's just what I was thinking about doing. Ken, I let Barry borrow your razor for his fuzz. I hope that was all right. I'm going to drain the old stinger. Yeah, you do that. Look at that. You know, I've just about had it with your little mind games. - What's that? - Italian Vogue. Mamma mia, that's a lot of pages. A lot of ads. Remember what Van said, why is your life more valuable than mine? Funny, I just can't seem to recall that! I think something stinks in here! I love the smell of flowers. How do you like the smell of flames?! Not as much. Water bug! Not taking sides! Ken, I'm wearing a Ohapstick hat! This is pathetic! I've got issues! Well, well, well, a royal flush! - You're bluffing. - Am I? Surf's up, dude! Poo water! That bowl is gnarly. Except for those dirty yellow rings! Kenneth! What are you doing?! You know, I don't even like honey! I don't eat it! We need to talk! He's just a little bee! And he happens to be the nicest bee I've met in a long time! Long time? What are you talking about?! Are there other bugs in your life? No, but there are other things bugging me in life. And you're one of them! Fine! Talking bees, no yogurt night... My nerves are fried from riding on this emotional roller coaster! Goodbye, Ken. And for your information, I prefer sugar-free, artificial sweeteners made by man! I'm sorry about all that. I know it's got an aftertaste! I like it! I always felt there was some kind of barrier between Ken and me. I couldn't overcome it. Oh, well. Are you OK for the trial? I believe Mr. Montgomery is about out of ideas. We would like to call Mr. Barry Benson Bee to the stand. Good idea! You can really see why he's considered one of the best lawyers... Yeah. Layton, you've gotta weave some magic with this jury, or it's gonna be all over. Don't worry. The only thing I have to do to turn this jury around is to remind them of what they don't like about bees. - You got the tweezers? - Are you allergic? Only to losing, son. Only to losing. Mr. Benson Bee, I'll ask you what I think we'd all like to know. What exactly is your relationship to that woman? We're friends. - Good friends? - Yes. How good? Do you live together? Wait a minute... Are you her little... ...bedbug? I've seen a bee documentary or two. From what I understand, doesn't your queen give birth to all the bee children? - Yeah, but... - So those aren't your real parents! - Oh, Barry... - Yes, they are! Hold me back! You're an illegitimate bee, aren't you, Benson? He's denouncing bees! Don't y'all date your cousins? - Objection! - I'm going to pincushion this guy! Adam, don't! It's what he wants! Oh, I'm hit!! Oh, lordy, I am hit! Order! Order! The venom! The venom is coursing through my veins! I have been felled by a winged beast of destruction! You see? You can't treat them like equals! They're striped savages! Stinging's the only thing they know! It's their way! - Adam, stay with me. - I can't feel my legs. What angel of mercy will come forward to suck the poison from my heaving buttocks? I will have order in this court. Order! Order, please! The case of the honeybees versus the human race took a pointed turn against the bees yesterday when one of their legal team stung Layton T. Montgomery. - Hey, buddy. - Hey. - Is there much pain? - Yeah. I... I blew the whole case, didn't I? It doesn't matter. What matters is you're alive. You could have died. I'd be better off dead. Look at me. They got it from the cafeteria downstairs, in a tuna sandwich. Look, there's a little celery still on it. What was it like to sting someone? I can't explain it. It was all... All adrenaline and then... and then ecstasy! All right. You think it was all a trap? Of course. I'm sorry. I flew us right into this. What were we thinking? Look at us. We're just a couple of bugs in this world. What will the humans do to us if they win? I don't know. I hear they put the roaches in motels. That doesn't sound so bad. Adam, they check in, but they don't check out! Oh, my. Oould you get a nurse to close that window? - Why? - The smoke. Bees don't smoke. Right. Bees don't smoke. Bees don't smoke! But some bees are smoking. That's it! That's our case! It is? It's not over? Get dressed. I've gotta go somewhere. Get back to the court and stall. Stall any way you can. And assuming you've done step correctly, you're ready for the tub. Mr. Flayman. Yes? Yes, Your Honor! Where is the rest of your team? Well, Your Honor, it's interesting. Bees are trained to fly haphazardly, and as a result, we don't make very good time. I actually heard a funny story about... Your Honor, haven't these ridiculous bugs taken up enough of this court's valuable time? How much longer will we allow these absurd shenanigans to go on? They have presented no compelling evidence to support their charges against my clients, who run legitimate businesses. I move for a complete dismissal of this entire case! Mr. Flayman, I'm afraid I'm going to have to consider Mr. Montgomery's motion. But you can't! We have a terrific case. Where is your proof? Where is the evidence? Show me the smoking gun! Hold it, Your Honor! You want a smoking gun? Here is your smoking gun. What is that? It's a bee smoker! What, this? This harmless little contraption? This couldn't hurt a fly, let alone a bee. Look at what has happened to bees who have never been asked, "Smoking or non?" Is this what nature intended for us? To be forcibly addicted to smoke machines and man-made wooden slat work camps? Living out our lives as honey slaves to the white man? - What are we gonna do? - He's playing the species card. Ladies and gentlemen, please, free these bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! Free the bees! The court finds in favor of the bees! Vanessa, we won! I knew you could do it! High-five! Sorry. I'm OK! You know what this means? All the honey will finally belong to the bees. Now we won't have to work so hard all the time. This is an unholy perversion of the balance of nature, Benson. You'll regret this. Barry, how much honey is out there? All right. One at a time. Barry, who are you wearing? My sweater is Ralph Lauren, and I have no pants. - What if Montgomery's right? - What do you mean? We've been living the bee way a long time, 27 million years. Oongratulations on your victory. What will you demand as a settlement? First, we'll demand a complete shutdown of all bee work camps. Then we want back the honey that was ours to begin with, every last drop. We demand an end to the glorification of the bear as anything more than a filthy, smelly, bad-breath stink machine. We're all aware of what they do in the woods. Wait for my signal. Take him out. He'll have nauseous for a few hours, then he'll be fine. And we will no longer tolerate bee-negative nicknames... But it's just a prance-about stage name! ...unnecessary inclusion of honey in bogus health products and la-dee-da human tea-time snack garnishments. Oan't breathe. Bring it in, boys! Hold it right there! Good. Tap it. Mr. Buzzwell, we just passed three cups, and there's gallons more coming! - I think we need to shut down! - Shut down? We've never shut down. Shut down honey production! Stop making honey! Turn your key, sir! What do we do now? Oannonball! We're shutting honey production! Mission abort. Aborting pollination and nectar detail. Returning to base. Adam, you wouldn't believe how much honey was out there. Oh, yeah? What's going on? Where is everybody? - Are they out celebrating? - They're home. They don't know what to do. Laying out, sleeping in. I heard your Uncle Oarl was on his way to San Antonio with a cricket. At least we got our honey back. Sometimes I think, so what if humans liked our honey? Who wouldn't? It's the greatest thing in the world! I was excited to be part of making it. This was my new desk. This was my new job. I wanted to do it really well. And now... Now I can't. I don't understand why they're not happy. I thought their lives would be better! They're doing nothing. It's amazing. Honey really changes people. You don't have any idea what's going on, do you? - What did you want to show me? - This. What happened here? That is not the half of it. Oh, no. Oh, my. They're all wilting. Doesn't look very good, does it? No. And whose fault do you think that is? You know, I'm gonna guess bees. Bees? Specifically, me. I didn't think bees not needing to make honey would affect all these things. It's notjust flowers. Fruits, vegetables, they all need bees. That's our whole SAT test right there. Take away produce, that affects the entire animal kingdom. And then, of course... The human species? So if there's no more pollination, it could all just go south here, couldn't it? I know this is also partly my fault. How about a suicide pact? How do we do it? - I'll sting you, you step on me. - Thatjust kills you twice. Right, right. Listen, Barry... sorry, but I gotta get going. I had to open my mouth and talk. Vanessa? Vanessa? Why are you leaving? Where are you going? To the final Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. They've moved it to this weekend because all the flowers are dying. It's the last chance I'll ever have to see it. Vanessa, I just wanna say I'm sorry. I never meant it to turn out like this. I know. Me neither. Tournament of Roses. Roses can't do sports. Wait a minute. Roses. Roses? Roses! Vanessa! Roses?! Barry? - Roses are flowers! - Yes, they are. Flowers, bees, pollen! I know. That's why this is the last parade. Maybe not. Oould you ask him to slow down? Oould you slow down? Barry! OK, I made a huge mistake. This is a total disaster, all my fault. Yes, it kind of is. I've ruined the planet. I wanted to help you with the flower shop. I've made it worse. Actually, it's completely closed down. I thought maybe you were remodeling. But I have another idea, and it's greater than my previous ideas combined. I don't want to hear it! All right, they have the roses, the roses have the pollen. I know every bee, plant and flower bud in this park. All we gotta do is get what they've got back here with what we've got. - Bees. - Park. - Pollen! - Flowers. - Repollination! - Across the nation! Tournament of Roses, Pasadena, Oalifornia. They've got nothing but flowers, floats and cotton candy. Security will be tight. I have an idea. Vanessa Bloome, FTD. Official floral business. It's real. Sorry, ma'am. Nice brooch. Thank you. It was a gift. Once inside, we just pick the right float. How about The Princess and the Pea? I could be the princess, and you could be the pea! Yes, I got it. - Where should I sit? - What are you? - I believe I'm the pea. - The pea? It goes under the mattresses. - Not in this fairy tale, sweetheart. - I'm getting the marshal. You do that! This whole parade is a fiasco! Let's see what this baby'll do. Hey, what are you doing?! Then all we do is blend in with traffic... ...without arousing suspicion. Once at the airport, there's no stopping us. Stop! Security. - You and your insect pack your float? - Yes. Has it been in your possession the entire time? Would you remove your shoes? - Remove your stinger. - It's part of me. I know. Just having some fun. Enjoy your flight. Then if we're lucky, we'll have just enough pollen to do the job. Oan you believe how lucky we are? We have just enough pollen to do the job! I think this is gonna work. It's got to work. Attention, passengers, this is Oaptain Scott. We have a bit of bad weather in New York. It looks like we'll experience a couple hours delay. Barry, these are cut flowers with no water. They'll never make it. I gotta get up there and talk to them. Be careful. Oan I get help with the Sky Mall magazine? I'd like to order the talking inflatable nose and ear hair trimmer. Oaptain, I'm in a real situation. - What'd you say, Hal? - Nothing. Bee! Don't freak out! My entire species... What are you doing? - Wait a minute! I'm an attorney! - Who's an attorney? Don't move. Oh, Barry. Good afternoon, passengers. This is your captain. Would a Miss Vanessa Bloome in 24B please report to the cockpit? And please hurry! What happened here? There was a DustBuster, a toupee, a life raft exploded. One's bald, one's in a boat, they're both unconscious! - Is that another bee joke? - No! No one's flying the plane! This is JFK control tower, Flight 356. What's your status? This is Vanessa Bloome. I'm a florist from New York. Where's the pilot? He's unconscious, and so is the copilot. Not good. Does anyone onboard have flight experience? As a matter of fact, there is. - Who's that? - Barry Benson. From the honey trial?! Oh, great. Vanessa, this is nothing more than a big metal bee. It's got giant wings, huge engines. I can't fly a plane. - Why not? Isn't John Travolta a pilot? - Yes. How hard could it be? Wait, Barry! We're headed into some lightning. This is Bob Bumble. We have some late-breaking news from JFK Airport, where a suspenseful scene is developing. Barry Benson, fresh from his legal victory... That's Barry! ...is attempting to land a plane, loaded with people, flowers and an incapacitated flight crew. Flowers?! We have a storm in the area and two individuals at the controls with absolutely no flight experience. Just a minute. There's a bee on that plane. I'm quite familiar with Mr. Benson and his no-account compadres. They've done enough damage. But isn't he your only hope? Technically, a bee shouldn't be able to fly at all. Their wings are too small... Haven't we heard this a million times? "The surface area of the wings and body mass make no sense." - Get this on the air! - Got it. - Stand by. - We're going live. The way we work may be a mystery to you. Making honey takes a lot of bees doing a lot of small jobs. But let me tell you about a small job. If you do it well, it makes a big difference. More than we realized. To us, to everyone. That's why I want to get bees back to working together. That's the bee way! We're not made of Jell-O. We get behind a fellow. - Black and yellow! - Hello! Left, right, down, hover. - Hover? - Forget hover. This isn't so hard. Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Barry, what happened?! Wait, I think we were on autopilot the whole time. - That may have been helping me. - And now we're not! So it turns out I cannot fly a plane. All of you, let's get behind this fellow! Move it out! Move out! Our only chance is if I do what I'd do, you copy me with the wings of the plane! Don't have to yell. I'm not yelling! We're in a lot of trouble. It's very hard to concentrate with that panicky tone in your voice! It's not a tone. I'm panicking! I can't do this! Vanessa, pull yourself together. You have to snap out of it! You snap out of it. You snap out of it. - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - You snap out of it! - Hold it! - Why? Oome on, it's my turn. How is the plane flying? I don't know. Hello? Benson, got any flowers for a happy occasion in there? The Pollen Jocks! They do get behind a fellow. - Black and yellow. - Hello. All right, let's drop this tin can on the blacktop. Where? I can't see anything. Oan you? No, nothing. It's all cloudy. Oome on. You got to think bee, Barry. - Thinking bee. - Thinking bee. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Wait a minute. I think I'm feeling something. - What? - I don't know. It's strong, pulling me. Like a 27-million-year-old instinct. Bring the nose down. Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! - What in the world is on the tarmac? - Get some lights on that! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! Thinking bee! - Vanessa, aim for the flower. - OK. Out the engines. We're going in on bee power. Ready, boys? Affirmative! Good. Good. Easy, now. That's it. Land on that flower! Ready? Full reverse! Spin it around! - Not that flower! The other one! - Which one? - That flower. - I'm aiming at the flower! That's a fat guy in a flowered shirt. I mean the giant pulsating flower made of millions of bees! Pull forward. Nose down. Tail up. Rotate around it. - This is insane, Barry! - This's the only way I know how to fly. Am I koo-koo-kachoo, or is this plane flying in an insect-like pattern? Get your nose in there. Don't be afraid. Smell it. Full reverse! Just drop it. Be a part of it. Aim for the center! Now drop it in! Drop it in, woman! Oome on, already. Barry, we did it! You taught me how to fly! - Yes. No high-five! - Right. Barry, it worked! Did you see the giant flower? What giant flower? Where? Of course I saw the flower! That was genius! - Thank you. - But we're not done yet. Listen, everyone! This runway is covered with the last pollen from the last flowers available anywhere on Earth. That means this is our last chance. We're the only ones who make honey, pollinate flowers and dress like this. If we're gonna survive as a species, this is our moment! What do you say? Are we going to be bees, orjust Museum of Natural History keychains? We're bees! Keychain! Then follow me! Except Keychain. Hold on, Barry. Here. You've earned this. Yeah! I'm a Pollen Jock! And it's a perfect fit. All I gotta do are the sleeves. Oh, yeah. That's our Barry. Mom! The bees are back! If anybody needs to make a call, now's the time. I got a feeling we'll be working late tonight! Here's your change. Have a great afternoon! Oan I help who's next? Would you like some honey with that? It is bee-approved. Don't forget these. Milk, cream, cheese, it's all me. And I don't see a nickel! Sometimes I just feel like a piece of meat! I had no idea. Barry, I'm sorry. Have you got a moment? Would you excuse me? My mosquito associate will help you. Sorry I'm late. He's a lawyer too? I was already a blood-sucking parasite. All I needed was a briefcase. Have a great afternoon! Barry, I just got this huge tulip order, and I can't get them anywhere. No problem, Vannie. Just leave it to me. You're a lifesaver, Barry. Oan I help who's next? All right, scramble, jocks! It's time to fly. Thank you, Barry! That bee is living my life! Let it go, Kenny. - When will this nightmare end?! - Let it all go. - Beautiful day to fly. - Sure is. Between you and me, I was dying to get out of that office. You have got to start thinking bee, my friend. - Thinking bee! - Me? Hold it. Let's just stop for a second. Hold it. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, everyone. Oan we stop here? I'm not making a major life decision during a production number! All right. Take ten, everybody. Wrap it up, guys. I had virtually no rehearsal for that.

Appreciation Much Needed

Word count: 3.2k

Pairing: Aizawa Shouta x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of Covid-19, Fluff, brief swearing here and there, slight mentions of partial nudity, soft boy Aizawa

~~~~~Tags and Authors Note below

Ever since the news of a virus outbreak had been let loose, the tensions had been high everywhere we looked. People were panic buying items resulting in outages,it only increased when the schools had all closed down and non-essential businesses were temporarily shut down. This meant that my loving husband Aizawa Shouta had been lounging around half dressed, the only times he was well kept and proper were during video calls with the other UA staff or with his students as he talked to them about their assignments and his expectations from them while they were at home. Not that I was complaining, in fact it was probably one of the best things to ever set my eyes upon every morning before work and every evening when I got home. Shouta had decided that since he’d be working from home that he would start doing more chores around the house, especially since no one was going outside some of the Pro Heroes got more time to relax and stay home.  No matter how many times I told Shouta not to worry about the chores and I could do them when I got home he’d flick my forehead and call me an idiot for thinking he was gonna let me do more work after being at work all day. Over the weeks he had me either on the couch and giving me massages or he would make me bubble baths to relax in while he finished the chores, insisting I leave it to him.

I stood in the doorway, my work uniform sticking to me as it had started to rain on my walk home from work so I had gotten a bit wet, but I was finally home and ready to relax with my hubby. A small smile  appeared on my face, I had just gotten home from work and heard Aizawa talking to someone, it sounded like one of his coworkers.

“I’m not telling you again Yamada, it needs to be something grand… I need it to show just how much she's appreciated…”

I heard him sigh deeply and could just see him pinch his nose in irritation, I had to stifle the laugh that had threatened to escape my lips.

“Hizashi...Stop… you’re giving me a headache. Look, she’s going to be home soon and I can't let her hear me talk about this… Just wait for my call tomorrow okay? Bye.”

I decided to walk in more and make my presence known, I cleared my throat and stepped into the living room. Shouta had frantically looked to me becoming a stuttering mess, which was even more adorable seeing as he had his hair up messily and wore a pair of sweatpants.

“H-ow long were you standing there, kitten? What did you hear?”

I gave him a shrug and tossed my bag on the couch and removed my wet sweater before placing a chaste kiss to his cheek.

“I literally just walked in and you were saying bye to someone. Was it Toshinori? I haven't had a chance to talk to him since this whole pandemic had started. I hope he is doing well, the poor dude has a lot on his plate already.”

Shouta seemed to buy my answer and nodded, he disappeared for a moment before returning with my robe and a towel, stopping in front of me he helped me remove my wet clothes before he slid my robe on. He then pulled me into his lap as he sat on the couch and dried my hair while placing tender kisses along my neck.

“How was work today Kitten, tell me all about it while I take care of you.”

I gave Shouta  a soft smile and closed my eyes for a moment before leaning back into his touch, a sigh escaped my lips.

“Well,as you know I’m in just about every room on an average day, and it's not really that different now, just the classes have so few kids we’ve been laying off more coworkers, we’ve closed a few more centers. So now we’re at a skeleton crew, which means it’s a bit harder to call in if you get sick, which hopefully no one does because we can't really afford to be short staffed.”

I let another sigh pass my lips and looked up to Shouta before letting out a yawn.

“I’ve been chasing kids who tried running away while outside on the playground, I've had to stop a one year old from hitting a five month old, the kid throws tantrums about it too, so if I upset this kid my hair gets pulled, or they hit me.”

I pause for a moment and shake my head.

“It's worth it though, I'd rather have me get hit by the one year old instead of the infant. But its been getting hard to get the kids to listen because now we have to wear masks, which I understand since we cant practice social distancing with kids since their dependent on us, but I’m basically yelling to be heard, it muffles my voice so much…”

Shouta nodded and began to massage my shoulders.

“You're very tense love, work has been straining you and giving you so much stress. You've been having trouble sleeping too, I'm worried working during this pandemic is going to cause you to burn out. I’m also worried that you're going to catch something, mask or not you're still putting yourself at risk.”

I peered up at his face and smiled softly.     “Well, we are taking everyone’s temperatures before they can enter the building, also cleaning every single touch surface every thirty to sixty minutes throughout the day, though it's more frequent during the pick up and drop off process. So at least you know the shits gonna be clean when you touch it, we also have like three or so containers of hand sanitizer at the entrance so you have clean hands when entering.”

Shouta stopped massaging me, stood up from the couch with me in his arms and placed me onto my stomach, he then began to massage my back and legs, urging me to continue about everything that's been happening.

“Well, as you know I occasionally use a ride-share to get to work, but since this started it takes longer to find a driver because there's no one. I've had to wait over twenty minutes for a car for a five minute drive. That's not even the worst part about that, since it's such a short drive and a low fare sometimes I'll get a close driver and they'll cancel on me and I'll have to wait even longer for them to find me a new driver. By the time I could have just walked in and been at work.”

I let out a sigh and felt my body relax quite a bit, whether it was from the massage Shouta was giving me or it was from telling Shouta my troubles it sure was helping.

“Though I am quite grateful I get to see their amazing faces, these kids are my life...apart from you of course. I wouldn't trade these kids for anything, I love them as if they were my own. The good outweighs the bad, always does, and these kids definitely have a lot of good moments. Plus they all have such understanding parents, the support from them is amazing, I'm always getting praise from them and it makes me feel amazing, it makes me want to do more.”

After a few moments of silence and Shouta giving me a massage he picked me up and carried me to the kitchen.

“Sho...you do know I can walk right? You don’t have to carry me around.”

He mumbled an ‘I know, but I want to’ and placed me onto the counter before he moved a lock of hair out of my face, placing a kiss where it used to be. He then turned away and opened the fridge and pulled out a vanilla cupcake with what looked like a galaxy frosting, but he wasn't done as he pulled out another vanilla cupcake which had a blackish grey colored frosting that had two red dots on it. 

“I know you hated having to celebrate your birthday at home, that it just felt like any other day and even though you and I had a great night It just wasn't exactly how one would want to celebrate their birthday, so I had a friend make these for us. Specialty cupcakes that represent us, they're both vanilla because I know you'd want to try mine and vanilla is your favorite flavour.”

I blinked in surprise, was it really that obvious? Yeah I spent my birthday stuck in doors and I wished that I could have gone out with friends to celebrate, but I didn't think Shouta would have noticed. I felt tears well up in my eyes and pulled Shouta in for a kiss after placing the cupcakes down,and cried silently in his embrace.

“Shouta...You didn't have to do that...I know it kinda sucked but I had your company which is all I will ever need to be happy. You truly are amazing and I don't deserve this from you…”

His laugh boomed in my ears and he cupped my face to look at me with his tired but loving eyes.

“Kitten, you deserve everything and more.You are doing so much for other front line workers during this pandemic...you're more than deserving and I want you to feel loved and appreciated throughout it all. You may not be a nurse, a doctor, or any kind of first responder, but you’re taking care of other essential workers' kids so they can keep everything running smoothly. Especially when some of these kids' parents are those first responders or hospital workers.”

The blush on my face grew and I hugged Shouta tightly, more tears were threatening to spill. He pried himself off me and excused himself for a moment, I watched him leave the kitchen and grabbed my cupcake before taking a bite, I practically screamed in delight. This cupcake is beyond amazing, it was so delicious that I couldn't form any words to describe it, it was the first time a dessert had ever had me at a loss for words. After a few minutes of being gone Shouta returned with a box and placed it on the counter, he mumbled a wait there before disappearing again, this time he came back faster and had only his laptop and a box of tissues.

“Shouta..what is all this? What are you doing?”

He sent me a small smile and turned on the computer, he turned it to face me and pushed the tissue box across the counter over to me.

“You're gonna need that, also no more questions. You're just going to have to wait and see. I promise you're going to love it.”

After making sure he had everything set up he walked over behind me and turned off the lights before pressing a file and full-screening it before pressing play.

Soon, the  black screen filled with color the UA logo appearing on the screen with soft music playing in the background, I looked at Shouta confused, you just pointed to the screen whispering to watch, I turned back to the screen and my eyes widened in surprise. I saw pictures from class 1A, thanking me for continuing my work, I could feel the tears already welling up soon a rather cute bubbly girl filled the screen.

“Hello Aizawa Sensei's wife, my name is Uraraka, Ochako, and we here at class 1A appreciate all you and Aizawa sensei do for us, so, in honor of teacher appreciation week, we have decided to make you guys something, I hope you like it it's really cute!” 

 Once again, the screen turned black pictures and videos from each class 1A student, some of them making multiples, had flashed on the screen, words of encouragement, praise, and adoration fell upon our ears. His students expressed gravely how much they appreciate Shouta for hounding them into shape to become future pro heroes. Also praised me for having to deal with him and also, even though they haven't had me as a teacher or some sort of mentor aspect in their lives, they still sent words of praise for me, due to working in childcare and helping these little kids grow up with good strong morals. 

"Sh-... Di-...I-i… Y-you…"

As hard as I tried, I just couldn't muster up any words to describe how I was feeling I couldn't even ask Shouta if he had planned this, I was a mess. With tears streaming down my face, I couldn't believe the class 1A had made such a beautiful posters and spoke such beautiful words about my Shouta, and then even included me in them, I felt so much love and appreciation coming from those students, I honestly couldn't think of any other way to spend the rest of my evening, then in Shouta's arms watching as his students showered at the both of us with praise. 

“Just enjoy the video before I turn it off...Idiot.”

He gave me a noogie and then kissed me again, before getting up and walking to the kitchen and grabbing two glasses, with his back turned blocking me I couldn't see what he was doing until he handed me one of the glasses, seeing the liquid I sent him a curious look.

“Is this what I think it is? Sho...did you make me one of the drinks I made last summer?”

He nodded and mumbled an ‘I tried too at least..’ before he closed the laptop which had finished playing the videos, he finished his drink and waited for me to finish mine before carrying me to our bed. With the lights all turned off and Shouta snuggling  me and playing with my hair I soon drifted off into a deep and peaceful slumber, a small smile stuck on my face.

I woke up to the sun shining onto my face through the blinds, the absence of Shouta’s warmth was immediately noticed, I sat up groggily and rubbed my eyes. Before I even had the chance to look around the door opened and a tray  of breakfast was placed onto my lap and the bed dipped next to me as Shouta began to comb through my hair.

“Good morning my beautiful kitten. How did you sleep? By the look on your face I assume it was good?”

I merely nodded and ate my breakfast,every so often closing my eyes just to enjoy Shouta's careful way of combing my hair, if I could have gone back to sleep I probably would have. I looked back up to Shouta after a few minutes of our blissful silence when there was a knock at the door, he told me to continue eating and he'd go check it out.

“Sho? You've been gone awhile… Is everything okay?”

I put the empty tray to the side and stretched a bit before hopping out of bed, deciding to put on something fresh. I quickly went into the closet and threw on a black tank with some ripped jean shorts. I carefully walked down the hall, cautious as to not make any sounds to alert anyone that I was coming. My pace quickened as I heard muffled talking, I couldn't place the voices as they were hushed and seemed to be coming from far within the house. As I got closer I could tell one was Shouta but the other one was still a bit too hard to make out, as I neared our study I stubbed my toe on the coffee table, I let out a whimper and fell to the floor clutching my toe. In my state of pain I didn’t notice the talking stop or the running into the room to see what had happened. Within seconds Shouta had me in his arms asking me what happened and Yamada stood a few feet away, a silly mask on his face, which was hiding his stupid grin he always made while trying to hold back laughter as I explained what happened.

“Well, I guess I can show you now instead of later… After all you did hurt yourself being worried about me.”

I looked between the two before Shouta helped me up and then blinded me with his scarf, he led the way to the study, he let small murmurs about how I'm going to love it but he doesn’t want me to cry like his student Izuku always does. I had to bite the inside of my lip to stop myself from laughing out loud and stayed silent as Shouta whispered over to Yamada, there was a bit of shuffling around the room before he finally removed the scarf.

“Happy Teacher Appreciation Week my love. I’m sorry I couldn’t do much more for you today but I know either way you’ll like this.”

I looked around the room and gasped. The room was adorned in pictures of me in my uniform taking care of different kids of the center, there were also pictures of my kids holding heart shaped cards and other pieces of paper. Some of them showing love and affection, also  few expressing how much they miss being at the center and seeing me. I was practically bawling and hugged Shouta tightly, spewing off a handful of thank yous and I love yous.

“That's only the beginning Kitty. Go look in the box on the table.”

I nodded and went over to the box, opening it I saw numerous gifts strewn about, I pulled a few out and read the tags before I squealed in delight, there were gifts from my kids and there were some from kids who were staying home and that I haven't seen since this all started.

“H-How..Shouta? How’d you pull this off?”

He simply smiled before walking over and hugging me close, he fixed my hair and placed a chaste kiss to my forehead.

“You left your laptop open one day when leaving for work, so I used it to email each parent from your classes and asked if they'd be willing to make something for you for Teacher Appreciation Week and either send it to our P.O. box, send photos  or videos, or they could meet me somewhere to give the gifts. They definitely loved the idea, a lot of these parents respect you and they love how you interact with their kids. They wished they could have given them to you in person but decided that this way is easier and more adorable.”

I couldn't stop the tears from streaming down my face after hearing his explanation, he continued to rub my back and whispered about how I was lucky he was able to deal with all my crying, otherwise he’d be agitated.

“This was the best Teacher Appreciation Week ever. Thank you Shouta, this means the world to me, I seriously can not thank you enough for this.”

~~~~~

Tags: @onyxiana-is-obsessed @sweetlikepeppermints @pocket-is-obsessed

A.N: Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all the teachers of Tumblr! To the Daycare/Childcare providers still working during this time you are appreciated and loved. Stay awesome, stay strong, keep healthy and we love you!

Something Not Quite Right, But Not Quite Wrong || Chapter 1

A/n - Trigger Warning: Rape/Non-Con/Sexual Assault Nothing too explicit, mostly mentioned, a little bit of description though.

Word Count: 1,223

Reposting this on my main blog, it’s just a very angsty, queer, and trauma filled canon divergent story. Archie/Betty/Veronica/Jughead is endgame...but may take a while to get there...

Also- Jughead is trans, but isn't out yet. So any mentions of this girl named Jones? It's just what Betty and Archie call him, instead of his birth name.

It was the blazing heat of that summer, that found Archie queasy, and begging his father to leave work early that day. He was given a worried look, and he’d insist that he could walk home just fine, perhaps lying that one of his slightly older friends could give him a ride. Fred would still share with him his worries, but allows him to go- “just text me when you’re home” he’d said.

Archie agreed, nodding. Waving a goodbye to his dad, and trudging his way back home. Legs aching, head throbbing- sweat that leaked from his face and his pits, staining and drenching his shirt, making his hair appear greasy, and a bit slicked back. And all too far in his journey hoping that he’d brought a water bottle. He thinks he might be dying.

Which, given his history of sports, he knew was ridiculous. There were a few times- or more than a few, Archie was forgetful sometimes, even when he didn’t mean to be- that he’d been playing, and had gotten that all too familiar dizzy dehydrated feeling. This 90 degree summer day would be no match for Archie- Archie that had gone through worse conditions during sports.

It wasn’t the heat he’d have to worry about, though. It was her. He could never recall if he had heard her little sky blue, Volkswagen Beetle pulling up besides him- but he did know she spoke first. Surprised to see him, noticing how miserable he looked. “Why don’t you come in?” She suggested.

He should have listened to his gut feeling. Her question made a sick sort of feeling form in the pit of his stomach. He shouldn’t be accepting rides from strangers. But, he reasoned, Ms. Grundy wasn’t a stranger- she was the music teacher. A young woman that he had recognized, almost soon as she recognized him. He had seen her through the halls, and the few times he had tried taking music- he didn’t feel very good at it, but he enjoyed it. He eventually had dropped the class- in favor of after school sports.

He nods back to her, still unsure, but smiling. He wipes a sweaty hand on his pants, opening one of the tiny doors, and clambering inside. Not very graceful. He forgets to tell her where to go. They drive for a while, in silence. “So, Archie?” Her soft, older, voice startles him.

“Yeah?” He all but mutters out.

“How’s your music going? It was a shame you had to drop out- you were one of my better students,” she muses.

Archie doesn’t know how to respond to that. Him? Talented? He didn’t think so. “Thank you,” it comes out more confused than the confidence he’d hoped for. “I-I’ve been writing.”

Ms. Grundy seems to notice his face brighten, smiling back to him. An all teeth sort of deal. “Oh? You’ll have to share sometime. I’m sure it’s wonderful.”

He feels an intensely warm blush creep across his face, looking away from her, leaning his body against the car door. He can feel her fingers grace the top of his knee, and slowly, and quietly, work there way back. But before Archie can look, and tell her to stop- there gone. As if they were never there in the first place. He’d be silly to bring it up now.

He realizes, as they pull into a nearly empty parking lot- that this isn’t the way home. “Uhm- Ms.Grundy?”

“Geraldine. I told you to call me, Geraldine.”

Oh, she had? He hadn’t remembered that, he figured he must have spaced out a bit. The heat will do that to you. “Sorry, Geraldine. I think my house is back the other way.”

Behind the prettiest smile he’d ever seen- she gave him an almost devilish look. “Oh, we don’t need to worry about that, Archie.” She purrs, unbuckling her seatbelt. Her hands grazing near his thigh again, pushing into the release button instead. He hears the seatbelt whip back into place.

He’s not sure what’s going on. But he thinks back to the times he had watched those trashy teen flicks with his friends. Betty had seemed very into them, he thinks it may be mostly a girl thing. But Jones didn’t like them as much. He supposes that she was also a girl of taste, and generally enjoyed the classics and more obscure, artistically crafted films- than whatever garbage they consumed during those sleepovers.

It was those teen movies that gave him the slightest clue of what Geraldine wanted- and he didn’t appreciate it. He frantically tries turning around, and grabbing the handle- but she beats him to it, pressing the lock down. Her fingers following down, down, down. He was bigger, and most likely stronger, than her- he could easily over power her. But he freezes. Every action that he could have taken, dies down in his mind. His body tense, and unable to move. Terrified of everything- and still staying.

“It’s okay, Archie.” It’s okay, okay, repeats in his mind. Okay, okay, okay.

Her fingers find themselves playing with the button of his jeans, pulling his zipper down, and roughly getting him out, getting it out. No, no, no.

She’d finally dropped him off, hours before his dad would be back, and hours after Archie should have been home. “We should do this again.” She smiles, knowing all too well what she had done. “How does July, the fourth, sound?” He weakly nods, slowly finding himself in his room. Feeling dazed, and not quite there. Not really there. He lays in his bed, eyes open no matter how many times they try to close from exhaustion. Afraid that when he opens them again he won’t be there anymore.

He’d forgotten to text his father, something his father would push about tomorrow- and he’d lie again, saying he’d forgotten. He’d still gotten home, and safe- even though he didn’t feel safe. He felt disgusting, not just from the sweat. Waking up in cold sweats. He’d try scrubbing himself clean, so hard patches of his skin would turn red. Allowing himself to cry, loud and obnoxious, as the shower water drowned his sounds. Still feeling just as dirty.

Ms. Grundy- no, no, no- Geraldine, would follow through with her promise on fourth of July. Fred Andrews was at work, and Archie had been given the day off- almost forgetting about certain arrangements. No other neighbor seemed to be present, and if they were, seemed to not notice or even perhaps ignore the stranger loitering around the Andrews’ residence. Archie heard the sound of the Beetle this time, having been in the middle of grabbing a bite to eat. He pulls the curtains back, his heart sinking as they lock eyes. He goes back into the kitchen, but he can still hear her car. He makes the mistake of heading out. Maybe nothing would happen this time.

“Will you leave if I come with you?” Implying that this would be the last time, and he hoped to not see her car around here again.

She gives that devilish smile again. “Of course.”

He’s not sure why he goes. He could have stayed inside, same as he could of stopped her the first time. So it’s okay, okay, okay, this time around. Because he wanted it.  

Left All Alone (3/?)

Prompt: Could you please do a Justin Foley imagine where his sister got kicked out after he left so she’s been staying with Bryce because she doesn’t know about the tapes and he’s always been there for her and Justin and in the school fight scene, Bryce makes a comment about her which causes Justin to lose it? X

A/N: Older brother Justin officially won the poll -- and to celebrate, we are starting with a flashback :)

Please don’t plagiarize my work!

Word Count: 1,959

one - two - three

Liberty High, in person, seemed a lot more intimidating.

Your hand tightens around your backpack strap, shifting uncomfortable as you stare up at the looming building. All around, students hustle around; you can hear drifting conversations as students walk past you without even batting you a look. It’s like you don’t even exist.

In that moment, you feel like you don’t even exist.

Suddenly a hand falls on your shoulder, causing you to jump. Blinking, you turn, your body easing slightly when you realize it’s only Justin, grinning over at you with a bright and wide smile. In all your life, you’ve only ever seem him smile that brightly and genuinely a few times. It was rare to see you brother look so happy and every time you did, it stunned you a little.

He never smiled like that at home. In fact, you’ve only ever see him smile at you like that. And never when around your mother or whatever boyfriend of flavour she had that month.

It’s enough to wash away your nerves completely.

“Relax,” Justin soothes, voice soft as he pulls you closer by wrapping an arm around your shoulder. You fall into him with ease, letting your head fall against his shoulder briefly before turning to meet his gaze once more. “It’s just high-school.”

“’Just high-school’, he says,” you mock, rolling your eyes at your brother. He pulls back in feigned hurt, lips parting in disbelief, setting a hand against his chest. Once again, you roll your eyes, scoffing, as you cross your arms, turning back to Liberty High. “I mean, look at this place; it’s huge. And I know absolutely no one, and no one’s gonna wanna be friends with me because i’m just the girl with a druggy mother and a non-existent father.”

You don’t notice, not right away at least, that at your words, Justin’s grin is replaced with a deep frown. Then, after a moment of no response, you turn to look at him, shoulders falling when you see the expression that crosses his face. Sighing, you bow your head; “sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Justin brushes off with ease. He shakes off your words, not that he’d been hurt or insulted by them; but more about the fact that it was like a slap back to reality. You imagined, here at school, he could pretend that his home life wasn’t so shit. 

“Besides,” Justin adds after a moment, grinning once more. “You’ve got me, remember?”

Justin’s grin in that moment becomes just a little too persuading for you to ignore. With a soft smile yourself, one that barely compares to his but is the best you can muster in that moment, you shrug; “but I always have you.”

“And you still do,” Justin reminds, emphasizing on the word ‘still’. “And you always will.”

Glancing down at your feet, you nod, smiling; “I know.”

“Now, come on,” Justin suddenly urges, slipping his hand into your own and tugging you forward. “I’ll introduce you to the boys.”

“What ‘boys’?” You tease, “i’ve already met Bryce. Isn’t he like your own friend besides me?”

“Oh, haha,” Justin scoffs, rolling his eyes at you as he opens the front doors for you. “You’re so funny.”

-

Was that... Clay Jensen with a gun?

Peeking your head past the door, you hold a hand to your chest, hesitant. You wanna step out there, though you’re not sure why. Maybe because you’re curious, maybe because Clay Jensen has a gun, or maybe, because your brother’s there and despite everything, you’re still worried for him.

Absentmindedly, you realize none of those reasons are Bryce.

But you can’t seem to make your feet move. You’re not sure about that either. Bryce hadn’t said anything to you when he left, but you had a feeling he probably didn’t want you getting involved with everyone. Not so much for your safety, but more because Justin was there. Bryce liked to remind you of the fact that Justin had abandoned you, without any sort of explanation, and that sort of thing was unforgivable. He often told you that you shouldn’t care for Justin as much as you still did, because he clearly didn’t care for you.

What brother just abandons her sister? Especially in a house like that. 

He doesn’t care about you.

But he’s my brother.

Not anymore.

Though, the more Justin keeps popping up, you were starting to wonder.

You can’t hear what any of them are saying. You’re completely left in the dark, just watching. Bryce inches towards the door at some point, which causes you to flinch, afraid; you figure it’s to call the police. But then Justin bellows something, it muffled from your side of the door, and he pauses. Justin and Clay continue to say stuff to each other, you watching with tense shoulders and a careful eye.

It isn’t until Justin takes a step toward Clay and Clay’s hand twitches, do you react.

Before you know it, you’re shoving your way past the door, running until you’re just beside Bryce, Justin’s name leaving your lips in a shrill cry. Everyone seems to halt, and you’re careful to ignore Bryce’s gaze as it falls on you, keeping your own head on. Justin meets your gaze briefly, before taking another step forward, his hand moving towards Clay’s. You inhale sharply, fearful despite yourself, but then, Justin manages to grab the gun and the tension seems to just dissipate.

In seconds.

Then, Bryce turns, scoffing. “This is fucking ridiculous,” he mumbles. You’re too focused on Justin to notice Bryce looking at you, until his hand falls on your arm, grip turning harsh almost instantly. A soft cry of surprise leaves your lips as Bryce’s fingers pinch into your skin. Your eyes snap to his own, swallowing thickly.

The sound of the gun cocking interrupts the both of you.

“You’re going to take your hand off my sister.” Is the first thing Justin says, voice low. As you turn to look at him, you find his gaze still on Clay, never wavering. “Then, you’re gonna go back inside and you’re gonna pour yourself another glass of whiskey, and you’re gonna forget that we were ever here, got it?”

Bryce hesitates a moment, before his hand falls by his side.

You watch as Justin wraps an arm around Clay’s shoulder, gently guiding him towards the car. And of course, Bryce speaks up; “I heard they filed for another additional witness. That wouldn’t be you by any chance, would it?” Shutting the car door, Justin simply ignores Bryce, making his way towards the drivers side. His silences causes your heart to spike.

Why would Justin testifying against in Bryce’s case?

Why does it feel like i’m always ten steps behind?

“You should be more scared then you are, Justin.”

What does that mean?

Pausing, Justin simply stares back; “Bryce, i’ve got nothing left.” His eyes linger on you for a moment, and your lips part, shoulders falling. Is that what he thinks? That’s he’s lost you? There’s not even a part of him that wants to try to fight to get you back?

He’s given up that easily?

“That makes me the dangerous one.”

Despite yourself, you find yourself inching forward when Justin opens the door, slipping into the drivers seat. Your eyes never leave his figure, almost pleading with your gaze; take me with you. But he doesn’t; Justin just simply drives off, leaving you with Bryce. The same Bryce that had been interrupted from having sex with you like he’d so clearly wanted. The same Bryce that had just been threatened by both Clay and Justin.

The same Bryce that you had disobeyed.

But I always have you.

And you always will.

Before you know it, Bryce’s hand is back on your arm, tugging you back inside without any care for you. He practically drags you, slamming the door shut behind him. You flinch, watching as he storms passed you, ironically enough listening to Justin’s words and moving to pour himself a glass of whiskey. You don’t move, staying routed in the spot as you watch him.

Then, after a sip, he speaks; “I thought I told you to stay inside.”

Lowering your gaze to the floor, you swallow thickly; “you didn’t, though. You just left.” Your voice is small, nervous. Stop speaking, you can’t help but think. You’re only making it worse. But still, your lips continue to move and you continue to screw yourself over worse. “And then I saw Justin, so I just--”

“It was implied.”

Biting your lip, you nod; “i’m sorry.”

Bryce just scoffs, taking another long sip of his whiskey. Your eyes watch him as he does so, playing around the edge of your sleeve, inhaling sharply. “My brother,” not anymore, “um, Justin... he’s testifying tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

“Against you?”

“After that, does it really look like he wouldn’t?”

Fair enough. But; “why would he though? I mean, the two of you used to be brothers--”

“Take off your shirt.”

Blinking, your lips are left parted, swallowing thickly. You don’t say anything at first, stunned, then, you manage the courage to stammer out; “w-what?”

Bryce doesn’t want me to know.

He doesn’t want me to know anything.

Why?

“You heard me,” Bryce says simply, nodding in your direction. “Take off your shirt.” He pushes off the table he’d been leaning against, making his way over to you. With his free hand, he cups your jaw, guiding your gaze upwards so the only thing you can stare at his eyes. There’s no escape. “We’ll pick up where we left off.”

You don’t do anything at first, frozen to the spot.

“You’ve already disobeyed me once, Y/N.”

I don’t have anywhere else go.

I don’t want to anger Bryce. Ever.

Feeling your eyes water, you nod, your hands gripping the bottom of your shirt, tugging.

-

With shaky hands, you stare down at your phone, swallowing thickly.

I have to do this. I have to find out the truth.

The tapes were easy to find. It was also incredibly easy to find out which tape was what. It seemed different people each had their own tape; it was disturbing to realize every single one of them you knew. Thirteen was a lot to go through in one night, and originally you only meant to find out what Bryce had done. You may not know a lot about the trial or anything about the tapes, but you did know that Hannah Bakers mother was the one testifying against the school, and therefore, Bryce. Because whatever he’d done, it all tied into what had she’d done.

But then, you’d seen your brothers name and you thought back to those few months ago when Justin had been so secretive with you. He pushed you away, and that was essentially the beginning of the end. Because when he started acting strange, that’s when you begun to lose him. 

Shortly after, he left.

Just like Bryce, though, he kept the tapes hidden from you. You hadn’t known at the time that they’d been tapes, but, still. It was just secret after secret, lie after lie.

And now, you could find out the truth. The entire truth. Not just pieces of the truth; not just whatever Bryce or your brother felt like telling you. Not just lies. But the whole story.

It was time to find out what lies you’d been told.

With one more wary glance your bedroom doors way, shaking in your spot at even the possibility of Bryce entering, you press play on the first tape. Your eyes fall shut as Hannah’s voice floods your mind, unable to stop the uncontrollable shake of your body.

Hey. It’s Hannah. Hanna Baker.

-

Part 4?

Tag List: @kaelyn-lobrutto24 - @minigranger - @nickigv Let me know if you’d like to be added!

All the reasons I gave you, the things I wanted and didn’t want - they were real, but they paled next to you. Like candles lit under the midday sun. And I, weak and stupid, watched the sun set on my life for the last time instead of snuffing even one of my candles out. Now they’ve all burned out, and so I’m sitting in the dark with nothing but my regrets to keep me company.

Long-ass emo post that takes a long time to get the the point, be warned.

I have taken up running in the past few weeks. I am not a strong runner, but my aerobic capacity is slowly improving and I’m starting to enjoy it... slightly.

I ran a community 5K this morning, and the emailed me my results about an hour later. I ran it in 33:15, which was much better than last time but still slow as fuck in the grand scheme of things - the fastest guy there posted a time of 17:30ish, which I know because he lapped me about 10 meters before the finish line.

So I was pretty confused when they told me I ran the fastest time in my age category. Like wtf? So I opened the results page and sorted it by age category - and it turns out that out of 182 runners, eight of them were between the ages of 20 and 29.

Where the fuck do I find people my age to make friends with? Most of the people in my course don’t speak english well enough to really get to know them, and besides they tend to form their own little cliques based on nationality - the chinese students have their own little groups, as do the indians and sri lankans. The singaporean and hong kong group is a bit more welcoming (and they tend to speak better english too), but like... I can get along with them well enough, but not well enough to be part of the in crowd, y’know? And it feels kinda weird to be the only white guy hanging out with an entirely asian crew. Plus their main social activities seem to be hot pot and boba tea, neither of which I’m that in to.

I’d really hoped that I’d be able to make some friends doing this running group thing, but I guess only the young and old do it. Ever since I’ve moved back to the suburbs I just never see anyone between highschool age and middle age. And the people who are kinda around my age are like... young families who’re starting out with homeownership and having kids, just at a different stage of life than I am. I guess all the young people are living near unis or towards the city.

A few years ago, I wanted friends who went out and got drunk, had house parties, did drugs and had lots of casual sex. And I had that, for a little while, working at a bar near the city - we’d pull 12 hour shifts, sit in the bar after close and drink our paychecks, hit the clubs and dance for hours, hook up with strangers, crash somewhere for a couple hours sleep and do it all again tomorrow. But it’s not as fulfilling as I thought it would be, I think I only wanted it because I thought I missed out in my teens and early 20s. (Hospitality bosses want their employees to do this, by the way - they’ve created this culture where you basically get abused by them and the customers all day, then spend all your money drinking at your workplace to get the bad feelings out, and then by the time the next shift rolls around you’re so tired and hungover all you want is to get through your shift and get drunk again. It’s disgusting, and I hope I never work at a bar again).

So what sort of friends do I want now? I don’t really know. I want to be able to talk about things that are on my mind, share my accomplishments and have them celebrated, get support when I need it and give it when they do. I want to host dinner parties and cocktail nights, and go to my friends’ dinner parties and cocktail nights. I want to go to nice restaurants and classy bars for celebrations, and maybe hit a club and dance until I can’t stand once or twice a year - but not on a school night, that’s not very smart.

I guess part of my problem is I want to do everything and be accepted everywhere (thanks, ADHD). Not that many people want to go and see the ballet or a musical, and also get high and talk about life, and also exercise every day and be fit and healthy, and also get shitfaced and dance until the sun comes up. People I meet seem to have space in their lives for work or school, family, a couple good friends, and exactly one ‘other’. My ‘other’ is a list a mile long, and everything has to be done at 110% otherwise I’m not interested in the slightest. I miss dancing - but there’s no point taking it up again until I can commit $5k/year and 15+ hours/week to competition training, plus probably another $5k/year on costuming, shoes and travel. I miss world of warcraft - but there’s no point playing unless I’m gonna do 10-15 hours of keystones on top of raiding three nights every week. I miss league of legends - but there’s no point playing unless I’m gonna play four hours a night to keep my skills sharp, oh and also that game makes me so fucking angry that I’ve broken more than one keyboard playing it. I miss martial arts - I kinda wanna do jujitsu, but it’s so expensive and you gotta buy all the gear straight away, and I know that if I get into it I’ll start wanting to train every day and spend all my time and money on it. Plus I don’t always get along with the kind of people who do it - the typical BJJ guy is either an older dude who realised he was getting fat and had a midlife crises, or a younger guy with a shaved head and intense eyes with dark circles whose bought into the culture with a cult-like intensity and has the vibe of being on the precipice of getting an SS tattoo. I miss magic the gathering, but collecting cards for a competitive decks is an incredibly expensive and time-consuming process with significant setbacks every couple months when a new set comes out, plus MTG people tend to be have this unique combination of zero social skills, zero personal hygiene, and intense arrogance that makes them eminently unlikeable.

I like lifting, but I don’t really like gym culture - if it’s powerlifting, it’s all bearded bikie sorta guys listening to heavy metal. If it’s weightlifting, it’s very insular and cliquey (although the scene in my city is very small, so that might be a poor judgement). If it’s ‘bodybuilding’ - not people who compete, but guys who want big pecs and arms, and girls who want a skinny waist and a fat ass - it’s all ‘yeah brah’ meathead vibes and shallow instagramming. Besides, I spent all this money on my home gym stuff, so I can’t really justify paying for a gym membership just for socialising.

I like running, or I’m liking it so far. I don’t know about the people, they seem a bit too... normal for me. Everyone’s chatting about their spouses and kids and dogs, except the little group of competitive runners who seem to be more interested in training than chatting (funny that). Maybe that’s how I find myself and make some friends - keep moving towards having a house and a spouse and kids and a dog. That’s scary though. Is that what I want?

This has been on my mind a lot recently, to be honest. In a year I’ll be finished with my degree (theoretically) and hopefully find a professional, salaried job. What then? Except for the year I decided I would drop out of school and have a career in hospitality (bad idea), that’s been the point where my idea of the future stops for quite a while now. I know I want to buy a house or an apartment at some point, and since I found out that my sister and I are inheriting an interstate property homeownership is actually starting to sound realistic. I know, in broad strokes, the field I want to work in. But... do I want to live in the city and live the urbanite single life? Do I want to have a family and live further out where there’s space and more greenery? If my research project goes well, maybe I could try and get hired on as a research assistant, or if I find something worthwhile I could put together a PhD proposal (lol good luck with my amazing 1.1 GPA). I could work for the local government, or the state government, or the federal government, or a design firm, or a construction firm, or a consulting firm... the options are so many and I don’t even know how to begin evaluating them.

Of course it’s all a bit of a pointless exercise right now, because I’ll honestly take whatever job I can get when I graduate. There’s a lot of jobs for civil grads, but with my awful grades, dodgy resume and just being older than the rest of my cohort, I won’t have the luxury of being choosy. Public, private, non-profit, research, city-based, rural or even interstate - I’ll be submitting as many applications as I can and taking whatever I can get. And that will cut down my options for stuff like where I like and what kind of lifestyle I want to lead, like I can’t be seeing musicals every weekend and frequenting trendy cocktail lounges if I’m living and working off in Traralgon or whatever, and I can’t be living on a ten-acre rural plot with some sheep and a couple of border collies if I need to drive into the city for work every day.

I’m not ready to turn 30. I’m getting my shit together, but it’s so fucking slow and frustrating. At the start of the year I tore up my life and started from scratch - like I have every few years since I turned 16 - but I think and hope that this will be the last time, now that I’m aware of my patterns, medicated, and trying to plan for my future. But making those plans means... I need to figure out who I am and who I want to be. I need to separate what’s a part of me from what’s manifestations of ADHD. I need to figure out what I genuinely like, and what I think I like because it’s novel, or stimulating, or because I saw people doing it and instinctively wanted to mirror them. I need to dig through the ideal version of myself, the person that I want to be, and figure out what pieces are good and what aren’t. A couple years ago, I had this idea that the ideal me would say ‘I’m gonna do what I want, and the people who don’t like that can piss off.’ Well, I woke up one day recently and realised that I had no friends because that attitude had systematically pushed everybody that I cared for out of my life, so that’s one idea that I’m working on getting rid of.

There is one part of that which is very difficult for me to approach, though... and that’s my ex. She told me that she thought I looked hot with a beard, and so that became part of my ideal version of myself. I normally wear stubble these days - but with the nice clean line shaved into my cheek, just like she liked. I tell myself this is the way I think it looks best. But maybe I only do it because my ideal me is built for her. Before I met her, I already wanted to be fit, healthy and strong - dance training, lifting, sometimes running (but never sticking to it). But fitness was a big part of her life, and while we were together I absorbed some of that from her. It would be stupid to drop it from my life altogether, but I can’t help but wonder how much of why and how I do these things is constructed around her.

I never met anyone who understood me like she did. I’ve never liked sharing hobbies with girlfriends - inevitably they don’t quite get it, just as I don’t quite get theirs. Like, girls who wanted to play video games with me didn’t understand my drive to improve and be competitive - how when I play a game I’m constantly striving, in every moment, to be that little bit quicker, more accurate, more efficient, to make the right calls, to pick the right strategies. To them, a game is just a game to play for fun - and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s not how I enjoy video games and I’m going to be intensely frustrated for every single second of you clumsily trying to participate in something I’ve spent thousands of hours getting better at. I can’t even play Mario Party without becoming a ruthless monster, please let’s put on a movie or something before my head implodes.

She got it, though. Not with video games - she didn’t give two shits about them - but about fitness. She wasn’t like those people who come to the gym to half-heartedly do a set on every machine and then go home to eat ice cream, or the people who just do an hour of incline walking while watching tv and playing on their phones. She did research, and made intelligent plans, and took it seriously. She’d grit her teeth and push through the shittiest days, where lesser women (and men) would have cut their workout short and gone home. She badly needed to succeed, so badly that every little failure cut her to the quick. Healthy? Fuck no. But just like me. More than me, better than me. We understood each other. And let me tell you, you’ve never known love until you’ve watched your girlfriend grind her way out of a PR squat that by all rights she should have failed - and then seen the elation on her face once she’s racked the bar and realised what she just achieved.

Jesus, I’m close to tears now. I just wanted to bitch about not having any friends and I’ve once again segued into pining over her. God I’m so lonely. Why am I like this?

Reading over that last paragraph... it does sound like I have genuine feelings for her, and not just an obsessive need to recapture the one that got away. So that’s... good, I think. It doesn’t change anything really... it doesn’t uncover a new course of action to take, or instruct on how to manage my feelings better. But I don’t want to be that creepy, obsessive ex. I’ve felt like that a lot over the past couple years, but only internally... I’ve tried to leave her alone and done pretty well, I think. Like yeah, I think about her way too much and stalk her socials pretty regularly, but if she doesn’t see any of that then... it won’t make her uncomfortable. That’s the theory. And I’m getting better with the stalking... I just open her instagram and say to myself ‘see? still blocked and set to private. you didn’t miss anything.’ and then I can close it and go about my day. Not great, but... better than the alternatives for now.

This is where it all comes together. I want to text her, have another shot, lay everything out and say ‘I want now what you wanted from me two years ago.’ And I think that’s an actual desire, even a plan, not just me desperately trying to grab on to the last few shreds of dopamine I could get from her. But... I’m not ready, and it’s not the right time. I need to keep getting my shit together, so I can face her and be proud of myself. I don’t want to be embarrassed by living in an ancient, dirty and broken-down house - but I’m working on that. I don’t want to be embarrassed by my inability to stick to an exercise routine for more than a few months - but I’m working on that. I want be confident when I say I’ll finish my degree this year. I want to be confident when I say that next year I’ll have a job and be looking at buying a house. I want to be confident when I say that I’m quitting smoking - or, better yet, proudly say that it’s been so many weeks since my last cigarette.

I hurt her, in the past. And I regret it, and I’m ashamed - because as I’ve learned more about myself, the reasons are becoming clear. She wasn’t happy, and she would break up with me. I would say, ‘well of course I don’t want that, but you need to do what’s right for you.’ And then I would go cold for a couple of days until she inevitably came crawling back - until the last time, when she didn’t. I shouldn’t have let it go on. And why did I let it? Because I’m weak and selfish. Because I ignore issues that I don’t want to deal with, and happily go on with my life as if they don’t exist. Because I’m desperate for approval and validation, and couldn’t do the right thing by her because it would have meant losing a huge source of that. Because I think I can get away with anything, and I care more about whether there will be immediate consequences for me, rather than if something is right or wrong or affects someone else.

I took so much from her. Her friendship with our other roommate - destroyed, and at the time I said ‘that’s between the two of them,’ but I was the one who came into their lives like a hurricane. Her house - she was the one who had to move, even though she’d lived their long before me - I was the one who should have moved out, but I said to myself ‘she’s the one who’s leaving, that’s her prerogative.’ Her gym - I should have stopped going there when things were moving towards the end, but I didn’t. Then I told myself that we went at different times now and wouldn’t see each other, so it was fine - until one day when she came in, saw me, went to the bathroom and hid for at least an hour until I’d left. It shouldn’t have taken that much to make me change gyms - and for what! That gym was her community, for me it was just the most convenient place that usually had a free squat rack. And I took it from her. All of these things were so easy to justify - ‘I’m gonna do my thing and if anybody doesn’t like it - they don’t have to stay in my life.’ I was so fucking selfish, and I have so much regret. The only thing I could possibly do is apologise. And I hate apologies - words mean nothing without actions backing them up. There’s no action that I could possibly take that could give these things back to her, so all I could do is grovel at her feet and tell her that I’m sorry and that I’m trying to be a better person.

I’m scared. Even if I do get my shit together and sack up enough to text her, and even if she actually replies, and even if by some miracle she wants to try again - I’m scared that I’ll hurt her again. That I won’t have grown out of my selfish, irresponsible ways. I can SEE the patterns, but can I change them? I think so... but it’s not an overnight thing, and it’s not a neat and direct path from A to B. It’s a messy, unclear, painful and difficult thing that I have to do if I want to be a better person, if I want be capable of having a stable and loving relationship in the future. I can easily see a future where, if all the pieces fall into place and we start dating again, I just use her up and toss her away again - just like every woman I’ve ever dated. Then I’m back exactly where I am today - lying in bed emptying my feelings into the internet - and she’s twice scarred from having me in her life. And then I hurt the next woman, and the next, until I eventually die bitter and lonely, looking back on the trail of pain and heartbreak I’ve left in my wake.

I’m scared of the other options, too. I’m scared that she rejects me and it doesn’t help me get over her. What do I do then? This would be a real hail mary, there’s no third chance - hell, the second is already a stretch. I just cannot go on for the rest of my life feeling like this - it’s been two years! The first three months or so were by far the worst, but after that it’s like... this became my new baseline. A bit of ebb and flow, but never gone. Maybe it’s worse than usual right now because I walked past her last week... and maybe it’s worse than usual because I’m trying to dig these things out from the depths of my brain in the hopes that the light and air will cleanse them. Maybe by going through this phase of rawness and regret, I’ll be better equipped to move on and this will all die down. Although I’m pretty sure I would have to genuinely accept that I can’t have her, and... I don’t know how. Maybe an emphatic and absolute rejection would do that for me. I’d probably have to throw away some of the stuff she gave me. I don’t know. I’m not equipped to approach that idea right now.

And then... what if she says we can try being friends? How do I navigate that? I’m not capable of doing something halfway, I’d spend every waking minute looking for an angle. It’d be an opportunity, not a friendship. That’s... manipulative. I don’t want to do that. And I don’t want to lie to myself and pretend I could do that. I don’t think it would happen, anyway - I don’t see that coming from her. Although I have seen her being friendly with an ex of hers, so... maybe I’m wrong.

And what if she says yes... but then I find out that I was in love with the idea of her that I’ve constructed over the past two years, and the person she is now doesn’t resemble that at all? What if I was just caught up with new relationship energy and a novel person, and really the connection and rapport wasn’t as deep as I remember it being? What if I do everything right this time, and still end up unhappy? I know that dating is always a risk, but... I don’t want to be dumping her six months down the track because she didn’t live up to this ridiculous, unrealistic fantasy version of her. And I don’t want to end up a bitter old man in a loveless marriage, any more than I want to end up a bitter old bachelor with a collection of broken hearts. I think about it and I’m pretty sure that the connection we had was real, and the reasons I want her are real and accurate - but ever since I started wrapping my head around this ADHD thing, I’ve stopped trusting my perceptions of things so much. If I want something, my brain will tell me pretty much whatever I need to hear so that I can rationalise my doubts away.

And that’s part of this whole thing - all this work that I’m trying to do on myself, how much of it is for her? I say it’s for myself, but I wouldn’t put it past me to be rationalising it that way, when it’s really all part of a larger scheme to win her back. Like, I clean my kitchen benches with spray and a cloth every single day now, sometimes two or three times if I’m cooking a lot. I think that’s because I want my house to be cleaned to that standard - but she had extremely high standards of cleanliness, so maybe I’m just trying to make myself the person who can tick that box for her. And I can say, well, if that’s the case that’s ok - the motivations don’t matter as long as you’re improving yourself. But if that’s the case... what happens after I text her? If we get back together, and my brain goes ‘cool goal achieved, we can shut this all down now’ and all the good traits I’ve painstakingly developed collapse back into nothingness. Or if she says no and I actually accept that, then my brain might go ‘ok this is pointless now, let’s get rid of it’ and the exact same thing happens? I want to be a whole, complete person on my own - and a good, responsible, reliable person who does stuff like keep a beautifully clean house - and so the idea that all of that might be built around this hope of having her back in my life is... uncomfortable, at least. As is the idea that I’m constructing a persona who’s only purpose is to win back an ex-girlfriend, as if life is some stupid romcom.

This has gone way off track, so... I’ll leave it there. R, if you’re reading this... I’m so, so very sorry about so many things. I hope you’re not reading it, because I’m not ready - for the apology itself, or the conversation that might follow. But I also hope you are reading it, because that would put the ball in your court and absolve me from the need for action - and I’m still too weak to do the difficult things in life.

When I told you I would come with you, I should have followed through. And I had reasons for not doing that - like I told you in my letter - but looking back I don’t think I was being honest with myself or with you. I was just too weak to do the difficult thing, and so I told myself half-truths until they sounded true enough to tell to you. All the reasons I gave you, the things I wanted and didn’t want - they were real, but they paled next to you. Like candles lit under the midday sun. And I, weak and stupid, watched the sun set on my life for the last time instead of snuffing even one of my candles out. Now they’ve all burned out, and so I’m sitting in the dark with nothing but my regrets to keep me company.

That’s it from me, everybody. Thanks for reading my blog.