Absolutely weeping over a 60s tv show nobody else cares about

Drabble request (there are two because theyre extremely similar so pick whichever you fancy, i just need more Clivesdale content lmao)

Either:

The Nerdy Prudes decide to go on a daytrip to Clivesdale to try to vandalise the cherry festival, but a musical apocalypse causes them to rase the nantucket bridge, stranding them there

Or:

The Nerdy Prudes go undercover in Clivesdale’s High School to try to screw over the Chemists so they can win the big game

I love your writing, cant wait to see what you do with this :D

First of all, thank you! That means a lot! Second of all: Clivesdale prompt???? Hello???

The leaves were starting to fall, and the last breaths of summer were hanging in the air. Hatchetfield's honey festival was right around the corner, but that wasn't what was on Ruth's mind. She proposed to the others a huge, very ambitious plan to spend the last few days of summer… Somewhere else. for her, this was a really interesting idea, but of course, she couldn't do it without the help of her friends.

"Are you crazy?" Richie asked, as if he hadn't heard her correctly and needed clarification that he was, in fact, hearing the plan right. "You want us to take the week in Clivesdale?"

"Just the weekend!" Ruth clarified, a bright yet oblivious grin on her face. They all saw the honey festival year after year, and she was looking for something slightly different. She'd heard people complaining about Clivesdale's cherry festival for a while now, and yet she'd never been to explore the place herself. There was that insatiable part of her mind that really wanted to find out whether it was really as stupid as her friends and neighbours let on. "We'll go to the cherry festival, and see what's going on! And… Well, while we're there, we might as well show em just how much nobody wants to go to their stupid cherry festival…"

"Are you suggesting we sabotage the festival?" Pete raised an eyebrow, sceptical of their abilities as three people who had barely scraped sixteen. Ruth gave him an eager nod and his brow furrowed. "How the hell are we gonna do that? We're kids!"

"I dunno! But we aren't gonna be able to figure it out till we go over there and see what we're messing with! Then after that… Well, we'll see, won't we!"

She was so confident in this idea of hers that it was almost compelling.

"You really think it's that easy?"

"Sure! How bad can it be?"

That was the thing abouot Ruth. She was really convincing when she wanted to be. Once she'd tided them over, it was enough of an argument just to see what the hell everyone hated so much. None of them had ever so much as been to Clivesdale, so really, it was a matter of seeing what all the fuss was about.

While the final preparations were being made for the honey festival, and while the women of the town were signing themselves up for the honey queen pageant, three teenagers crossed the Nantucket bridge and headed for Clivesdale. None of them knew what they were setting themselves up for here, but if all went according to plan, then they would manage to successfully sabotage the cherry festival and then return home before anyone was the wiser.

That was the plan, anyway, and Richie and Pete had been so won over by Ruth's blatant confidence that they'd agreed without thinking about what it was going to entail, and how the people of Clivesdale would see them. Maybe they would be seen in the same vein that they would be seen if they came to Hatchetfield. Maybe it would be obvious that they were from out of town, and they would be driven back before anything happened. Once a nighthawk, always a nighthawk, after all…

Pete wondered whether the cherry festival was the same as the honey festival. That perhaps there was a chance that this rivalry was no more than a petty squabble between towns, and in fact, they were remarkably similar. He imagined one of those stages people set out in the middle of fields, filled with live music and speakers large enough that you could hear what was going on from miles away. He imagined stalls filled with baked goods, as many different shades of red as could be thought of… Hell, maybe people actually put heart into this festival thing.

Richie thought about how weird it would be to set foot in a different place. He'd heard things about Clivesdale, for sure… Everyone had, that was the standard for rumour being spread around Hatchetfield High. All the footballers talked about what happened when they went there, and how fucked up Clivesdale was as a place. They all talked so passionately, but Richie was willing to bet that Clivesdale didn't have people disappearing on the regular, or strange ghost stories that only seemed to take place on the far east of the town or in the woods.

For Ruth, this was a chance at seeing something new. There was still a huge part of her that wanted to travel with a theatre company, going all over the country and maybe even the world someday… That was her dream, elaborate as it was, and this was a good start. She wasn't privy to a lot of the comversations that happened in the football locker room, and Richie didn't often talk about it, so she didn't really know why the Nighthawks talked so much shit about the Chemists… That was one huge mystery that she couldn't wait to unravel, and getting to see the cherry festival firsthand would be a bonus too, there was never anything wrong with cherries, after all.

While they walked across the bridge, they talked about these possibilities, as well as the strange happenings of the night before.

"My brother said he drove home in some freak storm last night… Full thunder and lightning…" Pete hummed. "Lotta people said the same thing, apparently."

"Oh yeah, I heard the thunder for a while…" Richie shivered at the thought of it, drawing himself in a little closer. "Nobody saw it coming either, the weather reports apparently said it was gonna be clear all night."

"Really? Huh…."

"That's not the best part about the storm, you guys!" Ruth interjected, to which Richie hummed.

"Oh, you're talking about the meteor, right? The one that crashed through the Starlight?"

"Course I am! What're the chances of a meteor's crash course being that precise that it manages to land right in the middle of the stage?"

"How d'you know it landed in the middle of the stage?" Pete asked, raising an eyebrow. He'd heard reports of this meteor, as had everyone, but there was nothing on the news that suggested that people had known where it landed. "Wait, Ruth.. Did you go check on the meteor? Have you been to see it?"

"Sure i have! Heard it crashed through the theatre and I wanted to take a look!" Ruth answered like it was obvious, shooting Pete a pointed glance. "It was huge, broke the stage floor and messed up the first few rows of seats! I mean, I'm not entirely sure I should've been there, but… Y'know, it was cool!"

"You weren't worried at all about being caught?"

"Uh… No, nobody else was daring to go in there…"

On one hand, it was a good thing when Ruth had a brave streak. Her anxiety meant that often, that just didn't exist as an option for her, so when she was flooded with adrenaline and decided to make a rash decision or two, it was always a show of her combatting the worst of her thoughts. On the other, she was impulsive, and whichever decisions those tended to be were often not the type to be thought of as admirable. She had no fear, only a crippling nervousness that came before.

But, nonetheless, she had seen the meteor. And that was, undeniably, quite cool. "Well, did you get a picture of it?"

"I'll let you see when we make it to Clivesdale!"

Most of the traffic on the Nantucket tended to head one way, out of Hatchetfield. They were following much the same path, leading themselves away from their home town and out into the wider unknown. They kneew they were nearing Clivesdale when they started seeing posters and banners, decorated in a red overlay, and dotted with the world's most generic images of cherries. Both festivals tended to run in tandem, and that had started when Clivesdale picked up on the popularity of the honey festival and fancied making one of their own.

Of course, it felt all wrong. First of all, it was three weeks before the honey festival, and nobody could figure out why that was the case. Second, it seemed like a place that was way too busy, way too disorganised. Pete knew he wasn't a fan of such chaos, though he'd never quite seen the extent to which the cherry festival fell into their disorganised mess. It genuinely didn't seem like thhey knew order, that they were able to lay their stalls out in the most haphazard way possible and call it a day.

Once they were certain they'd arrived in the town, the three of them took a seat on a bench and the boys eagerly watched Ruth pull out her phone and try and locate the picture of the meteor. What she showed them was a rather bland looking rock, which would've been completely so if not for the fact that it was pretty much the size of the stage itself, and oozing some kind of strange, blue substance from the most visible crater. Richie gasped when he saw it, and leaned in as close as he could to get a better look at it.

"Good god, that's bigger than I thought! You sure that didn't hit anyone?"

"If it did, I don't think they'd know, they'd be pretty much crushed underneath, wouldn't they?"

"What if it was like the Wizard of Oz?"

"You mean… We could still see their legs enough to take off their ruby slippers? I don't think so…" Pete hummed. "A meteor of that size is gonna be hard to even try and get away from."

"You never know… Maybe they were at an unfortunate angle," Ruth returned, with twice the gusto that Pete had given his entire statement in. "But no, there was nobody there. Not that I could see, anyway."

"That's kinda cool, Richie's right… But a hell of a lot of a bill to rebuild the place once they get rid of it, huh?"

"Oh yeah, it's gonna be out of commission for months now!"

Weren't they saying something about a busy season not too long ago? Richie thought about what would happen to the shows now they didn't exactly have a theatre to perform them in. There were always other places they could rent out, but god only knows the theatre department in Hatchetfield didn't get the funding enough as it was. They wouldn't be able to just rent out some other place, not even for a few days!

"So, what's the plan here? Or did you really just wanna take a trip into Clivesdale..?"

"Well, kinda, yeah. But I guess it hasn't really changed since the last time I tried to pitch it. We're gonna go in there and see what this cherry festival is all about, then maybe we'll make a few attempts to sabotage it, just to really get things going. But, we can't make it really obvious, y'know?"

That afternoon, the three of them spent the time scoping out the slowly assembling stalls and see what the deal was with this cherry festival. There were all sorts of vendors, selling all kinds that managed to take them by surprise. Richie found an old man selling nothing but crystals in more forms than he had ever thought to use crystals for. Pete spent a while looking at a bunch of old books that the couple selling them had repurposed into keepsake boxes. Ruth was originally drawn in by the smell of fresk baking, but was taken by this stand that had a large barrel of wrapped gifts in various sizes, evidently some kind of luck game with fake gifts and real ones.

This to say, it looked like fun, and by the time the evening came, the three of them had reconvened with a plan. For a while, they were just gonna try and fit in together. Clearly, they got visitors from all throughout the neighbouring towns for this festival, and they were going to be just like those visitors. They would blend in as best as they could, try their hand at a few of the stalls and peruse the various wares… And then they would strike. Richie had pitched an elaborate plan that involved pretending to be involved with the backstage acts, and then cutting off the audio signal to the stage. Originally, this planhad been a little more complicated, but Pete made him promise he wouldn't actively mess with the soundboard.

The last of the daylight hours wound out, and the festival became more of a festival. People began arriving en masse, and soon the stalls were bustling with various different crowds, all looking for something different. Ruth gave the signal when the coast was clear, and the three of them started pushing through the crowd to check out the main stage. According to the poster on one of the streetlights, there were going to be three acts on one after the other in quick succession. If they couldn't figure out their issue with the sound, then none of them were going to be heard properly when the time came to perform.

"Did you hear what was happening in Hatchetfield?"

"Mhm, that meteor is causing a hell of a lot of damage, and I heard there was some kinda ruptured gas line?"

"That'd be the one. It's killing people off, apparently."

The three of them didn't make it to the stage. When they passed the open bar, they overheard a conversation that sent them into a vague panic. When someone mentioned that people were dying, it sent a violent shiver down Pete's spine. To think, whatever it was could've affected them too, if they were still there. They had chosen the right day to leave town, that was for sure. But, there was the hope that the people were just being dramatic, and that people weren't actually dying in Hatchetfield as soon as the three of them had left.

"What the fuck was that?" Richie whispered hurriedly, as the three of them tried to force their way through the crowd towards somewhere more private. Once they were alone, they silently decided that the best course of action was to go back to Hatchetfield, and try and explain the situation for themselves. They refused to believe that so much could happen in the space of only a few hours, especially since they had left close to noon, and nothing seemed to be happening then…

"I dunno, something about a gas leak?" Pete bit his lip. "Do you really believe that?"

"Nah, I'm not buying it." Ruth's voice was decidedly stern. She was trying to force herself to believe that it couldn't be the case that everyone was dying in Hatchetfield. "This is Clivesdale, how do we know they aren't just a bunch of dirty fuckin' liars?"

"If they were lying, they'd be saying something like 'everyone in Hatchetfield is dying from some musical apocalypse that's infecting them like a plague'… Gas line sounds too plausible, especially since we don't know what that goddamn meteor hit…"

"A musical apocalypse?"

Pete threw up his hands. "I dunno! something like that, something that'd obviously be a lie! Y'know, I don't think they're just lying for the sake of trying to poke fun at us in Hatchetfield… I think something might be happening."

They wandered away from the festival, against the grain of the crowd. If there truly was nothing to worry about, then this was a weekend-long event, they could always come back and enact their plan on the stage at a later date. Not a word was spoken between them on the way beck to the bridge, and when they saw what they did, all of them froze at once.

Someone- some raging idiot- had raised the Nantucket bridge. Hatchetfield was completely sealed off from the rest of the world. If something was happening, then they would just be left to die out there, and nobody would be the wiser. Hatchetfield was a tiny island, a small town where near enough everyone knew everyone else. In a community that tight knit, something was bound to go wrong, and then what? When more communities banded together, more of them would die.

"Oh fuck."

"Jesus Christ."

"What are we supposed to do now?"

Three teenagers were stranded in Clivesdale, of all places. And none of them had the energy to try their hand at their sabotage plan, not when they didn't know what was going on in their town and there was no way of finding out. By the end of the day, the three of them were the only ones who hadn't been near an infected person in the slightest. If he knew what was actually happening on the island, Pete would have known that he was near enough spot on with his bullshit claim.

By the stroke of midnight, once the three of them had pooled whatever money they had and found some hotel room for the night, there were only five survivors left of the Hatchetfield tragedy. The three of them, a woman by the name of Emma Perkins, and one pocket sized squirrel that the military found buried in the chest of a local woodworker.

Once the bridge was lowered and they found someone who gave them answers, going back to Hatchetfield didn't seem like something they wanted to do. It had been completely wiped off the map, and there was no point in going back if there was nothing to go back to in the first place.

Travelin' Soldier (P.M)

Pairings: Pete Mitchelle x Reader, Platonic!Carole x Reader, Platonic!Iceman x Reader

Warnings: mentions of death, a bunch of fluff!

Word Count: 1.4K

Author's Note: This one was a of fun to write, I hope y'all enjoy!

Masterlist!

You sat with Carole, Pete, and Iceman around a small fire in the backyard of Carole's home, Bradley fast asleep in the bedroom upstairs. You were all discussing stories of Goose, it having been almost a year since his death.

You had gone inside to grab a drink a little while ago and caught a glimpse of Goose's old guitar, carefully grabbing it off its place on the wall you bring it outside, totally forgetting about your drink.

You strum it softly, tuning it as you go, the other three had quieted down once they heard you actually play chords.

"I didn't know you could actually play the guitar," Pete said astonished, Ice nodded his head in agreement.

All you gave in return was a soft smile, playing this guitar made you feel closer to your brother.

You began softly,

Two days past eighteen He was waiting for the bus in his army green Sat down in a booth in a cafe there Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair He's a little shy so she give him a smile So he said would you mind sittin' down for a while And talking to me, I'm feeling a little low She said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go

Pete listened to you, and it must have been a mixed between the way you looked in the light of the fire and the way your voice sounded so sincere, like your goal was to tell this story.

Carole caught that longing look from Pete, one eerily similar to the one Nick shot her all those years ago, when he thought she wasn't looking.

You continue completely oblivious to what was going on around you.

So they went down and they sat on the pier He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care I got no one to send a letter to Would you mind if I sent one back here to you

Pete felt a twinge of guilt when he heard those lines, he knew Goose had written to you just about every week through the academy, training, every single mission, and even top gun. He wrote to you more than he wrote to his own wife. You were his little sister, his best friend. You were the only thing besides Bradley that he had left of Goose.

I cried Never gonna hold the hand of another guy Too young for him they told her Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier Our love will never end Waitin' for the soldier to come back again Never more to be alone when the letter says A soldier's coming home

So the letters came from an army camp In California then Vietnam And he told her of his heart It might be love and all of the things he was so scared of He said when it's getting kinda rough over here I think of that day sittin' down at the pier And I close my eyes and see your pretty smile Don't worry but I won't be able to write for a while

You were blissfully unaware of the fact that everyone was either on the verge of tears or had tears streaming down their face. The fire was warm enough on you that the tears didn't even threaten to spill, You had gotten that faithful letter from Mav about the death of Nick, and while you have told him multiple times that Nick's wasn't at all his fault, he just wasn't hearing it.

I cried Never gonna hold the hand of another guy Too young for him they told her Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier Our love will never end Waitin' for the soldier to come back again Never more to be alone when the letter says A soldier's coming home

Carole let out a soft sob, she has missed her husband dearly since his passing, wondering what Bradley is gonna do later in life without his father. While she will never understand your pain of receiving a letter from all the way across the country, she did have a pain of her own, she never expected to open the door to Mav and an Admiral both with seldom expressions on their faces.

And when she picked you up from the airport a few days later it was nothing short of a tearful reunion.

One Friday night at a football game The Lord's Prayer said and the anthem sang A man said folks would you bow your head For the list of local Vietnam dead Crying all alone under the stands Was the piccolo player in the marching band And one name read and nobody really cared But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair

For the majority of this evening Iceman had remained quiet, though he was the first one to let a tear fall during the song, he still remained quiet, softly sipping on his beer every now and then. It was hard watching Goose's wife and child go on without him, with was even harder seeing his best friend and sister try to hide it and be strong for young Bradley.

Pete caught you sniffle a little during the interlude before going onto to finish the song.

I cried Never gonna hold the hand of another guy Too young for him they told her Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier Our love will never end Waitin' for the soldier to come back again Never more to be alone when the letter says A soldier's coming home

I cried Never gonna hold the hand of another guy Too young for him they told her Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier Our love will never end Waitin' for the soldier to come back again Never more to be alone when the letter says A soldier's coming home

You finished it softly, not really paying attention to those around you, not even realizing that young Bradley had woken up and come out of his room, following the noise of his aunt's voice.

You look up in enough time to meet the big green eyes of your four year old nephew. You smile before standing up and scooping him up in your arms, preparing to take him and your older brother's guitar into the house. Bidding everyone a goodnight you take the boy into his room and tuck him back into bed, you begin packing up Nick's suitcase before climbing into bed yourself.

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

"You know Pete," Carole said as the two sat at the kitchen island, "She could really use you right now."

Pete nodded, before taking another swig of his beer.

"She's hurting right now," Pete warned, wanting to open his mouth but being cut off by the creak of the stairs, not wanting Bradley to hear them but surprised to see you standing there, in one of Goose's old tee's.

"Pete," you say softly, your eyes only half open, "Will you come lay with me?" And Pete be damed if he said no to you, right now, looking like that.

"Of course, is everything okay?" He asked eyeing you questionably, but also noticing Carole, who looked like he was gonna smack him if he didn't go with you right now.

"Yeah," you say softly not meeting either of their eyes. "I had a bad a dream."

Pete's expression immediately softened, rising from his stool be walked over to you, placing one of his hands on the small of your back, and with a quick goodnight to Carole he lead you back upstairs. In the guest room he can see the remanence of both you and Goose, taking you to your side of the bed and half tucking you in Pete the crawls into bed next to you pulling you close.

"Thank you Pete," you say, exhaustedly, he stopped you before you could continue, singing that little chorus that had rung through you earlier.

I cried Never gonna hold the hand of another guy Too young for him they told her Waitin' for the love of a travelin' soldier Our love will never end Waitin' for the soldier to come back again Never more to be alone when the letter says A soldier's coming home

You finally after holding back all night, let a tear fall, and he wiped it away with his thumb. "Go to sleep, you need it." You gave a soft nod before allowing yourself to finally drift off into a rather peaceful sleep, listening to the soft humming of none other the Pete Mitchell.

Here is the song if you wanna listen to it!

Taglist!

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The Coffee Stain On Your Shirt

PETER KAVINSKY X READER 

A/N: This is so fluffy i think i need to puke. I should stop procrastinating by watching videos of Kavinsky saying woah woah woah and acc do my work. Anywayy hope you enjoy :)

You were standing by your locker, books and papers messily arranged as you grabbed the stuff you would need for 1st period. Down the hall, Peter Kavinsky was walking along beside his lacrosse team, laughing and joking about the party from the weekend. You and Peter had been partnered up for a English project at the start of the year and this caused you to form an unlikely friendship. You didn't hang out outside of school but you would consider Peter someone you could wave at in the halls or chat to briefly. This made the fattt (cross out) tiny crush you had on him a pain in the fricking ass. You weren't proper friends so in your mind you had no chance with Peter Kavinsky. Peter, on the other hand, thought you were one of the coolest and nicest people he had ever met and looked forward to seeing your face everyday. Of course you were completely oblivious to this fact because from your point of view Peter Grant Kavinsky was way out of your fricking league. Peter noticed you sorting through your locker, admiring the cute red skirt and white top you had picked out for that day. He grinned as he saw your furrowed eyebrows, concentrating on finding your chemistry textbook. Peter had zoned out from his teammates conversation, his focus trained on you. "Urm ill uh see you guys later." He said absent-mindedly, already making his way over to you. The lacrosse team looked at him confused, shaking their heads until they noticed where he was headed and their puzzled looks were replaced with knowing smirks before they walked round the corner. "Hey Y/L/N." You heard a voice say and looked up to see a mop of curly brown hair, recognising it instantly as Peter Kavinsky. "Oh hey Peter." You said back, wondering why he was leaning on the lockers next to yours. "Wanna walk to chemistry together?" Peter asked, his eyes watching your face with a wide smile. "Oh... yeah sure." You replied, confused why he wanted to walk with you when he had other friends in the class. Peter grinned, making your face heat up a little. "I just got to uh find this textbook and then we can go." You said slowly, huffing with frustration as you couldn't seem to locate it anywhere. Peter nodded, leaning on the worn locker next to yours, enjoying watching your annoyed face which he thought was adorable. He glanced into your locker and noticed a green corner poking out from the middle of the papers and books and he leaned in past you, pulling it out carefully. "There you go." Peter said, handing you the green textbook. "Ah, thanks Kavinsky." You frowned, trying to think how you could miss that. "No worries." He returned as you packed the book into your backpack. You looked up at him with a bright smile after closing your locker and Peter felt his stomach flip. "So how was your weekend?" Peter questioned as you started to walk slowly down the hall, brushing past yawning students. "Alright, my sister broke the couch though." You said, making Peter widen his eyes at you. "Wait what? How?" You chuckled and dodged a teacher carrying a pile of books, pressing yourself into Peter's side accidentally. "Uh sorry." You said before returning the slight distance between you. "Basically she was trying to train Milo (your dog) to army crawl and she was running along the couch and then she jumped off the arm and it cracked." Peter laughed beside you, making your heart flutter at his chuckles. You beamed, too distracted to notice the boy in front of you as you turned the corner. "Oof." You groaned as he collided into you and you felt your top start to spread with wetness. You looked down to see the boy had spilt coffee all over your white shirt, leaving a large brown stain. "Oh jeez dude I'm so sorry." The boy in front of you said. You shook your head, "uh its okay I'll go clean it up." The boy gave you a sorrowful look before walking away, leaving you beside Peter with coffee starting to soak your chest. "I'm gonna go clean myself up Peter, I'll see you in chem." You said, walking in the direction of the toilets. "Woah woah woah, no wait I'll help you." He blurted out, following after you in the corridor. You gratefully smiled at him and walked to the girls toilets, "Uh Kavinsky you might wanna wait outside." Peter smirked placing a hand on the door, "Nah I'll come in I've been in here before." You made a disgusted face at him, "Creep." Peter chuckled and followed you through into the thankfully deserted bathroom, "it's not like I spy on girls in here." You raised your eyebrows at him, "righhttt." Peter shoved you playfully and grinned, "piss off y/l/n." You cheekily smiled at him and walked into one of the toilets, grabbing some loo roll before walking back to the row of sinks Peter was standing beside. You turned the tap on and wet the paper slightly before trying to dab off the coffee stain, managing to draw out some of the brown smudge. You continued to furiously dab the splodge but it wouldnt budge, leaving you with a watery brown stain spread across your chest and stomach. "Great." You said sarcastically, pulling your shirt out slightly as you wiped at it. "Here." Peter said, reaching out to you with another wad of wet tissue, placing a hand on your lower back as he gently tried to sponge up the stain on your stomach. "Tryna cop a feel Kavinsky?" You teased, trying to disguise the rapid beating of your heart as he touched you softly. Peter blushed and you grinned, rubbing at the stain going over your boobs. "What? No no no." He said, releasing his hands from you. "I'm joking Pete." He seemed to relax a little when you said that, his lips tugging into a smile, "You're mean." You beamed and wet the tissue again, "You're the one who was tryna touch my boobs." Peter rolled his eyes, discarding the pile of mangled tissues in the bin, "You're impossible y/l/n." You chuckled and looked back in the mirror, sighing when you looked at the lighter brown stain still visible on the front of your shirt. "Urgh this isnt coming off. I'll have to go to lost property for a new shirt." You said grumpily, the clothes in lost property hadn't been washed in years and mainly consisted of pe shirts from 20 years ago. Lovely. Peter raised his eyebrows at you, obviously questioning your plan for a lost property outfit. You sighed and looked in the mirror again, there was no way you could continue wearing this shirt. "Yeah I know lost property is grim but what other choice do I have?" You said, washing your hands of coffee juice. "You could wear my hoodie." Peter suggested and you scoffed, "No you'll be cold." Peter shook his head at your refusal, his mind racing with thoughts of you in his hoodie and how cute you would look. "Nah I'll be alright, I'd rather you wear this than some smelly shirt y/l/n." Peter replied, already taking his hoodie off. You laugh and watch as he pulls the navy hoodie off his body, shirt lifting up as he did and revealing his toned abs and waist. You feel your face heat up and quickly look away from him. You look back to Peter again as he hands you the shirt, a knowing smirk on his stupidly gorgeous face. "Thanks." You say, feeling the soft fabric of the hoodie. "Urm I'm gonna need to take my shirt off." You announce, looking into Peter's chocolate eyes. At once he flushes and his eyes go a little wide, "Oh yeah uh right." He turns round to face the wall and you quickly peel your sticky shirt off, putting it on the edge of the sink before you pull Peter's hoodie over your bra. "All good." You say and he turns back around, an large grin instantly filling his face. Peter's stomach flips at the sight of you, his sleeves passing your fingers slightly. "Peter this is huge!" You laugh, putting your arms out to show him. He chuckles and shrugs, "You look cute." At once you blush and to hide your burning face you turn to the mirror to try and tuck the front in somehow. That's when you notice the large white lettering on the back. "Peter." You say, looking at him from the mirror. He hums in acknowledgement, looking up at you. "This has your surname on the back." Peter pretends to look round as if he didn't know and then gives you the biggest cheeky grin, "oh yeah." "Dude I cant wear this, people will think it's weird!" You said, worrying about the rumours that would spread round school. Peter picked up your shirt, folding it neatly, "well it's either my comfy hoodie or some sweaty shirt." You huffed and tugged on the sleeves slightly, "Ugh I'll wear this. Thanks Peter." You said and he smiled at you, leaning against the wall now. "Can I have my shirt now?" You asked, seeing that Peter had it tucked in his hand. "I have a plastic bag in my locker we can get it after 2nd period." He replied and you dropped your outstretched hand, chuckling, "so you're gonna carry my shirt round all morning?" Peter grinned and nodded, "yep." You roll your eyes playfully at him and reach for your backpack in the corner. When you sling it on your shoulders and look up, you see peter has his phone out and is taking photos of you. You frown and stick your bottom lip out slightly, reaching for his phone, "Stopppp." Peter chuckles and takes one more photo before tucking his phone back into his pocket. "Come on or we'll be late." He speaks up and the bell rings for class seconds later. You follow him out of the bathroom, walking quickly to chem. You both scoot into the class just in time, the teacher arriving mere seconds later. Sitting down in your seat, you glance to Lara Jean beside you. "What?" You ask, confused why she had her eyebrows raised at you and a smirk on her lips. "Whos hoodie is that y/n, you smell like man." She replies, leaning in to smell you again. "Peter Kavinsky's." You whisper back, taking out your notebook and pencil case. "Wait what?!" Lara Jean says loudly, making a few people turn to look at her. "Sshhh, i know i know," you say in reply to her shocked face, "some guy spilt coffee on my shirt this morning and Peter gave me his hoodie so I didn't have to wear a lost property shirt." Lara Jean looked at you sceptically, not convinced of Peter's motive to help you at all. She couldn't count the number of times Peter had come up to her or texted her asking if you were going to a party or the game or if you fancied anyone. "Sureeee." LJ replied, "I think he just fancies you." You scoffed and chuckled, "no he doesn't Lara Jean, he was just being kind." She gave you a look which said 'really?' before turning back to her work. A few seconds later when you thought you had finally escaped her teasing words she spoke up as she absent mindedly copied a table from the textbook, "yeah that's why he hasn't stopped looking at you since you came in together." At once, you whipped your head around to see Peter looking at you directly, his pen tucked behind his ear and chin resting on his hand. You noticed your white shirt neatly placed on the corner of his lab desk. He grinned at you which made you shake your head, a small smile tugging at your lips. Peter sighed as he watched you turn back, loving the way his surname looked across your back, wishing he could see you in his hoodies everyday. "That doesn't mean anything." You whispered, not believing Lara Jean's words at all. The rest of the day passed by ever so slowly and you were exhausted by the time you and Lara Jean reached her car. You were having movie night with her and Kitty this evening so she was driving you three home. "Gen's making evil eyes at me across the parking lot." You speak up, leaning on the side of LJ's car while you waited for Kitty. Lara Jean turned round to see Gen standing by the school entrance with some of her friends, watching you with a large scowl on her face. She burst out laughing, turning to her car and unlocking it when she noticed Kitty coming across the parking lot, "Yeah cos she's jealous that Kavinsky has the fattest crush on you." You rolled your eyes at her comment, "Peter doesn't like me Lara Jean." "Yes he does." You hear a voice say and turn back around to see Kitty beaming widely at you, "Nice hoodie you have there y/n, i really like the lettering on the back." You narrow your eyes at her and she grins wider, cheekily scooting inside the backseats before you could attack her. You sighed and walked round to the passenger side, buckling in and putting your bag on the floor by your feet. "Oh crap." You say as LJ pulls onto the main road, "I forgot to give him the hoodie back and he still has my shirt." Kitty bursts out laughing, making you whip round to her, scowling immensely. "Just text him saying you'll give it back to him tomorrow and i'm sure he'll do the same." LJ said, glancing at you with a smirk on her face in the front mirror. You nod and pull your phone out, scrolling down to Peter's contact and texting him, 'sorry kavinsky, is it okay if i give you back your hoodie tomorrow once ive washed it?' A few minutes later, you get a reply, 'yup, same for your shirt.' A second later another text comes through, 'see you tomorrow y/l/n' with a smiley face. You grinned to yourself and listen to the music playing out the car's radio. The following morning, you walk nervously to find Peter, his hoodie folded neatly in your hand after it got washed last night. You spot him standing with Greg by his locker, his hair messy from early morning practice. You smile fondly and walk over to the pair, smoothing out your striped pants. "Oh hey y/n!" Greg says, leaning alongisde Peter's locker. "Morning Greg, sorry I just came to give Peter his hoodie back." Peter turns to you, a wide smile on his face. "Thanks for letting me borrow it yesterday Kavinsky." You say, handing him the soft hoodie back somewhat reluctantly. "No worries, here's your shirt back, my mum managed to get the coffee stain out." You grin at him and your face heats up slightly from Peter's warm gaze. "Oh thanks!" You reply, taking your now clean shirt back. "You know I think you look better in my hoodies." Peter says, tucking his hoodie into his locker and cheekily grinning at you, referencing to the white sweater you are wearing. "Shove off Kavinsky, you're lucky your cute." You retort back, heart hammering and completely oblivious to Greg's amused face watching the both of you gaze longingly at each other. You spot Lara Jean and Chris in the hall ahead so turn to walk away, smiling at Peter and Greg, "See you later Kavinsky." Peter gives you a nod and a cheeky smirk, watching as you walk away. "Dude you're so whipped." Greg states, looking at Peter's love filled face. "Yeh i know." Peter replies, leaning back against his locker, his eyes trained on you.

Miles Morales x Parker!Reader

@spacesuitsforemergency​ asked:  Could you write headcanons of Peter Parker’s younger sister dating Miles Morales? The reader knows all about the whole spider and venom stuff. Thank you!

A/N: I hope you like it! This was fun to write!

You met Miles when Peter brought him back home when the Siege Perilous was destroyed

He brought him over to chill out because he thought you wouldn’t be home

“Hey, Pete, who’s this?”

“Uh, I thought you wouldn’t be home?”

“Change of plans, my friends bailed on me so I guess I’m hanging out with you tonight.”

It wasn’t that Peter didn’t want to hang out with you

It was just that you and Miles didn’t have much in common, so he didn’t want to have to play monkey in the middle

But you seemed pretty bummed that your outing got cancelled so he had to be a good big brother and let you in on the fun

That was until he got an alert on his communicator

“I’ll come with!”

“Nah, it’s cool, it’s just a robbery. You’ve had a long day; you should stay here with (Y/N).”

Truth was, Peter didn’t want to be around during the awkward meeting

So, he got his spandex covered butt out of there and left you alone with a boy

Big brother of the year people

“So, Miles, is it? Where are you from?”

“Um, another dimension?”

“I knew that, but like where in the other dimension.”

“Wait, hold up a second, you know?”

You just shrugged, “Peter thinks he’s slick but he really isn’t.”

Peter spends the rest of the night out and about fighting crime and you and Miles watch your favourite show together

Finally, around midnight, big brother comes back home and the two of you are still awake

“Did you eat all the pizza without me?!”

“I thought you’d be full of all the knuckle sandwiches you got.” You joked, not telling him that you left a couple slices in the microwave for him

“You should really leave the jokes to me.”

And then he takes Miles back to the triskelion, completely oblivious about the fact that the two of you exchanged numbers

You meet up a few times, causally of course, and then one day you ask him out on a date

“As much as I’d like to, I really don’t think it’s a good idea. You know, with me returning to my own dimension.”

“Huh, sounds to me like you’re scared, Morales.”

“Scared? Of you?”

“Yep, I must be pretty scary if the great Kid Arachnid is running away.”

He never actually, officially says yes but now you both know that you like each other

And the casual meet-ups turn into dates

Nothing too romantic ever happens though, because Miles is afraid that he’d get attached and then have to leave you behind

And his fear is realized when they put back together the Siege Perilous and chose to stay in the other dimension with his mom

“Um, tell (Y/N) that I’m going to miss her.”

Peter, albeit confused, said okay

“Who’s (Y/N)?”

Miles face darkened with a blush, “She’s sort of my girlfriend.”

“WHAT?! YOU’RE DATING MY SISTER?! SINCE WHEN?!”

“For like 2 months now.”

“WHAT?!”

“Wow, (Y/N) was right, you aren’t slick.”

His mom and him decide to come back to your dimension and stay there

When he meets you again, he’s so happy that he was reunited with his mom, that he got to stay in your dimension, that he doesn’t have to hold his feelings back anymore

So, when he sees you when he returns, smiling at him, he just can’t help it

Rushes up to you to plant a kiss on your lips

Your first kiss

Peter is not amused

“Woah, hey there, if the two of you want to continue this then rule one is no kissing. You’re too young for kissing.”

Miles is embarrassed and has a quip on the edge of his tongue but before he says anything you already have

“Aw, it’s okay Pete, you don’t have to be jealous, you’ll get a girlfriend soon. Hopefully.”

“Yeah, Peter, don’t worry, I’ll treat your sister right.”

“Of course you will, but I’ve grown up with (Y/N) and you’re too good for her.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s true! She’s a brat and a nightmare! She eats all the red skittles and leaves me the yucky green ones!” “Well I like the green ones so that’s okay.”

“Yeah?! Well Peter always uses the bathroom when you’re having a shower!” “We don’t really share a bathroom so it’s cool.”

Miles spends most of his time in between the two of you, to stop arguments and pushing and shoving

Peter will never tell you, but he totally gave Miles the big brother speech

Miles definitely told you about it and you laughed for hours at the thought of Peter being intimidating

As for the relationship, Miles is a pretty mature kid for his age so arguments about petty things and such are handled pretty quickly

Dates are lowkey and cute since the two of you are pretty young

And because you know if it’s something big then Peter will find out and that’s not a conversation you want to have

May is overjoyed and his mom likes you a lot too

Family dinners become a thing

Eating dinner while holding hands underneath the table is also a thing

And Peter can’t say anything about it because Aunt May is right there and would smack him

“Admit it, Pete, we’re a pretty cute couple.”

The most he’ll admit is that if in some other universe, he didn’t know the two of you then he would think that you’re kind of cute, but other than that he can’t see it

“I still think he’s too good for you.”

“Maybe after getting a brother like you, I deserve something good in my life.”

“Hey! You take that back!”

“Make me!”

“Can we all just admit that I’m too good for either of you and finish this movie?!”

“.......Fine.”

Daisies (Peter Parker x reader)

Word count: 3.2k

Soulmate AU: Everyone is born with the last words they ever hear from their soulmate written on their arm.

Warnings: Angst, graphic character death.

Masterlist 

“What is up with Mr. Harrington wanting to know everyone’s words” MJ huffed as she placed her lunch tray on the table, where Ned, Peter, Liz and you sat.

“I mean what can we say, he’s a hopeless romantic” Ned joked and dramatically waved his hands in the air, to which everyone laughed. Well, everyone except for you.

Mr. Harrington had showed in class a documentary about soulmates. He then spent the rest of the class asking about people’s opinions on the subject and wanting to know what words were written on their arms. You were quiet the whole time, as you didn’t wish to participate on the debate. To you it was a private matter and you liked to keep it that way.

It wasn’t that you didn’t believe in soulmates, in fact, you loved the idea of having someone to share unconditional love and loyalty. But the rest about it? It was just cruel. The words in people’s arms were cursed, evil. They ruined people’s lives, some of them spend their whole lives being afraid, others got married and after years find out their spouse is not the one, and for the most unfortunate ones, they never even get to be together before the other one dies and they have to live knowing that. Many people liked to share their words with the world, while others kept them to themselves, the latest being your choice.

Because your words? God, you always avoided thinking about them as if that would make them disappear.

“Please don’t leave me”

Those four words might seem dumb for someone else, but to you, they held so much emotion and meaning. ‘Please’, it was the love of your life pleading, begging for you.

You knew your passing would be painful for your soulmate and you dreaded that moment with your heart. The doubt was always there, would it be too soon in the relationship and you die out of nowhere? Or maybe just maybe you both grow old together and you die next to your husband who wasn’t ready to let you go after so many years?

You prayed it was the latest. At least you would’ve gotten a life together.

You were pulled out of your thoughts when MJ not so gently smacked your arm, and suddenly all eyes were on you.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” You apologized and pretended to be interested in whatever they were saying.

“I said the words in our arms are stupid, I don’t believe in that stuff. Ned is not sure on what he thinks about it and Peter and Liz keep saying soulmates are real” MJ quickly explained and you prepared yourself to the interrogation that was about to come your way.

“And we want to know what you think about it so we can settle this down” Liz questioned as everyone looked at you expectantly once again.

“I- I have a class right now, I have to go” You excused yourself and walked as fast as you could to get out of the cafeteria, leaving your friends confused, and a certain spider boy worried.

You didn’t want your friends laughing at you just because the words in your arm affected you in such a different way than it did to them.

“Doesn’t she realize we are in lunch break or what” Ned frowned and Mj just chuckled.

“She’s been acting really weird the whole day” Liz confirmed and Peter decided it was best to see if you were alright.

He found you – kind of hiding – in the library, anxiously tapping your foot as you had your mind on everything but the book on your hands.

“Hey” he whispered sitting in front of you, the tapping of your foot stopped only for a second as you flashed him a little smile. “I just wanted to check if you were alright, I’m sorry if they were too pushy about the subject”

He innocently apologized in the name of his friends, his wide concerned eyes always focused on your reaction.

Now how do we get started on Peter Parker? A literal angel on earth. Always apologizing for anything and everything, always caring and worried, but also always so god damn oblivious. Well, maybe he was just too focused on his crush on Liz that he never noticed how in your eyes he was all you ever saw. Especially with you two being secret avengers you thought you would have a higher chance but he was so blind, or just not interested.

“Y/N?”

“I’m sorry” you apologized once more for your distraction and heavily sighed. “I just- I don’t really like to talk about the whole soulmate stuff, it’s just something I like to keep for myself” You confessed and you thought the boy would laugh at you, but he only listened carefully and nodded.

“That’s okay you know, not all of us react to it the same way” He sympathized shrugging his shoulders.

“I guess I’m just afraid of not having enough time with my soulmate you know Mr. Harrington just showed us in the video the brighter side of it” You added, leaving the book on the table and hiding your face in in hands. “And I shouldn’t be worrying about it, I’m in high school for God’s sake, people here date for fun”

“Hey hey don’t worry, you don’t have to be like them” Peter said as he took your hands and softly put them away from your face, your eyes connecting once again. “I’m afraid too, all the time” he confessed focusing on drawing little circles on your hands. “And because of our jobs as avengers, or whatever Mr. Stark wants to call us, there’s no way of knowing what will happen, so I just have to keep going not matter what. And I keep telling myself everything will be alright, so I’m saying it to you as well. It will be alright, okay? and please, never feel bad for worrying about something more than others, because your heart might be different from theirs and there’s nothing wrong with that” he finished and you couldn’t help the smile that crept on your face.

As you stared at his eyes you thought, how could a human being be so pure? Or maybe it was just your teenager hormones reacting to the cute boy. Either way, whoever was destined to be with him was so lucky to have someone so sweet understanding.

“Thank you Pete, I really needed that” you admitted as you came out of your trance and apparently he did too, letting go of your hands.

The conversation between you both left Peter a little curious, were the words on your arm that bad that you felt so scared about them? Although he wasn’t so different, he had his own struggle with the subject. His words were, well, kind of weird yet mysterious.

‘Daisies, I like daisies’

He always wondered what situation would put his soulmate and him where he would have to hear those words. Would Peter ask them what their favorite flower is and then a piano would fall on their head? Or would he meet them at a flower shop and then their heart would suddenly stop? The teenager’s imagination went wild when it came to the whole soulmate thing.

So, he never asked a girl about her favorite flowers, more so, he never even mentioned anything related to plants for that matter. Ever. Because one thing was clear, Peter Parker didn’t hate daisies, he dreaded them.

Any time he saw the familiar flower he just ran the opposite direction. Flower shops? oh don’t worry, Peter was always miles away from them. So he did understand your struggle, as everyone had their own battle with the inked words.

The day had gone by rather quickly and you both were already flying a jet to a mission, were Captain Rogers had surprisingly let you both participate. It was just Tony, Natasha, Peter and you. Apparently an easy mission. You stared at Peter who excitedly spoke to Tony about his suit. You remembered your little talk in the library and couldn’t help the blush on your cheeks thinking about how he had held your hands.

“Staring is rude you know” Natasha nudged your arm as she laughed at you, and you shushed her before clapping back.

“For someone who is so young you sound like a grandma you know” you retorted pretending to be mad but a smile threatened to come out.

“Well, then let me tell you some of my grandma wisdom” She sat straighter in her seat. “The kid won’t know you like him if you don’t tell him, you know” She announced, making you roll your eyes.

“Wow suddenly I can’t hear” You joked and she had a smirk lingering her lips.

“Well, who’s the grandma know” She claimed and you finally let out a laugh.

Oh how you wish you were back at the jet laughing with Nat, instead of caught in a damn ambush in the middle of a hydra base. The plan had gone smoothly for about 10 minutes, before the agents multiplied and suddenly you were all surrounded in your positions. You were caught in an open field, throwing punches and kicks – after you ran out of bullets– putting up a pretty good fight but the agents kept coming and coming, as soon as you got rid of one group another one came, and you felt like there was no escape. For someone like Tony it would’ve been easier to fight multiple people because of his suit, and even for Nat because of her skills. Of course you were highly trained but you still had a lot to learn before you got to the widow’s level.

You guessed that’s why the avengers didn’t take the teenagers to missions more often.

“I cleared my building, how are you guys doing” You heard Natasha panting at the comm.

“I’ve almost cleared mine, I’ll get the intel after that” Tony’s suit was heard in a building close to you but you kept focused on fighting, your muscles already starting to ache. You finally gave the final punch to the last man from the third group of agents that had attacked you. His body fell unconscious on the snowy ground.

“Uhm I- I could use a little help” You admitted as you saw another group of about 9 agents getting closer to you. You noticed how they were about to shoot but before you could shield yourself a red and blue armor stood right front of you, shielding you from the bullets.

“Alright guys I’m afraid the party is over” Peter announced as he ran towards them and activated the suit’s spider legs, he started fighting the group and in a matter of seconds they were all laying on the ground.

“Show off” You whispered rolling your eyes, but if you were being honest you felt relieved, you had asked for the help after all. “Thank you” you tiredly smiled at him, you felt out of breath from the fight.

“Anytime darlin’, you did a pretty good job yourself” He admitted looking at the about 20 men laying on the floor behind you.

“Yeah well I-“

Everything happened so quickly, one minute you were standing before Peter and now you were laying on the cold snow with his arms holding you, struggling to breathe as your whole body felt like it was hit by a truck.

Peter hadn’t seen the sniper watching you from a distance, and it was too late when he did because the agent had already used all the bullets he had on you.

And there was way too much blood.

“Pete- Peter” You managed to get out as your vision threatened to get blurry, but you could still see Peter’s tear stained face.

“O-oh my god Y/N” He blurted out as he looked for a way to stop the bleeding, but it was pretty much impossible. Everything was so red he didn’t even know where it was coming from. “Don’t talk, you’ll be alright okay”

You felt how Tony landed right by your side, his mask disappearing showing you his shocked features as he kneeled right beside you. Nat arrived seconds before, imitating his actions. And their faces told you everything.

“It’s that bad huh” You chuckled, frowning immediately as you coughed blood, tasting the metallic flavor in your mouth.

“No no no, you’ll be just fine. M-Mr Stark is here okay? He’ll do something” Peter assured you, the tears never stopped adorning his face. “Right Mr. Stark?”

Tony had said “no” millions of times to the teenager before, but how could he do that now? Peter was exasperated, his hands were shaking and he was sure he would pass out at any given moment.

“Why do you keep looking at me? Do something!” Peter yelled at him but the mentor didn’t take it personal.

Tony Stark didn’t have the heart to tell Peter Parker that the girl in front of them wouldn’t make it further than a couple minutes. So he just lowered his eyes and focused on you instead, a young girl who didn’t deserve what was happening right now.

“You did well kid, we’re so proud of you” He lovingly said grabbing your left hand. “I’m so sorry” he apologized as he felt guilty for bringing you to the mission, but it was too late for regrets, and now he was just left to cry because he couldn’t stop the inevitable.

“We love you so much” Nat continued choking a sob, caressing your hair. “You are a wonderful girl”

Peter looked between the adults expressing their goodbyes, but he refused to believe it was over. You watched from your position how he denied with his head and looked somewhere else. The pain was slowly getting away and you knew what that meant.

You were not ready to go. Who would be at 16 years old?

“P- Peter, please look at me” You called him and his puffy eyes met yours. He noticed you were crying too. You took a deep breath, the normal task quickly becoming harder. “I’m scared Pete, I’m so scared” You confessed and his eyes softened.

“It’s o-okay, I’m also afraid remember. All the damn time” The boy cursed, feeling helpless. “It’ll be alright Y/N, just– just think about pretty things darling” He comforted you one more time and took your free hand in his. He tried to smile for you but the tears never stopped coming.

So you did too. You smiled thinking about him, his curly hair softly framing his forehead, his pretty pink lips talking about something nerdy, his lovely puppy eyes shining when he talked about being spiderman. But of course you wouldn’t admit the ‘pretty thing’ was him, so you went for your favorite flowers instead.

“Daisies, I like daisies” you blurted out, thinking about laying down next to him in a camp full of the beautiful flowers, instead of the cold stained snow below you.

Those words were all it took to for Peter to lose it. When he heard the words coming out from your lips, his whole world stopped. His breath was caught up in his throat and suddenly he was the one having trouble breathing.

“It’s you” He whispered as he came to the realization of the love of his life dying right in his arms. “No no no! this is not real” the kid started panicking even more than he was before and the adults looked at him, worried at his sudden outburst.

“Pete-“ Tony called out to him but Peter kept his focus on you.

“You can’t do this you can’t say you like daisies” he desperately argued and you frowned, you didn’t understand what was happening and you certainly didn’t have time for that. “You can’t go, you can’t–” he struggled to speak as he was choking on his own sobs “you can’t go when it’s been you the whole time I-“

The kid stopped for a moment, looking up at the sky, praying that whatever was going on at he moment was just a bad joke, a bad dream, not real life. He returned his eyes to yours once again, and the words that left his mouth hurt you more than the wounds from your body.

“Please don’t leave me”

No. There was no way. You finally understood his breakdown, but now it was too late. You felt so many emotions at once that you started coughing again tasting more blood in your mouth and your heart couldn’t keep beating anymore. You knew it was over, and you couldn’t do anything else but sadly smile as the last breath took place, your last memory being getting to know who was your soulmate, even if it was cruel and evil, it was what it was.

Life had given you everything, except for one thing. A chance with the love of your life.

“NO NO NO” he bawled and threw himself over your body, crying on your chest not caring about all the blood that was there. “You can’t go, don’t go please I- I can’t I won’t – please don’t”

Tony’s and Nat’s hearts were broken, seeing you go and the other kid bawling on your body was a view none of them ever thought they would have to go through.

“Pete-“Tony’s voice cracked as he put his arms on Peter’s shoulders, trying to move him but he quickly pushed him away.

“NO YOU DONT GET IT” Peter barked as he held your body tight. “She – she said she liked daisies and that – that’s ridiculous you know” The kid suddenly started letting out nervous laughs and the adults couldn’t be more confused about his behavior. “It’s ridiculous because my soulmate likes daisies and I– I never thought” his laughs stopped and tears started falling again “I never thought it would be her, and just today we – we talked about this. So it’s ridiculous. It’s so god damn ridiculous it can’t be real, this is not real” The kid started sobbing again on your chest.

“Kid- “

“It’s okay Tony, let him” Nat interrupted him as the realization hit her like a truck.

Peter and Y/N were soulmates. They were soulmates who would never be together.

So she let Peter cry all he wanted, his grip always firm on your lifeless body. They sat there, mourning for hours, until the sun was coming down and they quite literally had to rip the kid away from your body to take you back to the compound. To take you home. Tony didn’t know what hurt the most, having to tell the avengers they had lost their youngest member in what Cap had called ‘an easy mission’ or seeing Peter still holding your hand on the jet. At least he appeared to have ran out of tears.

Peter felt like he would pass out from feeling so many things. How could he be so stupid? So blind? He had been drooling over Liz for so long when the love of his life was right in front of him. You were in front on him. And now you will never be. The rest of the jet ride he never let go of your hand, and he wished he could hold it forever.

One thing was more than clear now. Peter no longer ran away from daisies, instead, every time he saw one a nostalgic smile adorned his face and was reminded of the amazing person you were, with a heart as beautiful as the flower.

Peter Parker no longer dreaded daisies, he cherished them, as he should have done it with you.

I Don't Need It

• Pairing: Na Jaemin x Reader

• Genre: Angst, Comedy, Fluff

• Na Jaemin despised the idea of soulmates, he wanted to fight against fate for choosing his soulmate for him. Even if it means his stubborn childhood best friend wouldn't stop trying to make him accept about the similar tattoos on their wrists.

• Masterlist here!

• Chapters: v, vi

After the incident at Jaemin's house, you received a small scolding from your parents the next morning for leaving early as you pretended to be asleep when they came into your room to talk after the dinner party. (Even though you continued crying til dawn after they closed the door.)

You came to school with puffy swollen red eyes, messy hair and dark bags under your eyes that couldn't go unnoticed by the other students who just gave you a pitiful smile when greeting you. You tried your hardest to give them a decent smile back but the ache in your heart wouldn't go away, all you wanted to do was cry and sleep in your bed all day.

You felt hopeless and exhausted. You were seriously contemplating on skipping school today as you gathered your books and a pen from your locker until you heard a familiar voice behind you calling out your name.

"Y/N."

You turned your head back to see Huang Renjun who gave you a soft smile, stretching out his arms wide to give you a big warm hug. You felt tears lining up the brim of your eyes when you felt his arms comforting you, but you took a deep shuddering breath against his chest.

You felt Renjun pat your head, pulling away to wrap an arm around your shoulder and leads you to your next class. "Stop crying, ugly." Renjun chuckled as you sniffled tilted your head up to keep your tears in. "I'm sure I would if I don't feel like absolute shit right now, Renjun." you deadpanned.

Renjun rolled his eyes at your sardonic tone, taking a few agonizing moments of silence to think of what to say. He clicked his tongue, "so, are you going to finally stop?" he spoke quietly, the amusement in his voice had now disappeared.

You leaned your head against him and sighed heavily, closing your eyes for a moment before responding. "Enough is enough, I guess. I was bout to give up sooner or later anyways," you laughed bitterly, looking down.

"It hurt alot, you know." you chuckled, wiping your eyes to stop the tears that you couldn't hold in. Renjun bit his lip, his chest clenched at the sight of you crying as he lead you to your class. Guilt for bringing up the topic filling his heart as he sat beside you, watching you bury yourself in your arms and try to keep your breathing steady.

Renjun patted your back, unsure of what to do or say as the teacher walks into class. Although, he couldn't pay attention to the lesson, he couldn't stop thinking bout how much in pain you sounded when you accidentally buttdialed him.

Renjun was casually laying on his stomach on his bed while playing some animal crossing when the sound of his ringtone blasted from his phone. He sighed, picking up his phone then furrowing his brows at the name that popped up his screen.

Y/N L/N The Hopeless One

Why was she calling? Shouldn't she be at her monthly dinner with the Na's? More importantly, why is she calling in the middle of his animal crossing session? He swore that he remembers that Mrs. Choi didn't give homework today, so why else did she call?

Renjun swiped his thumb to receive the call, putting his phone beside his ear. "Hello? Y/N?" all he heard from your side of the call were soft sniffles, it sounded as if you were trying to calm yourself down. Wait, what's going on?

"Renjun, I'm so sorry, I sat on my phone and I think it accidentally-" you spluttered, choking on your words as you spoke. Something's definitely wrong. Renjun sat up completely, putting down his switch as his concern grew even more. "Wait, are you crying?" he asked hesitantly.

That seemed to silence you. But a hiccup elicited from you was enough to give him an answer, "no? Why would I be crying?" you cried out, sobs breaking out of your throat and through his phone speakers. Renjun bit his lip as he heard your cries, reading to hear you out.

"Y/n, it's okay. I'm here. Tell me what happened." He chuckled, laying down on his bed to prepare himself of what's to come. He heard you inhale deeply before telling him the whole story in explicit detail.

He was thankful that he got the main points considering your cries and gasps had muffled the words you spoke but either way he couldn't blame Jaemin for snapping, but he was beyond livid at the boy for letting his anger and annoyance get the best of him.

Renjun sighed as you finished your explanation, continuing to sob. Sounds of spoon hitting a plastic tub of ice cream (which you had grabbed in the middle of your explanation with an "I need to fill the emptiness inside me with some ice cream, I can't explain this without ice cream") in the background.

"That's a dick move." Renjun tsked. "I can't believe he broke your music box, the music box! I knew how special that thing meant to you." he exclaimed angrily. You sniffed, "I know but I can't blame him for yelling like that."

"That still doesn't give him an excuse for breaking what's yours." Renjun added. "Jesus Christ, he's supposed to be your soulmate, for Pete's sake! The one person in the world who's suppose to cherish your heart," he growled.

"Unbelievable, I'm going to kill him when we get to school." he muttered. "Renjun, don't. Please. Just leave him be, it wasn't completely his fault." you cried. "But-" Renjun started before you cut him off with a sob.

"I mean it." you told him boldly. "Leave him be. Please. Even though he crushed my heart to a gazillion pieces, I still love him with all my heart and I can't stop loving him. Please, Renjun." you pleaded, the desperation in your tone causing Renjun to nod and let out a small "okay".

He heard you sigh, hiccuping afterward. "I love him you know. I really do," you hiccuped. Renjun sighed, chuckling afterwards, "I know. You say that every 30 minutes in school, to an almost creepy level if I do say so myself." he teased.

You didn't laugh though, he knew your chest was still aching like hell to do so. "He said he'll never like me like that." you spoke in an almost audible tone, "I don't know what to do with myself anymore, Renjun. What am I supposed to do without him?" it seemed the tears had came back considering you started sobbing again.

Renjun sighed, "you really are an idiot." he chuckled sympathetically. "I know I am." you agreed, grabbing a tissue as you let out another dramatic sob.

"Is she okay?" your friend, Yeji, mouthed at Renjun, nodding her head at your sulking form that was poking your food mindlessly with a plastic spork. Renjun glared at your friend, his expression screaming 'Are you blind or stupid?'

Nancy rolled her eyes, nodding her head up at Renjun as if to say 'what's up with her, you idiot'. Renjun bit his lip, subtly pointing at you before making a heart with his fingers, tearing the heart apart slowly before pressing a finger down his eyelids to his cheeks with his face scrunched up.

Renjun then pointed at Na Jaemin who was a few tables away, chatting with Jeno and the other members of the Football Team along with a few girls from the cheer leading squad. Your group of friends furrowed their brows at the sight of Jaemin nodding his head along with his friends, smiling brightly as if he hadn't just broke a valuable possession of yours.

Hyunjin looked back at Renjun with wide eyes, pointing at you then at the boy who was sitting tables away from you. Renjun nodded before taking a spoonful of his lunch. The group exchanged expressions of sympathy before Yeji gave you an encouraging hug.

"Cheer up, babe." she said, trying to lighten your mood. "People fight all the time, I'm sure he'll make up for it eventually. Boys suck, anyways." Nancy added in agreement, receiving an offended "hey!" from Hyunjin beside her.

"Don't you have a lesson with him after this?" Chani asked, receiving a smack to the back of his head by Renjun afterwards. "I'm just asking, sheesh!" he hissed in retaliation, but the stoic expression on Renjun's face remained.

"Right, I have a class with him." you groaned, rubbing your swollen eyes with your palms. "I wish I could just skip," you muttered under your breath. "Don't we all? I mean I have Mr Park's after this and I forgot to do that essay he assigned yesterday." Yeji agreed.

"The essay bout Isaac Newton's discovery?" Jinyoung questioned, raising a brow. "I don't know, but it was that guy who had an apple fall ontop of his head though." she explained, pulling out her phone idly. "Yeji, that assignment was assigned three weeks ago."

"So? I am a busy person okay."

"Busy, my ass. You text me literally every hour of every day saying that you were tired of being bored and single, you damn procrastinator."

"Shut up would yo-"

"I'm going to head to class early, okay? I'll see you guys later," you got up, unable to stay in the same room as the guy who broke your heart who was having the time of his life, oblivious to the fact that your heart and mark was burning like hell.

"Y/N-" Nancy called out but you cut her off with a sad smile. "I just need some time alone right now," you sighed, grabbing your bag and started walking out of the cafeteria. You heard footsteps behind you, feeling a hand on your shoulder as Renjun's figure came up walking beside you.

"I'll walk you to class," Renjun smiled. "What part of-" you huffed before he cuts you off with a finger to your lips, "I wasn't asking, y/n." he giggled. You inhaled sharply, pushing his hand away from your mouth. "Don't get your hand near my mouth, I might die from whatever virus you have transferred onto your skin with the amount of paint water you consume everyday." you joked, a small smile evident before it faltered to a frown.

"Oh please, I don't consume paint water on purpose, you idiot. My fingers are cleaner than a germaphobe, chill out." he giggled before frowning when he noticed your eyes getting teary again. Memories of Jaemin yelling at you fluttered through your mind once again, your heart began to ache in your chest and your soulmate mark was burning against your skin.

Renjun bit his lip nervously, contemplating what to do next to make a smile appear on your face. 'Fuck it,' the boy thought, before wrapping an arm around your shoulders in the empty hallway before giving you a bright smile. "Why don't we ditch school for the rest of the day?" he offered.

Your eyes widened, "what did you just say?" you exclaimed with a gasp. "Let's ditch," he replied with a bold tone, nodding in encouragement, his eyes shining bright. "You? Are encouraging me? To ditch school?" you gaped, pointing to yourself and to Renjun in disbelief.

"Who are you and what have you done to the Renjun who cares bout his pristine reputation and nags bout how important perfect attendance is?"

"Oh come on. I'll even treat you to Baskin Robins, " Renjun poked your side teasingly, causing you to squeak and flinch in response. "So, what do you say?" he smirked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as the arm around your shoulder pulled your closer to his form.

You thought bout it for a moment. Will Ms. Lee give you extra work as punishment once she finds out that you had ditched class? Without a doubt in mind, obviously. Are you willing to bare 25 minutes of half of the class muttering and whispering bout you, wondering why you aren't sitting next to Jaemin? Nope. Is this worth it? Probably.

"Alright." you gave in with a chuckle. "Only if you buy me fries and Baskin Robins though," you pointed a finger at him which he shrugged in response. "I'll be penniless by the end of the day but I'd do anything to stop making you feel like shit"

"It's cute that you care bout me."

"Don't take it to heart, this is a one time thing."

"Sure it will."

"Y/n, I'm serious. I need to save money for the next release of Kingdom Hearts."

It was a shame that you missed Jaemin's presence staring at you from afar the whole day. The way his eyes would subtly glance at you every few seconds during lunch, carefully watching you depressed figure poking tteokbokki with a sport.

Your friends hugging you and comforting you by your side. Jaemin felt guilty bout what happened that night but he knew that it was the last straw and it was the only way you would get off his back. Nonetheless, why did he feel sad when he saw you walking like a lifeless zombie on the way to the bus stop this morning as he drove to school?

He figured it was because he wasn't used to you coming up to his car every morning asking for a ride. Why did he feel his heart getting heavy when he saw you walking around like a kicked puppy waiting for it's owner as you open your locker.

He couldn't stop thinking bout how broken hearted you look when he yelled at you that night. He honestly didn't know what to feel. Relief now that you had stopped clinging on to him like a sloth hanging on a tree branch? Guilt because he had broken a gift you had given him? But why would you cry over a cheap music box when you just smiled at him when he had broke your favorite camera?

Jaemin watched you leave his room without another word. His gaze went down to his now dirty floor, pieces of wood scattered across the floor and a small figurine laying in between the pieces. 'It must've been an old cheap music box or something.' he thought.

Jaemin clicked his tongue angrily, kneeling down to run a hand through his hair. "Shit," he sighed softly, feeling the stress from earlier pile up in his head once again. His eyes went to the wooden pieces to the photograph of you and him when you were kids.

His eyes grew soft at the sight, remembering your high-pitched voice practically screaming at him to stop shooting his transformer action figures at your barbies while they were getting their hair brushed. He chuckled at the memory, his hand slowly picking up the photograph of you two laughing with your toys in hand.

He remembered how your grandma had barged in to take a photo of the two of you, commenting bout how adorable it would be to have Jaemin as your soulmate and future grandson in law. "I miss those times," he muttered, caressing the photo with his thumb before pulling out his wallet.

He folded the picture and snuck it into his wallet, smiling slightly. Jaemin looked at the scattered pieces and grabbed one of the empty boxes you had presented him when you gave him that new watch for his first goal. "I'll just throw this away later," he said as he gathered all the pieces and puts them in the decorated box.

Jaemin then got up to his window, stretching his curtains to peek at your room. He could see your window which was now covered by your curtains, your lights were turned off but he could see your figure collapsing on your bed. Did he go too far?

Jaemin didn't understand why it was making him feel down to see you frown like that. To hear the students around you gossip bout how sad you looked today. He didn't understand why he felt like he had done something awfully terrible.

"Holy shit, you did that?" Jeno gasped, almost dropping his spoon dramatically onto the table. Jaemin nodded sheepishly as he explained the whole situation with you at the dinner party. "Yep."

"Isn't that a little too far? I mean she looks really really sad. Sadder than that time when she got an F on maths." Jeno raised his brow, sitting up straight as Jaemin shrugged in response. "It was the only way to get her off my back for a while, I'm sick of it." he groaned.

"Dude, what if she actually stops for good? Then what?" he added, disbelieving the fact that his best friend would hurt his own soulmate like that. He never really understood why Jaemin was so defensive bout the soulmate topic, either.

"Then? Then great! I wouldn't have to worry bout her nagging to me everyday of my life. As if that's gonna happen though, she's gonna get back to it in a few days, trust me." Jaemin chuckled. He knows you like the back of his hand, once you calm down, you'll be back to annoy the living hell out of him again.

"Dude, isn't that a little too far?"

"What if that music box actually meant something to her? I mean, she looks as if she had seen herself die or something!"

"Jeno-"

"What would you do if she stops and the tables starts turning?"

"Jeno that's not possibl-"

"I said 'if'!! What IF you grew feelings for her when she stops feeling like that? What are you gonna do?"

"Jeno sto-"

"What are you two gonna do now huh? Remove your mark-"

"Jeno, fuck off!." Jaemin barked, his eyes growing dark. Jeno closed his mouth, realising he had spoken too much. He couldn't help it. Not when he knew his friend made a huge mistake. "Sorry," he mumbled, looking down shamefully.

Jaemin sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "I'm going to go to the bathroom. Please don't bring this up again," he muttered, getting up from his spot in the table.

He felt sick to his stomach. He excused himself and passing by the cheerleaders gawking at him on one of the tables. Once he stepped out he saw your lonely figure walking alone in the halls.

He didn't know why he wanted to talk to you at that moment. And he sure didn't know why it made him feel irritated to see Huang Renjun come up and comfort you, eliciting a smile from you with a few words.

"Why don't we ditch school for the rest of the day?"

Jaemin almost let out a laugh. You? Ditching class? The day that happens is the day that pigs fly. You couldn't possibly accept his offer, right? You two do share a class after this, you wouldn't give up any opportunity to spend time with him-

"Alright." you gave in with a chuckle.

Jaemin felt something inside of him ache. He couldn't understand why you would skip class for the rest of the day to spend time with Renjun instead of him. He couldn't understand why you look so happy walking out to the corridors of the school with him by your side.

Jaemin stood in his place, his pupils began to shake as he watched Renjuns embrace tighten around your small form. His hands now balled up into fists as he gripped onto the fabric of his white hoodie. He didn't understand why he felt his blood boil when he saw you two happily in each others company.

More importantly he was too busy pondering a million questions in his head go acknowledge the pain in his chest and the slight burn of his soulmate mark on his left skin beneath the fabric covering it.

I want to cry this took forever uGh. I love writing this series hehe

Tags: @12am-musings @cherrystay

Dusk Till Dawn - Part 2

Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Peter wants to help you but he doesn’t trust your new friend.

Warnings: Swearing (most likely), angst, jealousy, 

A/N: colab w/ @annies-marvel-imagines. Part 3 will be posted on her account. GIF cred goes to owner. 

The second Peter felt your presence, he knew that something was wrong. He could feel your emotional distress without even having to see you. It was strong and he couldn’t figure out what had caused it. He knew that he wasn’t the only one who was worried about you. 

Your dad had called him last night thinking that the two of you had fought. Apparently, you refused to come out of your room since coming back from the mission and you refused to talk to anybody. In short, the Avengers though you were avoiding them.

That was another thing that pissed you off. They ignore you for six months and then have the nerve to say that you were the one avoiding them? Well, technically you were. The only person you’ve spoken to was Steve, but that was just because he ambushed you on your way to the kitchen in the middle of the night. 

He also assumed that you and Peter had a fight or something. He had told you that if you needed anybody to talk to, he’d be happy to listen. You weren’t sure where any of this was coming from. He had been one of the many people who had ignored you for so long.

Whatever it was that you were feeling, Peter felt it too. All day, Peter couldn’t concentrate on a single thing his teachers were saying. It was like the only thing his senses could focus on was you. At one point, it had gotten a bit embarrassing when he didn’t answer his teacher right away, causing Flash to make some smart-ass comment about something. He needed to talk to you right away.

If only Eloise Day hadn’t beaten him to it.

���Does your dad know that you know?” Ellie asks. You had told her about what you had found out about yourself from the USB that you stole from Hydra.

“No. Not yet at least. I just can’t believe he’d keep something like this from me my whole life.” You sigh as you shove your school books in your locker. Yes, you were pissed. Your dad told you that your mom was a summer fling who died giving birth to you. 

“You had a right to know,” Ellie tells you as she places a comforting hand on your arm. You just wish that people would be honest to you. The only two people who you can really trust were Ellie and-

“You had a right to know what?” Peter unexpectedly asks, causing you to almost drop your Science book. Peter catches it before it hits the ground and places it neatly in your locker.

“It’s nothing,” you say. You trusted Peter, but this wasn’t something you wanted to tell him. You knew that he would try to defend your dad and make up lame excuses. Peter idolized your dad and you also didn’t want to take that away from him.

“Hey, Peter,” Ellie looks at him grudgingly, as though daring him to push the topic further.

“Hi,” he says half-heartedly. Right now, he cared about you a lot more than some random girl who he barely knew. “You should come over today. May says she misses you.”

Peter knew that it was just an excuse to get you alone. Yeah, May really did miss you, but Peter was really starting to worry. You were always open to him, so the fact that there was something you weren’t telling him on top of your awful mood was causing him to freak out a little. Was it something he did?

“I don’t know.” Peter noticed your hesitation. “I’m not feeling that great.”

“It’s okay.” It most definitely wasn’t okay. You lied to him. Peter always knew how you were feeling and he knew that you weren’t sick at all. “Maybe another time?”

“Yeah.” Peter nodded his head as he watched you walk away with Eloise. 

Ellie had insisted on you coming to her house. She said that she wanted help on her Chemistry homework, but you knew that she was actually curious to know more about what you found out. If Ellie really was as smart as you knew she was then there was no way that she needed help with homework.

As usual, her parents were working late. You’ve heard stories of Ellie’s parents, but you’ve never  actually met them. From what you knew, they always worked and Ellie was always alone.

“So if Tony Stark isn’t your real dad, then who is?” Ellie sat with her legs crossed looking at you curiously. 

“I wish I knew. The only information I found about who my real parents are is my mom’s name.” You couldn’t really find any pictures of her, but you really liked her name.

“What was her name?” Ellie was a good friend. It’s not like she was going to go around telling people about this. 

“Christine Y/L/N” 

“What?” She looks at you with an expression that you couldn’t quite read.  “I think I know someone who might have known your mom.”

“Really?” You sat up giving her your undivided attention. Could she really help you find out more about your past?

“Yeah, but I’m not a hundred percent sure.” You followed her to her parent’s room where she dug through one of the suitcases that were under the bed. “Do you mind doing a DNA test?”

“Um... I don’t know.” She finally found what she was looking for You eyed the syringe warily.

Bucky had one told you to never give your blood to anyone unless it was a life or death situation and even then you were supposed to be cautious about it. Steve and Nat were quick to agree but this had to be an exception, right? This was important to you and they would have to understand.

“Come on. It’s just me. You trust me, right?” Ellie prompted.

“Okay, just do it quick.” You hated needles. After a few seconds, she was done but there was another problem.

“There, um...” She looked around for band-aids. You ended up having to use a tissue temporarily until Ellie came back with the box. “These are the only band-aids I have.”

The band-aids were all Avenger themed. You pulled out a band-aid and put it on. It was blue with tiny shields all over it. It was actually kind of cute.

“Thanks.”

“So what’s Parker’s deal?” Ellie asks. You didn’t look like you knew what she was talking about so she continues. “He looked like a lost puppy when you turned him down earlier.”

“Well, we’ve sort of been best friends since we met,” you say remembering the day you met. It was in that airport in Germany. 

“Weren’t you two fighting each other when you met?”

“Sort of.” You got ready to tell her.  “I was fighting him but he wasn’t fighting me.” While you fought Peter, all he did was dodge and defend. Not once did he throw a punch your way. You kind of already knew Peter, but you had never really spoken to him until that day. You figured that Tony had asked him not to hurt you or something like that.

“Did you know that he actually saved my life that day?”

“How?” She scrunched her nose in confusion. You weren't oblivious to the fact that Peter and Ellie did not like each other at all. Either way, Ellie was your friend and you were excited to talk to her about this.

“Well, the whole fight has pretty much escalated out of control and a giant bus flew at me but Pete swung in and grabbed me before the bus hit me.”

“Gwen is a lucky girl,” Ellie stated as she got back to doing her homework. 

“Gwen?” What the hell was she talking about?

“Yeah. They obviously like each other. I wouldn’t be surprised if he asked her to homecoming.” 

You just now realized that Peter and Gwen actually have been spending a bit more time together than usual. She started eating lunch with Peter, Ned, and Harry around the time that you started eating lunch with Ellie so she wouldn’t be alone.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” You didn’t want to think about Peter and Gwen together. “I should probably go home, but it was nice hanging out with you.”

“I like hanging out with you too.” 

Ellie had offered to drive you home, but you figured that you needed a bit of alone time. Unfortunately, you figured you should have taken her up on that offer. On the subway, you ended up siting next to a man and woman who couldn’t control their pet chicken. You finally made it back to the tower a little after ten.

“Y/N, where have you been?” Pepper asks. You couldn’t find it in yourself to hold any grudge against her. She, although often busy with running Stark Industries, had always treated you like her own daughter. You were sure that she would have told you the truth if she hadn’t worked for you dad for so long. 

“I was at a friends house,” You say. Suddenly, your dad walks in and you could feel the anger seeping back into you.

“Oh. There’s pizza in the fridge,” he casually says as though he hadn’t realized you were gone for so long. 

“Thanks,” you say bitterly, although nobody seems to have noticed.

“Nice band-aid,” he says after spotting the Captain America themed band-aid.  “What happened?”

“Nothing. Just an accident.” He hummed as he scrolled through his phone. 

“I think Peter is waiting for you in your room.” Your anger vanished a little after hearing that Peter was in your room.

“Why?”

“Something about studying for a physics test.” You knew that was a lie. You share five classes with Peter, Physics was one of them, and there was no Physics test to study for.

“Okay.” Your dad and Pepper walked off (probably to talk about that dude who keeps spreading rumors about SI), and you went to your room. 

“Hey,” you say. Peter was sitting on the edge of your bed and you knew that he was expecting you. He was wearing his Spider-Man suit, except he was holding the mask in his hands. You didn’t like the accusatory look he was giving you one bit. 

“I thought you said you weren’t feeling well,” Peter says. You felt bad about lying to him, but you knew that he would want you to talk about what was bothering you. You weren’t ready to talk to him about it and even if you were you weren’t sure if you should.

“I’m not.” Technically, in an emotional sort of way, you weren’t feeling well. 

“You were at Eloise’s house.” You sigh, knowing you were probably going to be lectured. “Y/N something is bothering you. You know you can talk to me right? About anything.”

“I know. It’s not that important.” Again, you lied. You loved talking to Peter, but you really didn’t want to talk to him about this one specific thing.

“You do know that I know when you’re lying.” Damn spidey-senses. 

“You wouldn’t understand.” Peter stood up and you had a feeling that he would start pacing any second.

“You don’t know that.”  You knew that Peter wouldn’t understand. He knew exactly who he was. You thought you knew yourself, but your whole life has been one big lie. You weren’t who everyone thought you were.

“Pete, can we please talk about something else?” 

“Fine.” Peter was most likely going to want to talk about it again, but he understood that now probably wasn’t the right time for you. “Do you want to go on patrol?”

“You haven’t already?” Peter usually goes on patrol immediately after school gets out. You were surprised that he hadn’t yet.

“No, I was waiting for you.” You nod your head as you feel a sigh blush creep up your cheeks.

“Okay, just let me get changed first.”  Peter remains standing facing you. “You can turn around.”

“Oh- right.” Peter awkwardly coughs as he turns around. 

“So how was school?” You find your suit stuffed in the corner of your closet. It sort of reminded you of Tris Prior from Divergent, except your outfit was more flexible and mostly bullet proof. You really needed to upgrade it against whatever it was that comes from stupid space guns. Your side was still a little bit sore, but it wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle.

“A pain,” Peter scoffs. “Your emotions were really strong today.”

“Sorry.” You hadn’t realized that Peter’s senses would pick up on your emotions. You felt bad that it affected him so much.

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” he says softly. “I just want to be there for you.”

“I’m done.” You say. 

Going on patrol with Peter was nothing short of refreshing. You missed spending time with him and it was the perfect distraction to everything you’ve been feeling up until this point. 

There wasn’t a lot going on tonight other than one purse thief and a few shoplifters. You and Peter mostly hung out reminiscing about old times. It made you realize how while some things change too fast or too much, some things never do. Peter had the same brown eyes you loved. His laugh was still music to your ears. He was still the same person who saved you all those years ago. 

Peter knew that he should have gone straight home after dropping you back off in your room, but for some reason he found himself wandering around in the park. It was like he needed to be there but he didn’t know what for.

After a while of mindlessly walking around, he sat down on a bench. He quickly stood back up again when he saw an all too familiar face. Eloise Day stood waiting not that far from where Peter was. She didn’t see him, but he definitely saw her. 

A black van pulled up right next to her. It looked more like an old worn down ambulance that was painted black and rusting. Peter was ready to swoop in in case she was in danger but something told him she wasn’t.

A man exited the vehicle and shared a few words with your friend. She handed him something and in return she was given a small folder. Peter could instantly tell that whatever this was wasn’t good. He wanted to tell you, but would you believe him? 

Tag List:

@eridanuswave @drishtisikarwar @spideygirl2003

Anyone who wants to be removed can message me or @annies-marvel-imagines

Lost in the Lights Ch.9|Brittana

A/N - So we're potentially nearing the end to this one. I've been considering writing the entire school year, but I may finally be getting back to work soon so I won't have much free time to continue this. Who knows though, a miracle might happen! Don't worry, I'll get this to a good stopping point so no one's left hanging. Thanks for sticking around!

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

When Monday morning rolls around, Brittany has no trouble waking up to start her day. In fact, she barely grumbles as she does a stretch before getting ready for her usual morning run. Most of the time, Mondays are the hardest for her since it means getting back into her busy routine for the week but today feels different.

Actually, the whole weekend has felt different.

Brittany feels weirdly well-rested although she didn’t really get much sleep last night because she spent most of it texting Santana. They weren’t even talking about anything important, but Brittany couldn’t get enough of her even after the day they spent together.

Like they agreed upon, Santana tagged along with her and Pete to the park where they both watched Pete swing. Neither of them could help glancing over by the pond though and Brittany definitely couldn’t help but to remember all that happened there. She bets Santana was thinking the same judging by the coy smirk Brittany caught her wearing when their eyes finally met. The look made Brittany blush, but they were soon interrupted by Pete begging one of them to push him on the swings.

It was a great afternoon at the park followed by lunch back at the Pierce residence where Brittany made everyone sandwiches. Pete talked animatedly about this show he watched at their grandparents’ house in between bites of his ham and cheese. Santana followed along just as enthusiastically which made Brittany’s heart just about burst. She found herself wondering if anyone else knew of Santana’s softer side or if this was just for them.

Either way, it was nice and easy and even if Brittany was dealing with a hangover from hell it was okay, because once Pete fell into a food coma Santana kissed away all her worries.

And it was different, kissing Santana completely sober. There was nothing in her system that could blur the way she felt in that moment, nothing else to pin those dizzy feelings on.

Everything she felt was purely because of Santana.

It was something Brittany wondered about before Santana came over that day. What would happen once the alcohol wore off? Would Santana regret everything? Would Brittany? Would things become awkward and uncomfortable to the point where they’d have to stop being friends?

Santana put a rest to most of Brittany’s burning questions just by showing up after everything that happened that night, then she assured Brittany by pushing her up against the kitchen counter and kissing her hard after Pete fell asleep on the couch.

Of course, that’s just how Brittany’s interpreting it all so that she can make sense of how quickly their friendship has changed. If Santana regretted anything they did, it definitely didn’t show so it must mean that they’re okay.

But again, Brittany’s just guessing because they haven’t actually had a conversation. Right now, it’s like she’s in limbo and she’s not sure how she feels about that yet.

\\

When Brittany arrives at McKinley High an hour or so later, Santana’s just pulling into the Senior parking lot. The quarterback lingers by her car as she watches Santana get out of hers. It’s crazy how much she’s drawn to her but it has always been like that. The only difference now is that she knows what Santana’s lips feel like on her skin and how much she loves kissing her.

There’s also Santana’s habit of looking super hot while doing the most ordinary things – for example, putting on her bookbag. She’s just gorgeous, simple as that, and Brittany can’t help but to be easily distracted by her.

“Mornin’,” Santana says casually as she walks past Brittany before taking sip of her coffee.

Leave it to Santana to make a pit stop at the Lima Bean before class, but she’s as pretty as ever in her Cheerios uniform. Even her voice has a little bit of a rasp to it and it just reminds Brittany of how long they stayed up the night before talking to each other.  

Brittany kind of wants to kiss her again.

Santana’s steps slow when Brittany only stares blankly, “Earth to Pierce?”

“Sorry! Good morning,” Brittany finally answers as she blinks back into reality.

“You still waking up or something?” Santana jokes as she takes another sip.

“I guess,” Brittany answers shyly, “I was up late.”

Santana just smirks before continuing to walk towards the building. Brittany quickly closes her car door and rushes to catch up to her.

When Brittany joins her again, Santana gives the blonde a once over and quirks a brow, “You not bringing your bookbag today?”

“Huh?” Brittany looks around and blushes again before going back to her car for her bag. She started off the morning doing so well, but maybe she’s going to pay for the lack of sleep after all?

\\

By lunch, Brittany’s a lot more coherent. She sits at her usual table with Kurt, Mercedes and Tina and she can hear them going on about some Glee Club drama which would usually interest her since she’s not involved in any way but she finds herself getting lost in her thoughts.

There’s a ton going through her head: an upcoming history test, Santana, finishing her English paper, Santana, getting ready for the last two games of the regular season, Santana.

With it being so late in the football season, she really should be focused on the playoffs but this past weekend has really thrown her for a loop. She has dated before – twice and none of them lasted more than a few months – but none of her past partners ever consumed her attention like this.

“How was your weekend, Britt?” Kurt asks with a nudge to Brittany’s shoulder, “Did you end up going to Puck’s party?”

“Yeah, you’ve got to tell us how that happened,” Tina says with a gesture to Brittany’s nose.

“I can cover that up by the way,” Kurt adds.

Brittany smiles, “It’s cool, I accidentally got…headbutted. It’s not the worst that’s happened.”

“It looks like it hurts like hell,” Mercedes says with a chuckle.

Brittany only shrugs, “I don’t even notice it. But yeah, I did go to the party. It was a lot of fun. Missed seeing you there though, Kurt.”

Kurt shakes his head, “Yeah, I think I would’ve rather gone to Puck’s than Rachel Berry’s Halloween House Party Train Wreck Extravaganza.”

“That’s a mouthful,” Brittany comments as she picks at her lunch, “Not a good time?”

“Endless drama,” Mercedes answers, “Even I was a little annoyed by it.”

“That sucks,” Brittany frowns just as Santana and Quinn enter the cafeteria.

It’s like her whole world stops.

Brittany glances their way as they walk by just in time to see Santana eye her up and down. The blonde just barely catches the wink she sends before she and Quinn continue on towards their table.

Surprisingly, the rest of the table was totally oblivious to their exchange. Seems like Quinn was too. Brittany has to bite her cheek to keep from smiling too widely, she doesn’t need Kurt and Mercedes prying again.

Instead, she goes back to listening to the breakdown of whatever drama took place at Rachel’s. She nods and responds whenever necessary, but she isn’t too invested in the story. She’s too busy glancing Santana’s way every so often just to check if she was looking too.

Santana always was.

\\

By the final class of the day, Brittany swears she can feel the tension between them. She can’t quite put her finger on the kind of tension it is, but it makes her feel hyper aware whenever Santana is around. Anytime the Co-Captain glances her way or their hands accidentally touch, it’s like a thousand alarms go off in Brittany’s head.

What they’re alerting her of, she has no idea.

They look at each other like they have this shared secret and they’re both just dying to blurt it out. Brittany guesses that’s sort of true. She of course hasn’t told anyone about what happened when she and Santana left Puck’s party, but that’s because she isn’t really close to anyone. Kurt and Mercedes’ reaction to her friendship with Santana really put her off of telling them anything so she keeps most things to herself now.

But Santana?

Brittany wonders if she told Quinn anything or if she’s keeping this under wraps too. With the way news travels at this school, she doubts Santana would be the first to say anything to anyone. She can understand Santana wanting privacy after everything she has been through though.

So Brittany continues to listen to Ms. Holliday’s lesson and tries her hardest to focus on notetaking and not Santana, no matter how close her pinky is to Brittany’s. If she wanted to, she could link them together and it would kind of be like holding hands.

“You going to practice early today?” Santana asks in a hushed voice. She doesn’t even look up as she continues to write.

Brittany wasn’t planning on it but the question makes her curious so she lies, “Yeah, why?”

Santana just lifts her shoulder casually, “Just wondering.”

Brittany can see a hint of smirk and that makes her even more curious.

\\

It’s just after the final bell of the day and Santana and Brittany have gone their separate ways.

Brittany’s heading to her locker while Santana goes off in the opposite direction. It confuses her because they usually walk together to their lockers and Santana didn’t say she had to be somewhere else after class, but Brittany doesn’t think too much about. She just heads down the hall to her locker to put the last of her books away before making her way towards the gym

Santana’s secrecy all makes sense when Brittany finds her waiting in the empty locker room. She barely gets a word out before Santana’s pushing her gently against the wall of lockers and kissing her silly.

It takes Brittany completely by surprise but it also feels like a sigh of relief. She didn’t realize she had been waiting for this to happen all day and now that it has, it’s like she’s back on Cloud 9.

“God, I’ve been waiting so long to do that again,” Santana mumbles against Brittany’s lips just as she starts to pull back.

Brittany’s still a little dazed and it doesn’t help when Santana licks her lips, but she drops her bookbag on the bench behind Santana and pulls her back in. She hears the surprised whimper Santana lets out and it only makes her smirk as she deepens the kiss.

How she managed to go this long without knowing what it’s like to kiss Santana is beyond her. It’s probably one of the best feelings in the world and Brittany’s so happy that she’s able to do this now.

“What’s the time?” Santana breathes out as her hands tug at the sides of Brittany’s sweater.

Brittany shrugs, “Don’t know. Don’t care.”

Santana chuckles as Brittany grabs her ass, “The squad will be in here soon.”

“Not if we lock the door.”

“Quinn has a key,” Santana says and Brittany can just barely hear the urgency start to come through in her tone, even if her hands are diving beneath Brittany’s top.

“Then we should probably stop,” Brittany mumbles but doesn’t make a move to do so. Santana’s hands feel too good on her skin and really…she does need help getting undressed. After all, she’s here to get ready for football practice.

“We probably should.”

They’re quick to realize that neither of them are moving away.

If anything, they’re pulling each other closer. Santana’s nearly got Brittany’s top off and Brittany’s fingers are hooked into the waistband of Santana’s Cheerio skirt. Where this is all going is a mystery to Brittany, but it’s a dangerous game they’re playing. Someone could walk in at any moment and catch them in this compromising position.

When she feels Santana’s fingers play at the clasp of Brittany’s bra, Brittany feels her senses heighten. It makes her think, what are they doing? It’s like their lust for each other has gone on a joyride and they’re just acting completely on that rather than using their heads.

What’s worse though is that Brittany isn’t all that against it. They’re living in the moment and who is she to stop that, right?

Suddenly the locker room door starts to creak open and voices can be heard on the other side.

Brittany doesn’t miss the way Santana stiffens before she’s putting as much distance as she can between them. There’s a blush covering her face and she looks a little wide-eyed as she glances from the group of girls entering the room before looking back at Brittany.

The group doesn’t notice them as they head to the Cheerios’ side of the room and Brittany watches as Santana slumps against the opposite wall of lockers in relief. In this area, they’re hidden from their sight so Brittany climbs over the bench separating them.

“That was a close one,” She says jokingly.

The worry in Santana’s brow fades, “Just as it was getting good too.”

Brittany laughs at that, glad to see Santana’s sense of humor is still intact. She was a little worried for a moment there.

“Go get ready,” Brittany tells her. If Santana lingers this close any longer, she might just make her miss practice.

Santana nods though and Brittany takes a seat on the bench to get to work untying her shoelaces. Just before Santana goes though, she bends down to press a quick kiss to Brittany’s cheek. Again, it’s unexpected and sweet.

“Have a good practice,” She says.

Brittany can only smile as she watches Santana turn, her hips swaying hypnotically.

Yeah, Brittany can totally get used to this.

\\

Brittany and Santana keep up their secret meetings for two whole weeks.

It doesn’t only take place in the locker room before practice and after games won though. Sometimes it happens in the backseat of Santana’s car in the parking lot at Elliott’s, sometimes it’s in the backseat of Brittany’s. Sometimes it happens on the park bench by the pond around dusk when all the kids have gone home for the night. Sometimes it happens on Brittany’s couch when her mom is at work and Pete’s with her grandparents.

They have been making out behind – and up against – all of these closed doors and sometimes it gets heated. There have been more times than not lately that Brittany’s found Santana tugging on her waistband and even Brittany’s guilty of trying to take of Santana’s bra.

It’s an exhilarating feeling – to have these moments with Santana with this underlying fear of getting caught. It’s almost like a game to see how far they can get before they have to stop, but as much as Brittany loves a challenge she’s also starting to want more.

Not more as in wanting to take things to the next level – although she really wouldn’t mind that either – but more as in wanting to do things without having to hide. It doesn’t always have to be a steamy make out session, sometimes Brittany just wants to do simple things too.

Just the other day at school, Brittany tried holding Santana’s hand in the hall but Santana was so smooth in evading her. Brittany figured it might’ve been a coincidence; maybe Santana needed both hands to carry her books but a little piece of her didn’t think that was so true.

It wasn’t until a few days later that Brittany tried it again and noticed Santana do the same exact thing. It wasn’t a coincidence, Santana was purposely avoiding holding Brittany’s hand.

But Brittany wanted to be sure. After all, it was a pretty big accusation because why wouldn’t Santana want to hold her hand in public? It’s not the riskiest thing they’ve ever done.

\\

Brittany starts to get creative in trying to lure Santana away from being so secretive, but it doesn’t work too well in her favor. In fact, it does nothing but confuse Brittany even more.

Santana doesn’t want to hold her hand, fine. But apparently, linking pinkies is okay?

They can make out all over the locker room and sometimes behind the bleachers, but Brittany can’t kiss her in the hallway?

At first, it was an innocent mystery that Brittany wanted to solve but the longer it went on the less fun she started to have. Santana was afraid and Brittany could understand why she would be after every thing that has happened to her, but it was becoming the giant gay elephant in the room. Brittany found herself coming up with more and more questions, but only one stood out the most.

What were they doing?

Later that week, Brittany tried her luck in getting an answer.

\\

It was Thursday so that meant the last football practice of the week. It also meant Brittany coming into the locker room earlier so that she could put in extra work on the field, but lately Santana occupied most of that time.

Brittany had on her padded girdle and dry-fit tights already by the time Santana wandered into the locker room.

“Look at you already dressed,” Santana husks as she moves closer to Brittany’s side of the locker room.

“Almost,” Brittany nods before turning to get her shoulder pads on.

She figures the more gear she has on, the less of a chance she’ll be distracted by Santana’s sweet lady kisses. Her shoulder pads are kind of her last line of defense so she’s quick to get them on – so quick in fact that she forgets to put her practice jersey on them first.

Santana takes a seat on the bench and watches Brittany work. There’s that familiar glimmer in her eye as she watches Brittany’s fingers move to get the clasps in place. The look makes Brittany feel hot all over. She keeps her eyes focused on the task at hand though, certain that if she were to glance Santana’s way they might get wrapped up in each other yet again.

Brittany gives the pads a hard tug once everything’s secure and it isn’t until then that she realizes she forgot about the jersey. She can get it on herself, but it’s probably the hardest thing in the world to do once your pads are already on because it kind of becomes a two-person job.

She’s going to need help and lucky for her, Santana is probably all too willing.

Brittany bites her lip as she holds the jersey in her hand, contemplating whether or not she should struggle in silence or just risk the wonderful consequences of asking for help. She’s in the middle of weighing out the pros and cons when she sees Santana stand from the corner of her eye.

“You need a hand with that?”

The pads hide how Brittany’s shoulders ease at the question. She’s nodding before fully thinking it through.  

“I just need help getting it over the shoulders,” Brittany says as she pulls the jersey over her head, “I can do the rest.”

“Okay,” Santana gestures to the bench, “Sit.”

Brittany does as she’s told and tries to keep her breathing even as Santana stands in the space between her legs. She’s not sure what it was about the way Santana commanded her, but memories of the night at Puck’s come rushing back. They clog up her brain while Santana wears a coy smile, doing her best to work the jersey over the pads one by one.

It’s a little overwhelming for Brittany to have her standing so close, that she almost forgets what she was meant to be asking her today. There are things, important things that need clearing up and it doesn’t seem like Santana is in a rush to address them which means Brittany has to.

But it’s kind of hard to think straight with Santana’s boobs practically in her face.

“You know, these uniforms never really did it for me. Just reminds me of dumb, sweaty boys,” Santana mumbles as she gets the jersey over the final pad, “But on you? God, you look really hot.”

Brittany bites her lip and she can already feel herself wavering under Santana’s heated gaze as she eyes her up and down. Maybe she should quickly put on her helmet? That would definitely keep her from getting swept up in Santana. You can’t make out with anyone through a face mask.

Brittany’s too slow to move before Santana’s bending down to plant a wet kiss on Brittany’s lips. It’s always the same feeling – a sigh of relief – and Brittany just breathes her in. She revels in how the kiss makes her feel like she’s soaring through clouds of cotton candy. She can’t imagine doing this with anyone else anymore and that thought surprises her.

If she doesn’t want this with anyone else, Santana has to know that because maybe she feels the same way too? Maybe the way Brittany feels about her is enough to show Santana that they can be more than just this…if she wants.

That’s the big question though, isn’t it? Maybe that’s why Brittany’s been dragging her feet a little? What if Santana’s perfectly fine with how things are right now? What if she doesn’t want to be anymore than this?

Brittany just has to know. For just a little longer, Brittany continues the kiss before she starts to pull away.

“We should probably talk…”

Santana’s kissing along her jaw now instead, “About?”

Brittany swallows roughly, momentarily distracted by the feel of Santana’s lips, “That feels so good.”

“Mhmm.”

Brittany tries valiantly to focus although her hands slide up Santana’s thighs and settle on her hips. Santana shed her track pants at some point so all Brittany feels is her soft skin and that feels so good too.

“We should talk about this,” Brittany says.

“About me kissing you?” Santana smirks against Brittany’s pulse point before pressing a kiss there. Brittany has to bite back a moan as Santana’s lips brushing against a sensitive spot.

The blonde shakes her head though, “What are we doing?”

“I’m getting my mack on.”

Brittany wants to laugh at that because who says getting my mack on anymore, but Santana’s kissing just near Brittany’s ear and concentrating starts to become a losing battle. Santana’s whispering sweet nothings about how sexy she looks in tights and how badly she wants to make her feel good and Brittany feels like she’s wrapped around her finger now.

“Santana,” Brittany tries to pull herself from the daze but the way the name falls from her lips sounds more like a whimper and it eggs the Co-Captain on even more.

“I love when you say my name like that,” Santana husks before nipping at Brittany’s earlobe.

Brittany’s heart is racing a mile a minute. She grips at Santana’s Cheerios jacket like it’s going to keep her from ripping it off of the brunette. She’s slipping, but she has to try once more.

“Santana…”

“Mhmm?”

“Seriously,” Brittany says. She tries to sound a little firmer but her voice wavers, “We should talk.”

“Why do we need to do that?” Santana rasps as she lifts one leg to straddle Brittany’s thigh, “Kissing you is so much better.”

Brittany gulps at the way Santana presses into her. She kind of has a point.

It’s the biggest mistake when Brittany’s hands fall to rest on Santana’s thighs, “I know but…talking.”

Santana leans in again to continue kissing along Brittany’s jaw, “What about it?”

“It’s good,” Brittany feels herself shiver and she doesn’t quite know if she’s talking about talking or Santana.

“This is good too, right?” Santana says in that sultry, sexy tone of hers.

It’s all it takes before Brittany’s abandoning her efforts and pulling Santana to straddle her completely. She’ll just have another go at this some other day, because clearly neither of them are in the right state of mind for a serious conversation.

Maybe next time she’ll put her helmet and mouthguard on first?

\\

“Tomorrow’s a big day Titans,” Coach Beiste says as everyone takes a knee in front of her, “It’s the first game of the Playoffs.”

The team cheers loudly at that, rowdier than ever although everyone is exhausted from such an intense practice. It’s a different kind of energy than usual and the players soak it up.

Brittany watches her teammates with this proud grin on her face. The past two weeks have breezed by but she’s happy with how they’ve ended the regular season. It’s been one of the toughest ones she has ever played with so many obstacles to overcome but the fact that the Titans are ending the regular season 11-1 is something no one saw coming.

Brittany feels such a sense of pride knowing she had a hand in getting them there, even if it took a little longer than she’d like to get everyone on board with her. She hasn’t had an incident with Karofsky and Azimio in awhile, but that doesn’t mean she’s out of the woods just yet.

Coach Beiste smiles before getting the team to settle down.

“I know. It’s exciting stuff and everyone has worked their asses off this season. I’m proud of how far we’ve come as a team,” Coach continues as she looks around at the squad, “But we aren’t done yet. There are two Playoff games this year and if we can manage it, we’ll be meeting Carmel High in the Championships.”

“That hasn’t happened in years!” Finn gasps.

“Man, I can’t wait to kick their asses,” Puck follows, “They’ve had it coming for so long.”

Brittany smirks at the two, “We’re totally going to win this thing.”

“I want everyone to stay focused. Put in the work and we’ll get there,” Coach tells everyone, “We need to be a well-oiled machine from now on. It’s football and school, nothing else. No partying, no girls, no boys, no outside interferences.”

Brittany knows Coach is talking to everyone in general, but her words resonate with her the most considering how her personal life has been lately.

“She’s talking to you, Stud,” Puck jokes with a nudge to Brittany’s arm.

He wags his eyebrows at her but Brittany isn’t sure what he’s hinting at. What could he possibly know? He’s either just being funny or he really does know something, Brittany isn’t sure. She just shakes her head at him before turning back to the Coach.

“We’re getting to the Championships and we’re going to win this school that trophy,” Coach goes on, “Understood?”

There’s a sea of Yes Coach! but Brittany stares blankly at the turf. She needs to figure out this thing with Santana before it’s too late.

\\

By Monday, Brittany’s nearly hit her breaking point.

With Thanksgiving in just a few days, it’s a shorter school week. Wednesday is a half-day for the students, but for the Titans, it’s Game Day and the buzz around it is unimaginable. A win could put them in position to go up against their long time rival, Carmel High, and the Titans are as motivated as ever to make that happen.

It’s a ton of pressure on Brittany which she usually works well with if it were the only thing on her mind. But it’s not, it hasn’t been for weeks now and she knows that isn’t fair to her team. She needs to give them everything she’s got, but she can’t do that when Santana’s the one that is unknowingly wielding most of her.

With winning their first Playoff game last Friday – successfully ending the McKinley High Playoff drought – the next game is even more important. This game might determine the futures for a lot of Seniors on the team, maybe even her own and she needs to focus on that like Coach Beiste said.

If only it were that easy.

She was never good at keeping secrets and what she and Santana have been doing since Puck’s party felt like the biggest secret she ever had. At first it was fine, maybe even kind of fun, but now? She feels so conflicted; loving her time spent with Santana in private but wanting more for them.

She likes Santana, that’s obvious to her now but it’s not very useful when it comes to breaching the topic about what they’re doing. Especially when it seems that every time Brittany has tried to bring it up, Santana either deflects or distracts her with sweet lady kisses.

\\

Brittany decides she’s going to bring it up today. No more dragging this out any longer, for both of their sakes she just has to get this off of her chest already.  

And she’s not going to let Santana wiggle her way out of it this time, Brittany’s finally going to get some answers. All she needs to do is get through the remainder of her school day before she can try to figure out what’s going on between them.  

\\

Brittany’s on her way to Ms. Holliday’s class when she spots Santana and Puck talking heatedly across the hall. She’s not sure what they’re saying, but Santana looks annoyed and Puck looks how he always does – cocky and a little mischievous. It makes Brittany feel uneasy but as she approaches, they go their separate without even noticing her.

Once she gets to class, she finds Santana getting out her materials. They share a simple greeting like always before sitting down to get started on the class warm up. Brittany can’t help but glance to her side when Santana doesn’t automatically offer to do the work together.

There’s this crease between her brows like she’s in deep thought. Brittany knows it can’t be the warm-up because Santana never fails to breeze right through it. This is bigger and it worries Brittany the longer she watches.

“Is everything okay?” Brittany asks timidly.

Santana doesn’t bothering looking her way as she answers.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”

Brittany looks from Santana’s profile to her left hand and frowns.

“You’re doing the work with an eyeliner pencil.”

Santana snaps out of it and glances down at her work, “Shit. I just bought this too.”

Brittany continues to watch Santana rummage through her pencil case for an actual writing utensil. She seems off and Brittany wonders why she won’t just tell her what’s going on.

“You sure you’re alright?” Brittany tries once more, “You looked kind of…upset when I saw you talking with Puck.”

Santana shakes her head and continues to avoid Brittany’s gaze, “It’s fine. He was just being an annoying asshole. Nothing new there.”

“Oh,” Brittany gnaws on her bottom lip and looks to her work, “What were you guys talking about?”

“Just something JBI said on his stupid show,” Santana shrugs, “It was nothing. Like I said, Puck was just being a pain.”

Brittany stiffens, “What did JBI say?”

Her imagination goes into overdrive and she starts come up with her own answers. Have they been caught somewhere? They’ve been super careful but things still happen. Now Puck’s comment at practice starts to make a little sense, but she hasn’t heard anything, so maybe it’s only about Santana?  She has no idea.

“It doesn’t matter,” Santana sighs, “It wasn’t true anyway. Puck just wanted to confirm or deny.”

The way Santana’s being so dismissive about this doesn’t sit well with Brittany. She knows that Santana harbors things, she’s still yet to tell her how the fight started those weeks ago too. And Brittany can’t force her into talking, she can only make her comfortable enough to say it on her own.

“You’d let me know if he was bothering you, right? Especially Puck,” Brittany asks, “If someone on my team isn’t being cool, I can deal with them. It’s part of my Team Captain duties.”

Finally, Santana looks her way.

There’s this smitten little smile on her face as she softens. Brittany’s never seen her look at her quite like that before, that might be her favorite kind of Santana-smile yet.  

“You’re sweet.”

Brittany continues to look warily at her though and it has Santana sighing before she reaches over to cover the top of Brittany’s hand with hers.

“It’s okay,” Santana tells her earnestly, “I promise you.”

Brittany glances down at their hands then back up at warm brown eyes. The touch is soft and sure; Brittany hopes Santana keeps her hand there forever. She can do nothing but relent.

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Santana smiles once more before nodding to the warm-up, “Do you want to work on this together?”

Brittany beams at her, “Yeah!”

They fall into their usual routine of working together; Santana lets Brittany take the lead and only coaxes her in the right direction if she’s heading the wrong way just like she does during their tutoring sessions. Santana never makes Brittany feel less than for her mistakes and that’s one of the best things about how well they work together.

“So, are…you going to practice early again today?” Santana asks awhile later.

Brittany knows what that’s code for and smirks, “Yeah.”

“Do you…need help warming up?”

She knows what she should say to Santana but something has her hesitating on an answer. Maybe if she plays her cards right, she can do both? Talk and – as Santana would say – get her mack on?

“Always,” Brittany finally says.

\\

When the final bell of the day rings out, it feels like she’s off to the races. With Titans’ practice starting at 4 and Cheerios’ practice starting at 3:30, there’s only about 20 minutes of alone time with Santana.

It’s not really a conversation she wanted to rush through, but she rather at least get it started before practice than to continue dragging it out. So Brittany gets to the locker room early and heads over to get changed like always.

And like always, Santana wanders in a few minutes later.

“Need help with your jersey?” She flirts but Brittany remembers this time to put them on her pads first.

“It’s okay,” Brittany says instead as she works to get the jersey on her pads, “I was wondering if we could maybe talk instead?”

Santana’s smile falters as she rests against the far side of the lockers, “Again with the talking…”

Brittany’s taken aback by Santana’s annoyed tone, “Sorry if I want to know what we are.”

“We’re friends. Friends who talk with their tongues super close.”

Brittany rolls her eyes, “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Make this into a friends with benefits situation,” Brittany replies, “What you said at Puck’s would suggest differently.”

Santana crosses her arms, “What did I say?”

“That there’s more to this,” Brittany answers, “There’s more to us that just friends who talk with their tongues super close or whatever you’re wanting to call it.”

Santana shrinks in on herself. She looks like she’ll run if Brittany pushes any further, but they have to do this now. No more avoiding the obvious.

Brittany softens at her silence, “I know you had a hard time last year and this is new to you but we can’t keep skirting around this. Ignoring the problem isn’t going to make it go away. You and I, we deserve more than sneaking around. We could be a – ”

“Look,” Santana replies, “I’m not here for anything serious.”

Brittany feels like she’s just been punched in the gut, “What?”

“I thought you knew that?”

Brittany feels blindsided, “How could I possibly know that, Santana? You haven’t said anything. You refuse to talk about this, about your feelings.”

Santana just shrugs and looks away, “Maybe because I don’t have them?”

Brittany’s never been more confused in her life.

Santana is blatantly lying to her face but Brittany can’t understand why. What’s the point of pretending she feels nothing? If anything, it makes Brittany’s heart clench in the most uncomfortable way. She’s patient and she’s kind, but she can’t put her heart on the line for someone who won’t do the same.

What’s crazy is that she knows Santana would do the same. She’s seen her do it before, so what’s with the sudden change of heart? Brittany’s been nothing but understanding thus far, but this? She can’t comprehend Santana’s motive or reasoning other than her being an idiot – and she doesn’t throw that word around too often.

“I don’t do the whole feelings thing,” Santana adds.

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this anymore then if that’s the case,” Brittany says and it surprises them both. She watches Santana’s eyes widen and the quick flash of what looks like regret or guilt. Brittany’s reading her like a book, but just when she thinks she has Santana figured out she goes and says the complete opposite.

“Why do we have to label this?” Santana replies. There’s just a hint of desperation in her voice, “Why do we have to be anything other than us? I thought we were having fun? Why ruin that by complicating it with feelings?”

“Because with feelings it’s better,” Brittany says simply, “I can’t do this any other way, Santana. That’s just not me and I didn’t think that was you either.”

Santana looks like her world just came crashing down and Brittany feels the exact same. She remembers one of her dad’s old sayings after laughter comes tears and she never really understood that until right now. All their good times over the past couple of weeks was just building them up for this reality check.

Santana isn’t ready and Brittany’s not sure when she will be.

A piece of the quarterback wishes she would’ve held out a little longer – had more time to enjoy things while they were still simple – before it came to this. She knows deep down it was the right decision though. There’s no point in continuing if there’s nothing more for her here.

Santana continues to stand there silently with this anguished look on her face.

It takes everything in Brittany to resist the urge to reach out and comfort her, but what good would that do? Apparently Santana doesn’t have any feelings so really it would be a waste of her time.

“I need to finish getting ready for practice,” Brittany says. She clears her throat when her voice cracks, “I need to focus on football. I have a team counting on me and I can’t be distracted by all of this if there’s nothing for me here.”

Santana looks up at her through her lashes and Brittany’s surprised to see her eyes tinging red. It has her reaching out before she can stop herself.

“I’m sorry,” Brittany tries but Santana dodges her hand.

It stings but she gets it.

Santana only lifts her chin before walking to her side of the locker room to get ready for practice too. Brittany only swallows back the lump in her throat and continues to get dressed.

It’s hard for her to see the good in all of this, but she knows it’s there – somewhere.

\\

The following day, practices ends a little earlier than usual but Brittany invites Mike and Sam to the park near her house to practice running plays. Every extra bit of practice helps but more importantly, it acts as a little bit of a distraction from Santana.

Her final class of the day dragged on and the tension she felt between them was unbearable. Santana didn’t even look at her once, but Brittany couldn’t find the nerve to glance her way either. She knows Santana’s hurting, she is too, but she can’t go back on her word.

Pete tags along with Brittan to the park too, always excited to watch the Titans play.

Once they get to the park, Sam tosses the ball in Pete’s direction. He makes the catch and spikes the ball on the ground before doing his own version of a celebration dance.

Brittany giggles along with Mike while Sam cheers him on.

“Nice catch, Pete!”

“Skill must run in the family,” Mike jokes.

“It’s a Pierce thing,” Brittany chuckles, “Isn’t that right, Petey?”

Pete rushes up to give her a high five before throwing the ball back to Sam. He calls out to him to throw it again and Sam obliges. Brittany and Mike watch the two from side and cheer for Pete when he makes the catch again.

“He’s really good,” Mike notes.

“Like I said, it’s a Pierce thing.”

“I see,” Mike chuckles before suddenly looking a little nervous, “So uh…how’s things going with Santana?”

The question surprises Brittany as she raises a brow at him, “Random.”

“What?” Mike tries to look casual, “I’m just asking. You know, a little receiver/QB chit-chat?”

That makes Brittany laugh, “Right. This has nothing to do with Quinn putting you up to ask?”

“What?” Mike sputters, “No way…”

Brittany shakes her head, “Why doesn’t she go talk to Santana herself? Aren’t they best friends?”

“She isn’t getting much out of her,” Mike shrugs.

Brittany finds that really interesting.

She would’ve figured Quinn of all people would know what’s going on. It must be frustrating for her if she’s making Mike do her dirty work, but it isn’t Brittany’s place. Whatever Santana has or hasn’t said to Quinn isn’t any of her business and she isn’t going to add to the rumor mill.

Even if they’ve hurt each other, Brittany still cares about Santana and she would never do anything to jeopardize her trust.

“Well, her guess is as good as mine,” Brittany answers before jogging over to Sam and Pete.

Merry Christmas, alaidiem!

For @alaidiem. Hope you have a wonderful and Stereky Christmas!!

Read On AO3

*****

Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Them a Match

Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski have been best friends since they were very young.

Two-year-old Stiles toddled up to two and a half-year-old Derek, and patted Derek’s cheeks, a smile blooming behind Stiles’ red pacifier as he murmurs “vulf, pity vulf”.

Once they started school, they were inseparable. Despite being in different classes, they always met up at recess and lunch, swapping bits and pieces from their lunch box and reading the latest Batman comic together.

When Jackson Whittmore joined the school and decided on his first day to push Stiles over in the sandpit, Derek marched over and pushed Jackson over in retaliation, pointing a finger in his face and growling, “If you even look sideways at Stiles, I will hurt you.”

When Derek was being made fun of by Liam Dunbar for having his nose in a book, Stiles tilts his head in a distinctly wolf-like fashion and quips, “You jealous Liam? Heard you only got 52% on your last English test. Need Derek to teach you how to read?”

By the time they had reached high school, both their families were certain the boys were mates. Noah and Claudia Stilinksi had made a bet with Talia and Samuel Hale on when Derek and Stiles’ matehood would manifest.

The Stilinksi’s are guided by the customs of the Emissary. An Emissary comes into their own at the age of 14, their spark igniting in the presence of their mate. The ritual tying the Emissary and their mate is performed on the full moon after their eighteenth birthday when the full power and knowledge is bestowed upon the magic-user, and their mate confirms the match.

The Hales, on the other hand, are guided by the moon and werewolf lore. It is said that a young werewolf would find their mate at the age of sixteen, their wolf recognising their true match and spurring them on to make a pledge of the heart. This pledge is made under the new moon, the beginning of the new lunar cycle, signifying a new start.

Needless to say, there has been quite some competition between the two families over the years, followed by confusion when both boys pass eighteen and they are still unmated.

🐺🐺🐺

Peter Hale stands at the kitchen window watching as Derek and Stiles play around in the pool. Stiles is unsuccessfully trying to push Derek into the water, as the werewolf’s feet are firmly planted on the ground and he’s not moving. The force of pushing against an immovable object causes Stiles to lose his footing, arms windmilling wildly as he tries to find purchase, only for Derek to grab his arm and throw a laughing Stiles in the pool.

Talia saunters up behind her brother and gives him a pinch. “Whatever it is you are thinking Peter, I strongly suggest you forget about it.”

Peter sighs, turning to his older sister as Derek cannonballs into the pool.”Aren’t you frustrated as well Tali? Bets aside, both of their mates should have manifested by now. They are nineteen! Both off to college, different colleges mind you, opening them up to other people when they are clearly each other’s mate! Don’t you just want to shake them and tell them to get their acts together?”

Talia puts an arm around Peter. “I’m not frustrated, I’m sad. They are clearly perfect for each other. It saddens me that maybe they aren’t meant to be when it’s clear to the rest of us that they are. They have the same relationship that Sam and I have, and that you and Lisa have. It was clear to all our families back then, just as clear to us now. Maybe Mother Moon has other plans for our boys. We must be patient.”

“Patient my ass. Those boys are oblivious Tali. Stiles seems to think that Derek is too good for him. And Derek thinks he’s too dumb for Stiles, and Stiles deserves someone smarter like Lydia Martin. I just think they need a little bit of a push. A prod even. A shuffle in the mate direction.”

“Since when do the boys think that? I’ve never heard either of them say any such thing. I don’t think meddling is a good idea, Peter. It needs to happen naturally.”

Peter turns to Talia with a raised brow. “Just last week I heard Stiles on the phone to Scott saying how he doesn’t think he deserves it, and Derek was talking to Laura lamenting just before he left for college how he doesn’t know whether he’s smart enough. And anyway, I’ve never heard any stories of things going badly when someone intervened. It can’t hurt.”

Crossing his arms across his chest, Peter sighs. “Look Tali, we’ve all seen how they look at each other. It’s ridiculous how much in love they are. Also it can’t be good having Stiles abilities not fully manifested. He’s to be Laura’s emissary Tali, if he doesn’t fully come into his powers soon, then it will have a direct impact on the Pack. Something needs to be done.”

Talia pinches the bridge of her nose and heaves a sigh. “Ok, I’ll have a talk with Claudia, see what she has to say. She’ll know more about the Emissary manifestation, maybe there’s something we just don’t know.”

“And, in the meantime, I’m going to get in my nephew’s ear and guide him like the good Alpha’s right hand that I am.”

Talia groans and gives Peter a shove. “Fine, but don’t be too over the top or too blatant. And don’t harm either of them. Or do anything to scare the other one. And no making the other jealous! Nothing that can backfire.”

“You are no fun.”

“I am your Alpha Peter Hale, you need to remember that.”

Peter snorts and salutes his sister, who laughs loudly as she walks out the door. Turning back to the window Peter watches the boys talk quietly as they bob gently in the pool. They are talking quiet enough that Peter can’t hear what they are saying, so when Stiles blushes a deep pink, he desperately wants to know what is being said.

He makes his way out of the back door and down the stairs, opening the pool gate as quietly as possible. Peter puts on his best smirk.

“You know Stiles, we are in the middle of summer. You’re looking a little pink there, forget to put on sunscreen?”

Stiles startles violently, almost smacking Derek in the face. Derek holds Stiles' arms in front of him and turns to glare at Peter. “Must you do that Peter? You know how he flails.”

“Hey! I resemble that remark!” Stiles squawks.

Derek snorts and turns back to Stiles. “He doesn’t look sunburnt to me Peter. Maybe it’s time to get your eyes checked old man.”

Peter’s smirk widens. “Yes, well you’d be able to see whether Stiles is sunburnt or not being that close to him Derek. Do you think you could tell whether it’s sunburn? Or whether Stiles is just blushing. He turns a lovely shade of pink when he blushes.”

Stiles narrows his eyes. “Listen here Uncle Creepy, the fact that you know that is gross, and I’m going to tell Lisa!”

Peter snorts. “Oh no, I’m so scared.”

Derek sneers at his uncle. “What about if I told Aunt Lisa about what you did Friday night? Do you think shed ok if she found out it was YOU that ate the last of her chocolate?”

Stiles starts laughing. “You ate a pregnant werewolf’s chocolate? Oh my god, you are a dead man!”

While Derek and Stiles continue to laugh, Peter swiftly makes his exit, frustrated that his plan failed.

🐺🐺🐺

Talia and Claudia sit on the couch, each nursing a cup of tea. Claudia has her thinking face on, while Talia waits patiently.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with him Tali. Mischief has been doing all of his Emissary studies, and in fact, is ahead.”

“How is that possible that he’s ahead though? Shouldn’t his abilities have manifested fully by now? I’m not sure how it works, but I would have thought that there was a limit to what Stiles could learn until he came into his powers. And the boys are nineteen now, Claud. Has Stiles said anything to you about the situation? About Derek?”

Claudia shakes her head. “No, he’s always been very secretive with matters of the heart. And there are always things to learn about being an Emissary. In fact, I heard from my sister in Poland, she’s Emissary to one of the Wójcik Alphas you know, and she was saying how on some blood moons, the connection between an Alpha and their Emissary is strengthened with a pulse of power, and …”

“Claud! Off topic.”

“Sorry! It’s fascinating. But as far as the situation as you call it, Stiles hasn’t mentioned anything, and I haven’t asked.”

“I just wonder if we say something to the boys? Peter is going to try his hand at matchmaking, he’s getting a bit worried about it.”

“Honestly Tali, I wouldn’t be too worried. I didn’t meet Noah until I was in my early twenties. I didn’t become your Emissary until my late twenties. The folklore surrounding us is just that, folklore. The Emissary Scrolls were written in a completely different time to now. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll have a talk to Stiles and I’ll let you know.”

Talia lets go of the breath she seemed to be holding and takes another sip of her tea. “Thanks Claud. I’ll let Peter know.”

“He’s not going to stop trying to meddle, surely you know your brother better than that. Remember what happened with Laura?”

There was a moment's silence before the women burst out laughing, remembering when Peter tried to get Laura and her mate Jordan together, Peter ended up locked up in the Beacon Hills Sheriff Department’s jail for the weekend after Peter’s attempted abduction of his niece went terribly wrong.

🐺🐺🐺

Derek walks back in the front door after saying goodbye to Stiles, who incidentally was looking a little pink after forgetting to reapply his sunscreen. He chuckles as he walks into the kitchen to grab a cold drink, almost turning around when he sees his Uncle Peter sitting at the dining table watching Derek keenly.

Opening the fridge, Derek pulls out a bottle of water, turning around to face Peter as he twists the top off and takes a sip.

“Whatever it is you want to say, Peter, just say it.”

“I don’t know what you mean nephew.”

Derek rolls his eyes and starts to walk out of the kitchen to go up to his room, stopping when Peter starts to talk.

“You must miss Stiles when you are at college.”

Derek turns slowly back around towards his uncle and narrows his eyes at him. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, you’ve been practically joined at the hip since you were two. And for the first time in 17 years, you are separated by a 6 hour drive. Are you ok with that?”

“There’s this marvellous invention called a cell phone where we can make phone calls, and even some phones allow you to make video calls! There’s Zoom, Skype, Discord, as well as email, text messages. I may not see him every day, but we talk all the time, and FaceTime every weekend.”

“Yes, but it must be hard not being able to hug him, not being in the same room as him. You must miss his scent.”

Derek looks at Peter like he’s grown a second head. “Are you ok Peter? Did you get sunstroke in the 5 minutes you were outside today? Maybe you are a vampire instead of a werewolf. Yes, that explains everything! Especially since you suck!”

Growling, Peter gets up from his seat and runs at Derek who shrieks and bolts out the front door.

🐺🐺🐺

Thursday afternoon, Stiles is sitting at the diner on Fifth Street waiting for his dad to arrive for lunch. He’s stripping the straw wrapper into a pile in front of his soda, knee bouncing under the table.

Just as he’s about to pull the straw out of his soda, the door of the diner opens with a jingle, Stiles looking up to see his weary father walking towards him.

Noah sits down with a sigh. “Hey, kiddo.”

“Hey pops, you ok?”

“Rough case at the moment, but it’s getting close to being solved which is something to look forward to. How’s your day?”

“Good! Mom asked me to come into the bookstore this morning, Mrs Nelson asked her to ask me if I wanted to do some part-time work there over the Summer, so I had a quick interview, and I have my first shift with mom tomorrow!”

The Sheriff grabs Stiles hand and squeezes. “That’s good news son.”

As Stiles is about to ask his dad about the case, the bell above the door jingles again, and in walks Peter Hale.

Stiles groans. “Ah, crap.”

“What’s wrong son?”

Peter strides right up to the table and presumptuously sits down at one of the two free chairs. “Noah, Stiles, so good to see you! What brings you to the diner today?”

Stiles looks at Peter incredulously and before he can answer, Noah responds. “We’re doing our taxes, Peter.”

“Ah, funny. Yes, you are in a diner, it should be obvious what you are doing. I thought you’d be doing something with Derek today Stiles?”

Noah rolls his eyes and mumbles “Oh lord.”

Stiles looks confused. “Why would I be doing something with Derek today?”

“Why wouldn’t you be! You haven’t seen each other for some time, it’s the summer break, time to reconnect with those you love and all that.”

Stiles blinks.

“You two have been joined at the hip since you were babies! This is the first time you are both out in the big bad world and you’ve gone to opposite ends of the state. I just thought you’d want to spend every waking moment together.”

“I have no idea what you are getting at Peter, but Derek and I are meeting up on Friday. There’s a new Marvel movie out, and the diner has Five Buck Burger Fridays.”

“Why not tomorrow as well?”

Stiles looks at his dad, then looks back at Peter. “Because I’m working, and Derek is working.”

“Derek is working?”

“Yes? He’s working with Samuel at the garage.”

“Ah yes, that’s right. Well, I hope you two get to spend more time together than just on weekends. It would be a shame if you two grew apart.”

Peter gets up from his chair and tucks it back under the table. He bids the Stilinski men good day and walks out the diner.

Stiles looks back as his father. “He is such a fucking weirdo.”

“Language Stiles!”

🐺🐺🐺

When Peter gets home from his gatecrashing the Stilinski lunch, he convinces Talia to arrange a barbecue with the Hales and Stilinskis for Sunday. The weather is forecast to be warm, perfect for swimming and grilling.

Sunday morning dawns and Peter rises with a smirk. Lisa looks flatly at her husband as she sits in the armchair in the corner of the room, rubbing her swollen belly. “What are you smirking at? You’ve just woken up.”

“Well my love, today is the day that I am going to once and for all get Stiles and Derek to admit that they are in fact, in love, and in fact, are mates. The pining and the looks of love from afar end today!”

“I know you think you are this Matchmaker extraordinaire, but the reality is, you are awful at it, and it always backfires.”

“You can’t say it always backfires because I’ve only done it once.”

“That’s the literal definition! Always. Every time you have done it, you’ve failed. One hundred per cent failure rate!”

Peter huffs and trips as he’s removing his sleep pants. Lisa laughs. “Come now my heart. Don’t pout, it’s unbecoming. Now do your pregnant wife a favour and rub my feet.”

🐺🐺🐺

The Stilinskis arrive at the Hale house at 11.30 on the dot. Stiles helps his mom get the plethora of Polish side dishes from the backseat, while Noah grabs the beers, both normal and wolfsbane laced. They walk into the house as a family, dodging screaming kids, laughing adults, and hazardously placed bags.

Stiles stays in the kitchen with Laura and Cora and helps to get the side dishes and desserts set out on the benches. Claudia goes off to find Talia, and Noah parks himself next to the grill, cracking open a cold one for Samuel and himself, chatting to Derek about his work at the garage.

Once the grilling is done and the meat brought inside, Talia calls everyone around and thanks them for coming. After giving directions on where to find everything, and offering for people to sit wherever they want, Peter clears his throat as his Alpha is about to release the pack to get food.

“I just wanted to say a few things before we eat!”

Talia’s “oh no” is mirrored by Claudia, Samuel, and Noah.

“As it is the summer holidays for all our young pack members, I just thought it would be nice to welcome those who have been off at college back home, especially Derek and Stiles who have never been apart this long ever!”

Peter looks around waiting for the laughter. There’s not even a chuckle. Derek steps forward. “What are you doing Peter?”

“Nothing! Well, nothing MUCH. You two have been so close for such a long time, I just worry about you missing each other! Anyway, I just wanted to …”

“You just wanted to what Peter? You’ve been acting fuc .. freaking weird for the last week!” Stiles interrupts Peter with a glare.

Derek nods. “You said the exact same thing about missing each other to me the other day. Why are you so fixated with Stiles and I missing each other?”

Peter looks at Talia for help but she just raises her hands in a “you’re on your own” gesture.

“Lisa?”

“Nope babe. This is your show.”

Peter sighs. “I’ve been trying to get you two to admit you miss each other, which would then get you to admit that you have feelings for each other, which would then get you to realise you are mates!”

Derek walks over to Stiles and puts his arm around him. Stiles snuggles into Derek’s side. “We know we are mates Uncle Peter. We’ve known for years.”

Peter’s jaw drops. Followed by Talia’s and Noah’s. Claudia, Samuel and Lisa are laughing. Cora is looking between Peter, and Derek with confusion. Laura is stifling a laugh.

“What?? But you aren’t mated!!”

Stiles rolls his eyes. “We aren’t officially mated yet no. We wanted to wait until we’ve graduated from college before we made it official.”

“So you know you’re mates, but you don’t miss each other? What am I missing???”

“Uncle Peter, Stiles and I are very much in love so of course we miss each other. But we knew that if we were to be officially mated it would make going to college very difficult. We want to get the first three years done and dusted at our college of choice, and then see what happens. Stiles couldn’t turn down the scholarships from Berkeley, and couldn’t turn down UCLA. But we have every intention of having the official ceremony once we’ve graduated.”

Before Peter can respond, Talia steps in. “It sounds like you’ve had this planned for a long time. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Laura clears her throat. “They told me.”

Peter throws his hands up in the air and storms off, leaving his laughing wife behind.

Talia frowns. “Why didn’t they tell me?”

“I’m sorry Alpha Hale, we should have told you. But after discussing it, Derek and I thought it would be best to tell Laura as I’m to be her Emissary.”

“We also knew that if everyone knew they’d make a big deal about us not being mated yet. We really need to do this in our timeline, in our way. I’m sorry mom.”

Talia rushes forward and scoops Derek and Stiles into a hug, and taking the lead of their Alpha, the rest of the pack joins in.

🐺🐺🐺

Three Years Later

Derek and Stiles stand under the new moon in their mating robes. Stiles' hands lay gently on top of Derek’s, a platinum ring in each palm bearing the triskele.

Talia guides her son and his mate through their vows through tears. Derek and Stiles' faces radiate pure love, and as the rings are slipped on the other’s finger, the Hale Alpha declares her son and the future Hale Emissary mates, and to seal the bond, to kiss under the new moon.

The men wrap their arms around each other, and as their lips touch for the first time as official mates, a pulse of power bursts from Stiles wrapping around him and his wolf, drawing them even closer.

The wolves of the pack howl in joy, while the humans cheer. Noah and Claudia hug each other close. Talia and Samuel look at each with love.

Peter looks at his nephew in fondness and turns to Lisa. “I’m taking full credit for this.”

such hot blood

RATED E for #teamsin 

inspired loosely by this gif of bob morley I found while “researching” as well as this gif of madelaine petsch in riverdale

(read on ao3)

kudos to @inakindofdaydream​ for analyzing my choreo and letting me liveblog my writing to her

remember, folks: always pee after sex

xxxxxxxxxx

They had been playing this game for a while, she and James. Pretending whatever was happening between them wasn’t actually happening. Pretending all of their friends were oblivious to the tension between them. Pretending everything was the same as it had been for the last two years of knowing each other.

Pretending they hadn’t kissed at Mary’s birthday party.

Pretending they hadn’t had sex after Sirius’s gallery showing.

Pretending they hadn’t had sex a lot after that.

The pretending was easier, Lily convinced herself, than acknowledging any feelings she was having that she was sure James was not.

So she pretended that it was just sex. Lily could go with the flow! She was a cool girl, and could definitely have casual sex with her best friend that she might be falling in love with without making a big deal out of it.

If he could stop teasing her, that would be great.

It was the hottest day of the summer so far, so the eight of them decided to take a “sick” day from their summer internships and jobs to spend the entire Thursday at the pool on the Potter estate.

Lily rolled her eyes. Fucking estate.

What that meant for Lily was an entire day of James smirking at her, kissing her cheek, brushing a hand down her waist when he walked by her. Every touch ignited something in her, and she shoved it down, covering it up with annoyance or indifference.

But every sly, cutting remark she made only made him chuckle, ruffle her hair, call her “love” and “sweetheart” and “baby”.

Prick.

Lily agreed, however, that the pool had been a good idea. Because, despite her determination to avoid James Potter, a pool day did mean a whole day of him without a shirt, which was a plus in her book.

She sat on the edge of the pool, legs and feet in the water, and watched him from behind her sunglasses, his smile wide and charming, as he laughed at something Sirius said. He stretched up, torso on full display in only a pair of navy blue swim trunks with a ridiculous antler pattern, the kind that fell a few inches above the knee, and her heart stuttered a beat. Even from across the deck, she could practically feel the muscles of his chest, knew what they would feel like against her own, under her fingers, pressed against her back. Knew what his hands would feel like on her, running down her sides and through her hair, tugging at her hips.

Mary kicked her, shaking her out of her reverie. She flushed, shifting, kicking her legs out to splash more water onto her legs. James smirked at her, tongue coming out to lick his bottom lip, clearly having followed her train of thought.

Sirius just rolled his eyes at James’s cheeky smile, leaning over to Marlene beside him and whispering just loudly enough for both James and Lily to hear, “just get a room already, fuck’s sake.” Immediately, blood rushed to Lily’s face, and she dropped her head, taking a sip of her drink as a cover.

“Ow! Uncalled for, mate!”

James glared as Sirius, unapologetic. Remus, no help as per usual, just laughed, swimming up beside the four of them. “What are we beating Sirius up for now? May I join?”

“James is mad I’m spitting straight facts.”

“I’m mad you’re being a five-star wankstain.”

“I’m mad I was not here to witness whatever got Sirius smacked,” Remus added. Unhelpful.

By mid-afternoon, the sun was savagely beating down on them. Lily, sprawled on a cushioned lounger, was sure she was burning, at least a little, despite the copious amounts of sunscreen she was putting on once an hour. She felt warm and sticky, but was hesitant to go back into the water, should the cool retreat only give her a false sense of security. However, the ponytail she had secured to keep her hair off her neck wasn’t helping either.

“I’m getting another drink. Want one, Mare?” Lily asked, standing up.

“Hmm? Oh, no; I’m good, Lils.” Mary said, turning over onto her stomach in her own lounger. “I think I am just going to tan a little more and then hop back in.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back.” Lily slipped her sandals and breezy cardigan cover up back on, carefully picking her way around the pool to avoid the water being splashed out of the pool: Dorcas, perched on Marlene’s shoulders, was trying her damnedest to push Peter off Sirius’s shoulders, and the incredibly competitive chicken fight was causing water to end up all over the concrete.

“Hey Lily! Come join us!” Marlene shouted, distracted. Peter took advantage of the moment to shove Dorcas, causing both of them to topple into the pool with a large splash. Sirius laughed, following them underwater only to burst up with Pete in his arms. He began a rousing round of “We Are The Champions,” singing and spinning Peter around while Marlene and Dorcas splashed water at him, gracious in their defeat.

James, amused, had essentially draped himself on the stairs leading into the pool, sunglasses on. The sun was shining in his hair, and his white teeth seemed to sparkle in the light as he laughed at his best friend’s antics. Looking up and seeing Lily passing, his smile widened, and he reached out a hand, brushing his long fingers gently over her calf to get her attention.

“Hey, come sit. The water is really nice.” She stopped, and his fingers slid down her leg and circled her ankle, holding her and tugging lightly, as if to guide her into the pool next to him. Lily looked down as he gazed up at her. She couldn’t see his eyes through his sunglasses, but she could feel the heat of his stare. Her breath caught in her throat.

“I was just headed to the bar.” His thumb began to stroke the skin above her ankle lightly, and Lily’s heart sped up a little. “But maybe after.” He just stared at her, thumb moving rhythmically.

Lily shifted forward a little bit, closer to his hand, and he smiled gratefully up at her. His hand slid up her calf toward her knee, fingers trailing lightly, causing Lily to shiver and sigh. Her blood rushed to her ears, and her body moved toward his as he ran his hand over her.

A splash broke her concentration, and James’s hand retreated. Cool water hit her feet and she looked up. Marlene and Dorcas were staring at her, eyebrows raised. Dorcas broke out into a smile, leaning into her girlfriend a little. Remus bobbed to the surface, smiling sinisterly up at them, shaking out his wet hair.

Lily cleared her throat, looking back down at James. He was watching her, head cocked to the side.

“Right, uh, I’m going to go get a drink. I’ll see you,” she said, bright and overly cheery, desperate to get away. Turning and walking quickly to the large veranda behind the house, Lily all but runs up the three steps to the tree-lined path that lead to the cabana house.

The patio, shaded from the heat of sun by the trees at the top of the lawn, was a retreat in and of itself; there was an instant temperature difference when the sun was not right above her, and the sudden secluded feel allowed Lily to slow her heart, focus on her breathing. Lily sighed dreamily after a moment, pleased to have a bit of a reprieve. Humming slightly, she kicked off her wet shoes, walked over to the little bar set up just outside the cabana house,  and began to mix a drink. Maybe a little extra vodka.

“Sun scare you away?” James said, suddenly behind her.

Lily startled, swearing loudly before regaining her composure. James chuckled, and she turned around to glare at him, though there was no real heat behind it. “No, just getting another lemonade.”

“Getting a little hot?”

Lily scoffed, rolling her eyes. “It’s the heat, James,” she said dryly. “That’s what it does.”

James just hummed a suspicious noise. “I don’t know, doesn’t seem like it’s just the heat making you sweat.”

“It’s definitely not you, if that’s what you’re implying.”

His return smile was wolfish, predatory, and his eyes were sparkling at her. Lily felt her face start to redden, and quickly turned away, back to her drink before her. She reached over, grabbing the warm lemonade. When she stood back up straight, she could feel James behind her, hovering close but not close enough to actually touch her. She froze, and she felt the blood rushing in her head, pounding in her ears at his proximity. So close. Her traitorous heart beat faster.

“I think I’m contributing. At least a little bit,” he said, voice low in ear.

She shivered involuntarily before finding her voice. “You have no effect on me at all.”

He took a half-step forward, closing the space between his chest and her back. She had to force herself not to lean back into his touch and to focus on the drink in front of her. He leaned forward, lips brushing the spot behind her ear that he knew drove her crazy. “Oh yeah?” he said, reaching a hand up to push her wrap off her left shoulder, baring it to him. “Then why are you blushing?”

Lily’s knees went weak, and she gripped the bar in front of her to remain upright. James’s arms came around her, hands resting on the bar, bracketing her in as he rested a bit of her weight on her back, pressing into her. He let out a quiet breath of laughter before kissing her neck in the same spot where he had touched her before. Lily let out a small moan, closing her eyes and leaning into his kiss. James hummed an answer from the back of his throat, slowly moving his lips down her neck until he was kissing the place where her neck met her shoulder. He bit down, sucking gently, then blew cool air over the developing bruise. She shivered again.

“You taste like sunscreen,” he murmured against her skin. A flash of heat sparked low in her stomach, and she sucked in a quick breath. Lily could feel his smile, thinking he won somehow. She pressed her hips back slightly, pulling his attention away from her shoulder for a moment. He reciprocated, right hand coming off the glossy granite countertop of the bar to rest on her waist, fingers brushing, teasing, before settling it on her hip to hold her in place.

Instinctively, she pushed back again, wiggling a little.

“Shh,” he said, lips resting on the skin of her shoulder. “Stay still.” He resumed kissing her, mouthing and nipping back up her neck. Her head started to swim a little, all of her attention zeroed in on where his lips were touching her. He was taking his time, working her up masterfully, and she cursed herself for letting this happen, no matter how good it felt or how much she wanted him to keep going. She was supposed to be staying away from him.

He nipped at her earlobe lightly, and her breath hitched. His hand moved from her hip to skim up her waist, pressing her back into him completely, every inch of his toned torso flush against her bare back. Her head fell back, bumping lightly to rest on his right shoulder, exposing her neck completely.

“James, come on,” she said, but she didn’t really know whether it was meant to stop him or egg him on.

“What, Lily? What’s wrong?” he asked, but his tone was smug. If Lily wasn’t in a daze, she would kick him in the shin.

His hand moved across her stomach, sliding up to that this thumb was edging against the bottom of her bikini top, and then around to the side of her left breast. Instead of going under the material, however, he lingered there on the outside, thumb brushing the soft skin right at the edge, teasing her. Her nipples hardened in response, and she tried to press into his hand, but he resisted, calmly rubbing his nose along the skin behind her ear, whispering into her ear.

“You know, I don’t think I have told you how beautiful you are all day. Quite rude of me, actually, considering you look more than beautiful, especially right now. But you knew that, didn’t you? Picked this bathing suit out special, didn’t you? You know I have always loved you in red. So sweet, so cute, so fucking sexy.” He nipped at her earlobe again, and Lily whined, leaning fully into his embrace. “So fucking responsive,” he murmured, shifting them both forward, closer to the bar.

“You’re so fucking annoying,” Lily said, straining into his hand again. He laughed a little, breathless, shifting his thumb to run directly over her nipple and back with the barest pressure. She could feel him hardening behind her, and she pressed back into him, against him, deliberately teasing him back. The moan Lily let out was obscene, and the rational part of her brain admonished herself for being so open with her lust, her intentions to affect him just as much as he was affecting her.

Her right hand was gripping the counter tightly, keeping steady, while her left flew to press over her mouth, quieting her noises. James continued to tease her nipple, always keeping just the barest bit of pressure, but pressing his hips fully into her bum. No matter how much she squirmed, he kept a steady rhythm, light and teasing, until she was aching and arching into his hand, desperate. Heat pooled in her stomach, warming her from the inside out. She couldn’t escape the heat - the flush in her face, her arousal, the solid warmth of James’s tanned skin against her back.

“Annoying? I think you like it when I’m bothering you.”

“Shut up.” He hummed from the back of his throat like he was considering it, dropping his head to bite at the skin of her shoulder again, right over the spot he had already been working on. Definitely going to have a bruise. Her subconscious mind preened like a schoolgirl at being marked up a bit, at the delicious feel of his teeth at her skin, scraping a little to elicit another shiver. It was possessive in a way she knew she shouldn’t like, but the dirty part of her brain revelled in anyway. James was playing her perfectly, and she hated it.

His hand fell away from her nipple. Lily whined at the lost of contact, but it died in her throat when he stretched his hand wide, covering the expanse of her stomach so that his thumb was at the lacy edge of her top, but his pinky was tucked into the lacy, elastic band of her highwaisted bottoms. James’s thumb pressed into her sternum, effectively securing her against the muscles of his chest. It knocked the breath out of her, and she froze, waiting for the hand to slide back up to her chest. Instead, he ran his nose back up her neck until it was buried in her hair above her left ear.

“Lily, if you want to stop, tell me right now.” His voice was strained, and Lily felt a sudden wave of affection for him. He really is the sweetest thing. These were the moments that tricked her brain, made her confuse the tension always threatening to boil over between them with longing, the heated gazes with a potential for connection or feeling or maybe love. Confuse the caresses for more than just desire and lust.

When they first kissed, six months ago, the mutual want had taken her by surprise, overwhelming her. She had never really given much thought to anything real with James, more of a passing fancy. She was romantic by nature, but logical about the partners she chose, and kissing James had shocked her. He had poured so much passion into the kiss, and she found herself daydreaming about it for weeks after, blushing every time they saw each other, leaning into each casual touch he offered. A year and a half of friendship had proceeded that kiss, though, and she did not want to spoil that base with visions of a parallel reality, where James Potter and Lily Evans could be more than just best friends and neighbors and organic chemistry lab partners.

But right now, she was plastered to his front, flushed, heart pounding, and already halfway to overstimulation from James Potter’s mouth on her neck. So she didn’t think about how sweet he was or her emotional or moralistic convictions in ending their sexual relationship two weeks ago.

“I don’t want to stop,” she said, turning in his arms so that she faced him. They were barely a breath apart, and the change in position forced her to press her breasts to his chest. His eyes fluttered closed for a second as she rubbed against him, her clothed nipples dragging against his bare skin, making her shiver. She pushed the rest of her cover up off her shoulders, letting it fall down her arms and pool at their feet, and then brought her hands up to rest on his pectoral muscles. He tensed slightly at her touch. “Please don’t stop.”

James stayed still despite her touch, opening his eyes to search hers, to see that she wasn’t lying, his hand now resting on her back, level with one of the ties for her top.

“Oh thank god,” he said, diving in to kiss her, pressing her fully against the bar now at her back. It was uncomfortable and dug into her back, but the ache disappeared from her consciousness as James immediately escalated the kiss from lust-filled to obscene. His teeth tugged at her bottom lip, making her gasp and open her mouth to his tongue.

He was completely in her space, crowding up against her, hand toying with the back tie of her top for a moment before moving lower, reaching down with the apparent intention of grabbing her bum. Instead, he found the countertop.

He pulled away slightly, mouth still on hers lightly, making her chase him away from the bar until she was far enough away that he could reach her bum, hoisting her up easily in his arms. “Should have told me that was digging into our back,” he said, directing her to wrap her legs around his waist, lips attaching themselves to her neck again to deepen the same bruise, this time biting down hard, as if in admonishment.  

“Sorry,” she said, moaning at his rough treatment. “Was kinda distracted.”

He smiled against her skin. “Don’t let it happen again.”

He kissed her again, setting her down so she was sitting on the top of the bar and he was nestled between his legs. His hand was still firmly on her bum, groping and squeezing, before gliding back up her back to the tie of her bathing suit, deftly toying with the strings but not undoing them. The other hand reached up to her neck, changing the angle of the kiss now that she was leaning down slightly to his mouth, holding her in place so he could lick into her mouth.

Lily shifted forward so that she was flush against James’s chest still, keeping her legs around his waist tightly, arms locking around his neck to keep him pressed completely to her body, unable to move. She rocked her hips toward him as much as she could, dragging a low growl out of him. She moaned in satisfaction at the noise, and he gripped her hip tightly with his left hand, forcing her to stop moving.

“Stay still,” he said against her lips, barely taking a break in kissing her.

“No,” she said, childishly defiant, obstinate for no reason other than to be obstinate.

“Brat,” he said, but there was affection in his voice.

She giggled into the kiss, and he bit her bottom lip, burying the sound in a sudden gasp. He pulled her impossibly closer, tilting their heads so that they were turned almost sideways. His hand on her back slid under the ties holding her top together to rest on her upper back, holding her tightly to him, stealing her breath. The kiss shifted toward desperation, frustration at being so close and yet not.

The feral urge to be as close to him as possible overtook her, and she straightened up as much as she could in an effort to eliminate all space between them. The kiss was rough and dirty-hot, tongues sliding together. James panted into her mouth, out of breath, and she moaned when the hand on her back retreated down to her bum, and the one of her hip came up to her neck to start unraveling the knot that kept her bikini top up.

“James,” she panted, pulling away. Instinctively, his lips moved to her cheek, then her jaw.

“Hmm?”

“Untie the strings.”

He pulled away to look at her. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, taking his mouth again.

James took no time at all to start working at the knot, fumbling a little in poorly hidden overexcitement.

“You’re so fucking dirty, you know that? Letting me undress you in public. So sweet to me, so sweet for me. What if one of our friends came up here looking for us? Do you want that? Do you want them to see how good you are for me?”

Lily moaned, forehead falling to rest on his shoulder as he kept whispering to her, fingers deftly untying. She felt the strings coming down, top pooling at her waist. His fingers followed it, sliding down her neck to her shoulder, then under her arm to her ribs. James pushed her back a little, and she allowed him to direct her, unlocking her arms from around his neck and setting them slightly behind her to keep her balance as he tilted her torso back.

She was completely on display like this. His words came back to her through her haze, and she felt a thrill of excitement course through her. Because he was right; any one of their friends could come up to try to find her, or them, or even just to get another drink or go to the bathroom, and see her, top around her waist, her legs wrapped tightly around James, lips swollen, lipstick smudged. And James, staring at her like she was a goddess, like she was everything. But she felt powerful, and that filled her, making her smile brightly at James’s bewildered look, despite having seen her naked more than a few times at this point.

“Oh, Lily, you’re absolutely perfect.”

She beamed at his praise, flushing a little, and arched her back a little more, pushing her breasts out further.

He swore under his breath, eyes raking over her bare chest, clouding slightly as he studied her. “Jesus, Lily, please. Can I touch you? Please let me touch you?”

She pushed herself back up, reaching for him, and he met her halfway, pushing back into her space. She put her hand down behind her again on the bar, keeping her balance, and his hands glided to her back, untying the other knot and removing the entire top of her bathing suit from her body, placing it on the counter beside them. His hands went to her waist before ascending up, over her stomach to tease her breasts lightly, taking them in hand gently.

Lily watched him, fascinated and embarrassed at the care he was showing. She was suddenly incredibly aware at the intimacy of the moment, the seclusion of the trees, and the cool air he was blowing over her nipples, watching them peak again at the stimulation. His thumbs ghosted over them, and then she felt his tongue laving over her right nipple, stroked a broad sweep and then flicking it lightly. After a moment, he switched to the other one, finger running over the wetness his mouth had left, circling slowly before pinching the abandoned nub between his thumb and forefinger. She keened, legs tightening, and arched further into his mouth, egging him on.

“Does that feel good, Lily? God, you’re so gorgeous, so sweet, I can't believe you’re mine.”

Mine.

It shot through her like lightning. Without thinking, she shoved her body forward, grabbing at his face with her hands to bring his mouth up to hers, holding him there. Shocked, his hands gripped at her hips, squeezing tightly as she reclaimed his mouth with her own, moaning as soon as their lips touched.

Lily let the emotion bubble up in her, and tried to push it into the kiss. All the confusion, the longing, the lingering touches and heated stares. The domestic daydreams, the naughty fantasies. The lust and love and fear and hope, all in one kiss. Because mine felt like a promise, and her lust-addled brain could only leap at that without any other forethought.

Her breasts were squashed against his chest painfully, and his hands were tight on her hips, tight enough to bruise, maybe. But he responded to her, pulling her in, biting at her mouth, accepting all of her passion and returning it.

She pulled away for a moment to kiss a trail down his neck, biting playfully at his shoulder where he had marked her, hands roaming his chest and arms. “James.”

“Hmm, Lil? What?” he slurred at her, eyes shut, hands releasing her hips to palm her thighs, still around his waist, her ankles locked at his lower back.

“Please,” she said, returning to his mouth, hoping he would just take the hint. No dice. He indulged her for a moment, before pulling away enough to speak to her, lips against hers.

“Please what, Lily?” His voice was deep and raspy.

“I’m, uh - hmm - just wondering, you wouldn’t happen to have a condom on you right now, would you?”

He kissed her hard, one hand coming up to hold the back of her neck tightly, keep her mouth locked with his. Her nails dug into his shoulders, scratching down his upper arms. He hissed through his teeth a little at the pain, kissing her again and then pulling away.

“I’ll be right back.”

She started, squeezing her thighs. He broke their hold gently but easily, sliding out of her grasp and starting to turn away.

“James!” she hissed. “Don’t you dare leave me half naked on the patio!”

He turned back, looking at her. His eyes swept over her form, from her messy ponytail to the bruising beginning to show on her inner thighs from gripping onto him. “Are you sure? You certainly look pretty, all messed up like that.”

“James Potter!” She gave him her sternest look, and he hummed in response, making a pleased noise in the back of his throat.

“Adorable,” he teased, fitting himself neatly into the space between her thighs again. He picked up her bikini top, rubbing the material for a moment before tucking it into the pocket of his shorts.

“I hate you, you know that?”

His eyes blazed at her, looking over her ruffled form once again. “Oh, I highly doubt that.” He leaned in, nipping lightly at her bottom lip. “I think you really, really like me, Lily Evans.”

This kiss was slow and dirty, drawing her back into his arms fully. His hands skimmed her body the entire time, teasing and gliding. As he licked into her mouth, he pulled her arms around his neck again, she placed his hands under her thighs, lifting slightly. Lily pressed her hips forward, into his touch, looking for friction as her arousal reignited.

“Hang on, yeah?” he said against her mouth, and then lifted her into his arms, walking them backwards and toward the cabana house. Lily yelped, suddenly in the air, and her arms and legs tightened around him. He chuckled into her mouth, pressing her against the glass door leading into the little house. He ground into her, lifting her slightly so she could feel him hardening against her. She moaned into his mouth, breathless. His hips locked her in place against the glass, and he took a hand off her bum to reach behind her, fumbling to get a grip on the handle for the sliding glass.

“Fuck, Lily, hang on, I almost have it,” he said against her mouth. She nodded, kissing him again, licking into his mouth. He shifted her again, causing her to rub against him, and he growled deep in his throat. “Oh for fuck’s sake, open!”

She smiled into his mouth when he finally got his hand around the door, heaving her off the glass to slide it open behind her. He shuffled them through the door, turning to press her into the wall beside it, both hands returning to the back of her thighs to squeeze them, hitching her up against him. She rolled her hips as much as she could in her position, and James groaned beneath her.

“There isn’t a bed but...” he trailed off, gesturing behind him at the room. Lily lifted her head from his, looking around behind him. The cabana house consisted of a large room, surrounded on two sides by floor-to-ceiling glass, and a bathroom off the back wall. The remaining wall had a massive television mounted on it, and a huge shelving unit filled with books and movies flanked it.  All the windows had large, gauzy white curtains, and it was set up to be a lounge of some sort. A large beige sectional couch took up most of the space on one side, the other dedicated to an indoor bar and bar sports.

“Couch is fine,” she said, breathless, nodding, pressing against him. His arms tightened underneath her.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she agreed, kissing him again. He backed them up toward the couch, sitting them down and pulling her on top of him and into the cradle of his lap, her legs bracketing his on the couch. She shimmied as close as she could, grinding down on him, rocking her hips.

James swore, pulling away to watch her. Panting, Lily’s head fell back a little, and she shut her eyes, focusing all of her senses on the feeling between her thighs. She let out a heavy breath, placing her hands squarely on James’s shoulders for balance, and ground down on him, solid and hard in his swim trunks.

James slid his hands from the back of her thighs to her hip, easing her motions, pushing up into her space when she came down. Her moan stuttered out of her, and she opened her eyes, steading herself and slowing down. She blushed to the roots of her hair when she looked at James. His pupils were blown out, and he was watching her as if she had suddenly performed magic: in awe and fascinated desire. He shifted under her, cock twitching through the two layers of clothing separating them. Instinctively, she rocked her hips again.

“Sorry about that,” she said, breathing heavily.

James stared at her, stunned. “Lily, god, don’t ever apologize for that. That was incredible. You’re so fucking beautiful.” He leaned up, and attached his lips to her neck, kissing and murmuring against her skin. “Did that feel good, love? Riding me like that? Taking your pleasure? You were gorgeous, a goddess. Take what you want, Lily. What do you want?”

She moaned under his attention, his praise. “Please.”

James made a growling sound in the back of his throat, pulling her closer, kissing down her collar to her sternum, ducking his head down to take her nipple into his mouth. His hands descended from her hips to the tops of her thighs, flexing slightly to dig in, then dipping the right one toward her center. One long finger touched her, running down the crotch of her bathing suit bottoms, then two ran up. Lily keened, hips stuttering forward to try to get his fingers closer to where she needed him.

“Please, James, just touch me.”

He hummed around her nipple, apparently pleased. He released her with a pop, free hand immediately reaching up to run over the reddened, wet nipple, kissing up her chest only to bite down slightly above her right nipple, sucking another, smaller mark into her skin. Lily moaned, pressing into his hand. “Good girl.”

Not even bothering to take her bottoms off, James shifted his fingers under the lace edge of the crotch, running a finger down the bare heat of her, growling low in his throat.

“Jesus, Lily, you’re so fucking wet,” he stated plainly. She flushed, embarrassed, biting back a moan as he ran a finger down her center, nudging briefly at the core of her, before adding a second and repeating the process several times.

“Come here, baby.” He kissed her once again, sweetly this time, licking at her bottom lip lightly. His fingers moved slowly toward the bundle of nerves at the top, sliding, teasing gently. Her hips shifted closer, inching up, urging him to the perfect angle. When he finally touched her, she whined, melting into his arms and moaning into his mouth.

He circled her clit slowly, drawing it out, making Lily squirm in his lap. The slow build was excruciating, contrasting with the desperation she was feeling, and all she could focus on was the feeling at the core of her and James’s fingers. She gripped his hand, trying to make him go faster, and he immediately stopped.

“Was that not enough? You told me to touch you. Did you need more?”

Lily bit back a whine, releasing his hand. “Stop teasing.”

James smiled against her mouth. “I can do that.”

Slowly, he withdrew his fingers from her bottoms, using his other hand to push them off of her. Lily lifted each leg in turn, shifting to sit squarely in James’s lap, legs wrapped around his waist. Pulling away from Lily’s mouth, James offered his hand instead, holding two fingers out to her with a cocky smile.

“Suck, sweetheart,” James said, tone matching the smirk on his face, other hand on her leg pulling her down to slide her bare skin against the bulge in his shorts. She moaned, leaning forward to take his fingers into her mouth, swirling her tongue around them before sucking.

James’s answering growl ran right through her, hand on her thigh tightening slightly as he rocked up into her, pulling her attention from her task. She moaned around his fingers, pressing back down. James sucked in a breath, inhaling sharply, and she opened her eyes to look into his. He was staring at her, eyes darkened by lust. She pulled away, smiling sweetly, innocently at him.

“Oh, and I’m the one teasing? Good try, Lily,”

With a quick movement, he slid Lily back over his lap, knees on either side of him, opening her legs slightly to make room for him. Slowly, he slid one, then two fingers into her, groaning when she immediately tightened around him. Lily gasped, head coming forward to rest on James’s shoulder as his fingers moved inside her, working into a slow rhythm. His thumb came up to tap lightly at her clit, keeping a similar pace.

Lily felt like she was going to explode.

“I thought we said no teasing,” she said, voice breaking a little as she tried to keep her hips from bucking upward, setting her own pace.

James smiled at her, smug. “You said it, I didn’t listen.” Nonetheless, he increased his pace, causing Lily to sigh.

“Fuck, Lil, you’re so fucking hot and wet and sweet and soft. You feel so good, baby. You’re so lovely like this, needy and wet for me. Do you wanna cum, baby?” His voice was dark and deep, breaking, and Lily wanted to bury herself in it. She moaned, shaking slightly in his arms as he increased his pace. His free arm came around her back, anchoring her in place, and he went even faster, encouraging her hips to move, matching the rhythm he had created for them.

“James, I’m - I think I’m going to -”

James shushed her, increasing his pace.

Lily pulled away. “No, not yet,” she said, grinding down on him. “I want you inside me, James.”

James laughed a little, breathlessly, removing his fingers from her to grip her hips tightly. Lily, emboldened and a little more than frantic, reached down, sliding her hands into the waistband of his swim trunks. His hips lifted at her touch, sending shockwaves through her, and she hummed, pleased at his reaction. His eyes bored into hers, watching her closely, and she bit her lip, pausing. He pushed his hips up again, raising a brow at her.

“Payback’s a bitch, huh?” she said, ghosting her hand over him. He groaned, shutting his eyes tightly.

Swiping her thumb through the precome gathered at the tip of him, she took up a slow, steady rhythm, one reminiscent of James’s own on her. He groaned beneath her again, pushing up into her hand, desperately. His fingers tightened on her hips, asking for friction. She resisted, lifting up a little to keep away, earning a growl.

“Such a brat,” he said, strained, pleading. He looked at her, trying to seem stern, but falling short. “Stop teasing.”

Giggling, she moved her hand a little faster. With her other hand, she pushed the shorts down and away from his body awkwardly, half desperate and clumsy.

“Lily,” he growled, stopping her movements with the edge in his voice. She nodded at him, removing her hand and allowing him to shove the shorts the rest of the way down. His hands were rough on her and he settled her over him, remaining in control despite their positions. He shifted up, rubbing against her, and Lily moaned, breathless and needy and finally.

James shifted her slightly, leaning over to the coffee table and reaching under it, hand frantically grabbing around on the underside. Finally, he succeeded, and with a small noise of triumph, pulled out a silver package.

“You keep condoms taped to the underside of the coffee table? Poor Effie.”

“No, Sirius keeps condoms taped to the underside of the coffee table because according to him, we are all idiots and ‘you never know when the fancy may strike.’ It’s one of his many stashes. At least the knowledge finally comes in handy.”

Lily rolled her eyes, shifting back again for James to settle himself upright on the couch, holding her over him. With a nod to her, she lifted up, resting her weight in her hands on his shoulders. He held her close as she settled over him, and slid down slowly, biting her lip to suppress the moan threatening to rip through her as she felt him slowly fill her. James’s head fell against the back of the couch, and he watched her open up around him through heavily lidded eyes. His grip on her hips was bruising, rough, as she took all of him inside her, moaning loudly when she bottomed out. She giggled, breathless, flexing her muscles around him, making him twitch inside her.

“Fucking minx.” She smiled, pleased and punch-drunk, using her grip on his shoulders as leverage, moving over him in a slow and long and lazy rhythm, revelling in the feeling of him stretching her. After a minute, she increased her pace, tightening her thighs where they bracketed his legs.

Lily was rapidly approaching orgasm after being edged so many times, could feel it building in her lower stomach, tightening her limbs and making her gasp and grind down wordlessly each time she pushed down. She took her right hand off James’s shoulder, sliding it down in the minimal space between them, finding her clit quickly and setting a faster pace. James murmured to her, sweet nothings, mouthing at her neck and throat and jaw. He slumped down a little, giving her more room, and watched as she increased the pace once again, hand moving in tandem hips stuttering and shifting until she was shaking in his arms. She pressed down full, grinding aimlessly in his lap and she rode out her orgasm, smiling and blinking at him lethargically.

“Do you absolutely bloody gorgeous you are when you cum? God, Lily, I can never get over it. It will never get old, watching you cum for me and only for me. And you clamped so tightly around me, it was incredible. I almost came right then, watching your touch yourself and take your pleasure. So pretty for me, so good, sweetheart. Will you cum for me again, love? One more for me?”

James nipped at her throat, shocking her and causing her to moan. He gathered her in his arms, sliding them under her thighs to lift Lily up, all the while still inside her. He sat upright fully on the couch again, settling her in a straddle over him.

Lily lifted up, ready to move again, but James stopped her, holding her hips steady. “My turn.”

She nodded, frantic and needy, the waves of her orgasm still lingering. She tightened her fingers on his shoulders, and he lifted her hips again, guiding her down, pushing through the final haze of her orgasm. There was a spark of arousal in her stomach, expanding outward and burning through her, and she moaned, rolling her hips in James’s hands, long, deep strokes from below. One hand migrated to her hair, reaching under her ponytail to the base of it and tugging lightly, causing Lily’s head to fall back and her hands to fall to his thighs, pushing against them for leverage as she arched her back.

“Oh, fuck, Lily, you feel so good. So tight and wet for me, moaning so pretty. Come on, love, give me another. I’m so close, I’ve been half-gone all day just being around you in that ridiculously hot bikini. So good for me, sweet girl.” Lily’s hips stuttered down as he talked to her, voice low and husky, on the verge of breaking. She broke the pace he had started her on, and she moaned again, hair sticking to her mouth as she opened her eyes, surging forward again. Her mouth landed on his, and they clung to one another, panting.

Her hands squeezed his shoulders, frantic and overcome. As she neared the edge, she could hear James murmuring against her mouth, kissing lightly, teasingly. “Come on, Lily; cum for me.” Her hips stuttered forward one more time, and James bit down lightly on her bottom lip Her eyes slammed shut as she fell off the precipice again with a cry, legs shaking. She clung to James’s shoulders, trying not to collapse into them, when his arm pulled her closer to him, and his hips came up again once, twice, pressing fully into her, holding her so tightly it took her breath.  

After a moment, she relaxed, boneless and energized at the same time. Her breath came heavily and she let out a short laugh, lifting her head to look at James.

He leaned forward, taking her lips in a long kiss, pulling her closer. She kissed him back, pleased, humming against his mouth, and then kissing down his neck to his shoulders lightly, coming down from her high. Lily ran her hands over his chest, shifting slightly up and off of him.

James pulled her back down, into his arms, kissing her cheeks and face repeatedly. “So lovely, so sweet.” Lily settled into his arms, content for doze for a minute before she had to get up. James ran his hands up her arms comfortingly, hugging her close.

She only allowed herself to indulge for a minute before an anxious feeling settled over her. Quickly, she untangled herself from him, picking up her bathing suit bottoms, muttering her excuse and all but running to the bathroom.

While she peed, she debriefed with herself.

She liked James. She liked being around him and talking to him and also having sex with him. She knew that.

But what about the “mine” he dropped.

She didn’t want to get her hopes up - James chatted a lot of shit in bed, it was kind of his thing. She couldn’t be crushed if it didn’t go her way. Which was the whole point of trying to avoid the very thing she had just spent quite a bit of time doing.

She needed to tell him, right?

Probably. Maybe not. If she told James she loved him, it might mean the end of their friendship at most, the end of all sex with James at the least. And that was a huge risk.

Maybe just a break-up conversation. Ending the sex part of their friendship for real, like an adult, instead of just avoiding the problem would at least help her guard her heart.

She had decided. And now she just had to do it.

James’s eyes were closed when she returned to the big room, bottoms on and ponytail as fresh as could be without a brush, though still topless. She crossed her arms over her bare breasts, trying to calm down. With a final deep breath, she walked over to the couch, standing awkwardly in front of him.

“James, I need to tell you something.”

He opened his eyes, looking at her and cocking his head to the side, reaching up to run a hand through his own hair.

“I think we should stop having sex.”

His smile was slow, building. “Okay. Why’s that?”

“Well,” she started, pacing a little along the coffee table, gesticulating, forgetting her current state. “Sex can lead to feelings, and while I am not asking you how you feel, I think I may be developing some, and I do not want to make things awkward or uncomfortable.”

“You have feelings for me?”

“I might!” she said, throwing her hands in the air, still pacing. “I mean, it's possible. But I don’t know! And at the risk of me getting hurt, I think it is best that we just stop now before that happens.”

He stared at her, smiling and shaking his head. Reaching out, he stopped her pacing, pulling her down on the couch next to him. “Please sit. We are going to take a deep breath. We can talk about this.”

“I already talked about it.”

“So you might have feelings for me. Yeah?”

She looked at him, staring. His eyes were gazing at her, but blank, revealing nothing but a general intent on her. “‘Might’ meaning I probably do have feelings of some sort, yes. And they most likely trend toward emotional attachment and affection beyond that what is customary of a friend you sometimes have sex with.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “And therefore having sex with me is a bad thing, because it may lead to more feelings? That might trend toward, I don’t know, love and companionship?”

“That’s the hypothesis, yes.”

“You know, for the smartest person I know, you’re kind of an idiot.”

“James! That was so mean! Way to kick a girl when she’s down. I’m baring my soul here.”

“Lily, I’ve been in love with you since about a month after we met.”

“Oh,” she said, closing her eyes, trying not to throw her arms into the air and shout for the joy of it all. He loved her!

“Yeah, oh,” he said, a smile evident in his voice. He turned slightly to face her, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her into his lap. His nose nudged against hers, and she smiled, opening her eyes to his.

“I love you, too,” she said, leaning into his space to kiss him sweetly, tenderly.

“Well, thank goodness, because this was about to get really embarrassing if you didn’t say it back. And after all that agonizing planning in the bathroom.”

She smacked him lightly on the chest, blushing. “Should we go back to the others?”

“Probably,” he said, releasing her with a final kiss, and climbing off the couch to pull his swim trunks back on. “Though I doubt very much they noticed we were gone.”

Lily rolled her eyes, reaching into his pocket to take her top back (“Oh, cheeky”) and swiping his hand away from her bare breast when he made a half-assed move to touch her. “It’s like you don’t even know Sirius and Marlene. Of course they’ve noticed.” She reached behind her to retie the strings of her top, before just letting James do it, quickly and neatly.

He just grinned. “I know. I was just trying to make you feel better about seducing me mere feet from all of our friends. Absolutely wanton, absolutely despicable. You’re just insatiable.”

Lily scoffed in mock outrage. “Me seducing you? Please! You followed me to the cabana with the sole purpose of rubbing yourself against me like a dog in heat!”

“Two words, babygirl: red bikini.”

“Maybe you’re just too easy,” she suggested, walking out the open sliding door, picking up her cover up and wrapping it around her, primly smoothing her bathing suit like it was a dress.

“Only for you, love,” he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Why do I like you?”

“Beats me. Glad you do though,” he said, wrapping her in his arms to kiss her one more time before they left the privacy of the patio.

When they emerged, hand in hand, six heads turned to them.

“Fucking finally,” Mary called, nudging Marlene on the arm. Marlene’s smile was vicious, spreading slowly across her face. She glanced at Sirius out of the corner of her eyes, and he nodded, with a matching smile.

“Did you two take a break to clean up? You didn’t have to do that!” he said. Lily’s hand flew to the space where her neck met her shoulder, and she closed her eyes, preparing for the incoming joke. James just chuckled, apparently extremely chuffed at this turn of events.

“No, sir, why do you ask?”

“Looks like Evans got into a wrestling match with a hoover. Glad to know it was only your juvenile snogging skills. A hickey, James, really? Are we fifteen?”

1x07 - ArachnoFaebia

Written by: Emily Andras

Directed by: John Fawcett

Original Air Date: October 31, 2010

In which I claim to have nothing to say about this episode but spend a long time ranting about Lauren and Dyson’s pettiness and other things anyway.

Bo and Kenzi begin to have their first little squabbles as roommates. Then a supernatural giant spider gets unleashed in their house, bites them, and turns them into paranoid homicidal maniacs. The house is quarantined so they can’t get out, and their only choices are kill the spider and free themselves from its spell or die in a fire, if they don’t kill each other first.

“It sounds like whispering kids or giggling elves. Did you bring elves home last night? I’m not judging, I just want to know.”

ArachnoFaebia. Don’t have much to say about this one.

I feel like I should, though. I mean, Emily Andras wrote it, and I usually like her episodes. (Except when I REALLY don’t, but we won’t get to the episode I’m thinking of until Season 3.) Plus, it’s about Bo and Kenzi, which is what I am here for. Eh. It’s a perfectly fine and entertaining episode.

Fuck Pete, Kenzi! Fuck Pete!

Ah, not cool on the cock block, Bo.

“I wish I had man slaves who did whatever I want.” Me too, Kenzi.

Bo and Kenzi have their first “fight,” which is really more of a catty little banter than anything.

Oh, wait. I definitely missed this line the first couple of times I watched this show a million years ago. The setup: Bo compares the two of them to “real life sisters,” which is cute. A few lines later, she says, “Hey, I’m picky, not psychotic.” Kenzi replies under her breath, “Family is always psychotic.” She kind of mumbles it so it’s hard to hear, but I love this. It’s touching, obviously, that she admits to herself out loud that she considers Bo her family. And, of course, it’s another dig at the biological family we have yet to meet or learn about.

This scene at the beginning with Ksenia Solo playing Kenzi playing an exorcist is great.

I really love the Bo, Kenzi, Dyson, and Hale dynamic. They have good chemistry. It’s a fun foursome. Not just as two pairs of best friends plus two pairs of love interests, but as all four of them together. They seem like they’d have a good time hanging out. Bo and Kenzi are like the quintessential lady BFFs, with Dyson and Hale as a dude BFF counterpart.

Bo, oblivious as hell, tries to sit down with Lauren and Dyson and have a genuine friendly heart-to-heart. Being as Lauren and Dyson fucking hate each other, this works out very poorly. Dyson and Lauren spit some nasty words back and forth at each other, all of this stemming from little to no provocation. It’s just the sight of the other sitting next to Bo that raises their hackles, and it takes nothing to have them at each other’s throats. Considering that from where I’m sitting, which is not particularly invested in either pairing, they haven’t known Bo that relatively long, their jealousy seems a bit extreme.

Surprisingly, Lauren doesn’t really take the first shot at Dyson, other than a passive aggressive comment about him not returning her calls, which is no doubt deserved. Dyson, prickled at the reminder and at her presence, resorts to racism. For the cheapest possible digs, of course. How flattering of you, Dyson.

Love when we get to see and hear more Hale. Like this scene where he calls out Kenzi for being jealous of Bo’s ability to seduce anyone. When he’s not fronting as a hyper-horny dudebro, Hale tends to be one of the more coy and observant characters, and I’ve always found him to be both fun to watch and criminally underutilized. But boy, will we get to that later.

In the scene where Bo goes to get a check-up with Lauren at the Light Fae hospital, Bo admits that she was insensitive when she briefly tried to get Lauren and Dyson to hang out at the Dal. I am a bit impressed and proud of her that she is at least aware of it and owning up to it.

Kenzi and Lauren make-out hallucination weird as fuck, no other comment.

Dyson looks nice in this suit. That’s all I wanted to say.

I’m not gonna lie, if Lauren wasn’t a lesbian, I’d be tempted to ship Wolfpants, y’all.

While not as quite as unflattering as Dyson taking cheap shots at her humanity and literal slavery, this bit where Lauren sends him a little nasty, “And we’re close. She knows she can talk to me,” is also kind of unflattering. She looks him dead in the eyes and wants him to know that she and Bo have a deeper bond than Bo has with him (supposedly). Pretty nasty. I guess he deserves it, though, after his douchebaggery at the bar. Dyson fires back with a pretty sick burn by reminding Lauren that he and Bo are, in fact, still fucking. Dyson and Lauren just constantly engage in petty dick-waving in every scene they are in together. Strap in, because this won’t change any time soon.

So why do the “infected” have to be exterminated along with the spider? Is it contagious? I thought people are only infected if they’re bitten? Just get them out of there and burn the place down with the spider in it. Pretty cold of Lauren and Trick to just be like, “Oh well, fuck Bo and Kenzi and Hale, then,” and be prepared to sacrifice them if they can’t figure out how to kill the thing in the next hour or whatever.

What Bo does to Hale when he’s tied up is gross. And, uh, what’s the word. Problematic.

Talking about this in depth is going to open up a whole can of worms, and it probably deserves its own post, but it’s worth briefly acknowledging here what we already consciously or subconsciously know. Which is that a lot of the time, when Bo feeds on or uses her succubus powers on someone, either without them knowing or against their will, it scans as a dubiously consensual sexual encounter at best. In situations like the one with Hale, it reads as straight up non-con, or worse.

But being as that’s the nature of what a succubus is, that’s a given. What matters is how the narrative treats it. Is it treated well in this episode? Not really. Bo was supernaturally brainwashed at the time so it’s not like it was really her doing it, but it kinda bothers me that she defends her feeding on him as, “I did what I had to do,” and at the end of the episode, Hale begs Kenzi not to tell Dyson that “[he] kissed Bo,” as if he had any agency in the matter. I never really thought about this when I first watched the show in high school, so it didn’t bother me. Watching it now, it makes me uncomfortable.

The main character is a succubus, and at the end of the day this show is all good edgy campy sexy supernatural fun, and it's not that deep. Really, it's not. But her being a succubus can sometimes make for a tricky sea to navigate. One of Michelle Lovretta’s main goals was sex positivity, and I think the show succeeds at that in regards to its consensual adult sexual relationships. As to how much or whether dubious consent scenarios muddy up that message, not really sure how I feel yet.

“You’d pick me over Bo, right, Hale? You’re on my side?” Hmmm. I sense shades of a burgeoning intimacy here.

KC Collins playing Hale as a psychopath is pretty scary.

This one-off character is cool and seems interesting. It’s a shame we don’t see more of her.

Bo’s one brain cell not understanding science is really cute.

Dyson tells Lauren that he doesn’t trust her motives. She’s “inconsistent.” And it’s true. She is. He admits to not understanding why Lauren would callously call a strike on Bo but then turn around and kill a man to save her. And to be honest, at this point, I don’t either. Something about Lauren is shifty and Dyson is right to pick up on it. Lauren’s response, “…this time I was Bo’s hero,” is unnecessary and kinda toxic but whatever.

Next up, we have episode 1x08, which was the original pilot. They wrote it, shot it, and showed it to the network in order to pitch the show. Obviously, it sold. Which makes the episode’s distinctively darker tone as compared to the rest of the season quite interesting.

    As soon as she opened the door, Althea immediately saw her friend sitting on a single sofa- embracing her legs, head was resting on her knee- beside the window, staring blankly outside as if she was either looking or searching for something for a very long time already. She was too focused on what she was doing that seems to be the reason of her being oblivious around. Or maybe, she already sensed her yet, just chose to ignore her presence. This girl used to be a bubbly person, the exact opposite of what she was seeing right now. Before, every time she would enter her room, her friend would greet her with a very big, bright smile on her face. But now… she sighed from her own thoughts.

She felt something on her throat that caused the tears she had been keeping all by herself to suddenly came out this time, yet, Althea silently wiped all of those. This was not about her. She had to be strong and set her feelings aside- her own grief to be exact- because someone seemed to need her. Her best friend badly needed her. 

Althea was about to call her when slowly, her friend glanced at her side, tried to smile to acknowledge her presence but, failed to do so. In the end, she just turned her back on her and looked back outside the window once again. That only happened for a matter of seconds but for Althea, it did felt like it took for an hour.

“Hera…”, she said. 

But she got no response. Althea slowly walked towards the bed, sat across that sofa, and stared intently at her. She was analyzing things on how it should ought to be. There were so many rehearsed words she wanted to say, but none of it came out. She did not know how to start. Or even when to start. There was an ongoing battle between her mind and heart for her to speak or not but- in the end- she decided to choose the latter.

Silence almost ate her up when someone broke the silence caused her to startle.

“Where do you think is he now?” Althea said. She paused for a second and continued. “Do you think he’s somewhat happy already by now?”

For her, the mere fact that Hera had just talked to her was a little bit accomplishment on her part. According to her family, it had been months since Hera shut herself from the rest of the world. She did not want to talk to anybody, even to her parents. But instead of answering her questions, all she could say was that, 

“Have you eaten up already?”

 She mentally slapped her head and screamed on her mind. It was already her chance to talk to her yet she ruined it, by simply asking that stupid question.

She was about to speak again and grab that opportunity back when she noticed something from Hera’s left cheek which was the only side she could saw from her seat. Althea saw how those tears fell down on her reddening cheeks. She was moved by how Hera was trying to control those emotions that was ready to be blown away any minute. She wanted to say those comforting words she knew but she did not even know where to begin with. From what she was seeing, she could not help but to let her tears came out again, just like the way it used to do since that day. The day when she, together with her friend, received that heartbreaking news.

“Stop pretending that you’re okay…”, her friend said bluntly. “I know that you know that we’re both not okay so…” Hera looked at her suspiciously, “What brought you here?”

She sighed. Hera was obviously shutting herself again from other people who wanted to be with her. To grief with her. Of course, she knew all along that her friend had been silently crying and praying for something and someone to come back. But they also both know that that was too impossible to happen already. It was quite saddening that because of what had happened, their lives changed. Because of someone’s sudden death, everything had changed.

“Hera, I know how hard it is for you to accept the fact that he is gone now but…” she looked up in order for her tears not to fall once more, “You have to let it go, it’s time for you now to let him go-”

“If that’s only what you came for, you better go.” Hera interrupted. “I don’t need you here.”

Althea wiped her tears, again. “Everyone is worried about you. You neither eat nor go out of this room. You even don’t want your mom to stay here beside you.” She had said it as calm as she could for Althea did not wanted to sound like she was pushing Hera to do something she did not want to. “Do you think he would be happy seeing you like this? Is this something he could be proud of? Hera, please, do not live your life like this. You have to move on…”

She met her piercing, glistening eyes. “Aah… You’re here because of what they have told you. If you are here just to lecture me- just like what others did every time they would enter here- on how I should live my life after what I did, then…” she put her feet down on the floor and stand. “You really need to go.”

“Hera- “

“Just go.” Her friend was about to go to the comfort room inside her room to probably locked herself up when she grabbed her arm caused her to stopped and almost stumbled. “Just fuck off, will you?”

“Then what? Leave you just like what Zach did?!” she shouted that made her friend stay still and gaze fell on her feet. Althea knew that what she had said was off the line but that was only her last resort to finally got her attention and knocked some senses on her. “Until when you wanted to be like this? Is this really what you want for the rest of your life? To look wasted all the time? Everybody is so damn worried about you, you know!”

Because of the intensity happening between them, she almost did not notice that her grip on her arm tightened. “You’re already hurting me, Althea. Let me go.”, her friend said, trying to pull her arm away. Trying to be firmer this time. 

Althea laughed sarcastically, “Now you know…”, her eyes staring on her friend’s very messy hair fell down on her clenched left fist. “Now you know what it feels like not to be set free by someone who does not want to let go…Now you know what probably would Zach feel because of what you are doing to yourself. For Pete’ s sake, haven’t you look yourself on the mirror for quite some time?!”

“Stop this, will you?”

“No… I will never ever stop not until you finally realized that you are just wasting your time on either sitting or lying down here on your bed or sofa and not doing anything except for endlessly crying and hopelessly praying for someone to be back!” she could hold back her feelings anymore. “You are just prolonging your miseries, that’s why. Get a hold of yourself. Go and get back all of your senses for there is still a bright future ahead of you, waiting for you.”

Hera raised her head and meet her eyes. “Don’t talk as if you totally knew what I feel just because we share the same thing.”, she said and bit her lower lip.

She could not utter a word. Not because she did not know on how to respond on what Hera had just said but because right after she looked through her eyes and heard those words, she saw nothing but an endless emptiness on her.

 “How could you say those things, huh? Why does you sounded like you’re just mocking my own feelings?”, her friend said. A tear escaped on her cheek. “Do you think I am liking this? Do you think I want to be like this forever? You are wrong because no, I don’t want to be like this…I don’t like to stay like this forever either…” her face soften as she continued,” It’s just that… every time I will try to open that goddamn door and go back to life that I once had as if nothing happened, my knees starts to shake. My conscience is bugging me to death. I am being drowned by my so many what if’s. And, all I could do is to think of him…

“Zach’s face pleading to accept him still. Asking me to give him the chance for us to start all over again. A chance that if I only give that day, it could have probably spared his life from death. It could have spared all of us to from feel these griefs and agonies. It could have spared me from the loneliness and emptiness which I am feeling. That, if I only gave him that very chance for us to bring back things the way it used to be, I could have had a happy ending…”

Hera’s right hand got her hand gripped from her own shoulder and held it firmly, as if her life depended on it.

“Do you think he already forgave me? I mean…Could he even forgive me for saying those words that hurt him big time? Would he ever forgive me for hurting him the way he hurt me just to get even? Is there any possibility for all of those questions to be answer-now he’s gone, permanently..?”

Accepting someone’s death had never been an easy thing and all they could do was to cry to somehow ease the pain it had caused. It had been months since Zach died because of a car accident. His car fell from a cliff and his body was burned out because of its explosion. It was indeed a tragic ending but what made it more tragic for Hera was that, she was blaming herself for her boyfriend’s death, who happened to be Althea’s twin brother.

It was too painful to bear. Too painful that being angry at her and blame her friend because of what happened was the only thing crossed on her mind that time. Actually, it was the first time they saw each other again after Zach’s burial a few months back.  And she was so guilty because of that. After she got back her senses and realized that his sudden death should be blame to no one, together with help she got from her family and other friends, it somehow helped her to move on…. 

She let go of her hand from her very first friend who taught her before on how to be strong, and instead, hugged her tight as she could, closer than she should be. Althea did it because she realized one thing.

 Hera does not need those rehearsed words she had had a couple of minutes before she opened the door a while ago. She does not need any of those used to say words every time someone dies. She does not need any lectures neither as for how she should cope up nor as for why she should move on. She does not need someone else’s pity and most especially, she does not need to be blame for someone’s twin brother’s death. She does not need all of those things for what she needed was someone who would and could stay beside her no matter what happens.

 A person who would still be there to listen no matter how many times she or he was being shouted or ignored. Someone who could still pat her head just to assure that nobody was blaming her for what had happened despite of being shoved away several times. A person who would be ready to become a soldier just to pass through her and break her high and thick walls just to offer his or her shoulders to cry on. Someone who would also be willing to embrace what she was feeling.

Someone who would and could hugged her so tightly- like what she was finally doing…

Dive (P.P)

Pairing: Peter Parker x Female Reader

Word Count: 2,374

Warning: A few curse words, fluff, some angst

A/N: Hey, darlings! So I wrote this for @h-osterfield’s 5K writing challenge. Thank you for letting me participate, hun! Also, I want to say a huge thanks to @rachramblesstuff for helping me with me this (and for encouraging me to write). I’m so excited for y’all to read this. It’s probably the favorite thing I’ve ever written and I hope you love it as much as I do and any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated. (Happy Valentine’s Day, my loves 💕)

Peter stepped into the classroom, a blush rushing to his cheeks as he realized not only was he late to his first class this semester, catching the attention of over 80 students, but there was absolutely nowhere for him to sit. ‘I knew sleeping in those extra 30 minutes would be a mistake,’ he thought as he quickly started towards the rows upon rows of seats, his eyes searching for an empty space. He could feel the blood rushing to his face with every second he spent looking for a seat, thoughts of anxiety and embarrassment flooding his mind.

He was just about to give up when he a heard a soft, “Hey!” He looked to the left side of him, seeing the most beautiful girl waving him over. He pointed to himself as if to ask “are you talking to me?” You nodded, tapping the seat the next to you. Still shocked that you were talking to him of all people, he rushed over, softly saying “thank you” under his breath. “No problem. I saved a seat just in case someone like you stumbled in.” He gave you a confused look, “Someone like me?” You gave him a heart-stopping smile, “Someone late, lost, and extremely cute.” His eyes widened at your words, another blush reddening his cheeks. You giggled softly, making sure the professor wasn’t paying attention, before holding out your hand. “I’m y/n, by the way.” He shook your hand, thinking to himself, ‘This has to be a dream.’

Your brow raised when he didn’t introduce himself, “And you are?”

“Oh, um,” Peter racked his brain. Apparently, pretty girls didn’t just make him lose his train of thought, they also made him forget his name. It felt like forever before he finally remembered, stuttering out, “I-I’m Peter.”

You let out a small laugh and Peter had never wanted to disappear more than in that moment. ‘Forgetting my name? Great. She’s never going to want to talk to me again.’ He was so sure his thoughts were right, almost expecting you to reject him right then and there. But you caught him by surprise, leaning a bit closer to him to say, “I think we’re going to be great friends, Peter.”

You were more than right, immediately becoming the closest friends. Nothing more ever came out of it, but Peter was fully content having someone to hang out with basically all of the time. In fact, it hadn’t even crossed his mind. That didn’t stop people from thinking you were dating though. The two of you didn’t know it, but you were the talk of the class. People will either in love with the idea of you being together, or totally jealous of it. You were the only ones that couldn’t see you were obviously in love with with each other, completely oblivious to all of the signs from yourselves and your classmates.

On this particular day you were supposed to be studying, or at least that’s what you told Peter to convince him to go with you. Instead, you were goofing around, the pair of you trying to contain your laughter in hopes of not alerting the strict librarian not too far from you. “Pete!! Be quiet, you’re gonna get us in trouble!” You leaned into his shoulder, a mischievous smile on your face. “Oh, yeah,” he rolled his eyes jokingly. “I’m the one that’s being too loud.” You softly nudged his shoulder, pretending to be annoyed before getting up, mumbling something about taking your loud ass to the bathroom, leaving Peter alone and laughing to himself. He shook his head, the biggest smile of his face as he attempted to actually look at the textbook that had been sitting in front of him for the past hour.

He was interrupted almost immediately after starting, a guy from the class you took together, Jared, taking in a seat in front of him. He looked up, confused. They weren’t friends, and they’d never really spoken before, only occasionally when one needed a pencil or a piece a paper. He had no idea what he could possibly want.

Jared leaned forever on his elbows, looking around, before saying in a low tone, “You know, I’d be careful around her if I were you.”

Peter gave him a questioning look, more confused and a little annoyed, “Dude, what are you talking about?”

“Look, you didn’t hear it from me, but y/n isn’t looking for anything serious. She has a tendency to lead people on.”

Peter held back an eye roll, definitely annoyed now, “Are you speaking from experience?

Jared ignores his question and raises his hands in defense, “Hey, I’m just trying to help you out.” He leans down a little closer to Peter, their faces only a few inches away from each other, “Don’t fall for her, okay?”

Peter gives him his bed fake smile and a thumbs up, hoping it’ll be enough to get him to go away. Much to his relief, Jared does leave, just in time for you to come back.

You look back before sitting down, confused as you catch sight of Jared leaving the library hastily. “What was he doing here?”

Peter was so happy you were back, he had almost completely forget about the pesky encounter. “I’m not really sure. He was talking shit or something.”

You rolled your eyes, “Why am I not surprised?

Peter opened his mouth, wanting to ask about what happened between the two of you, only to up distracted by you, hanging off of your every word.

It wasn’t until a couple of years later, after having already fallen in love with you and never saying a word, that he started to wish he would’ve listened to the warning. Of course as time passed he tried moving on, but he always ended in the exact position he was in now, the only one he preferred to be in-right next to you.

The two of you were laying on the couch, your head resting on his shoulder and his arm around you as you watched reruns of Friends for the hundredth time. He looked down at you, admiring the way you got lost in the show, even after seeing it so many times. You were so beautiful and he was so in love.

‘She’s never going to go for me. I waited too long.’ The doubtful thoughts ran through his head, plaguing him with feelings of regret. There was no point in trying now. He was almost positive it was too late.

But then you turned and gave him this look, a look that seemed to be specifically for him, that pushed all of his negative feelings to the side. He didn’t know what it was, there was just something about it that gave him just a sliver of hope. ‘Do it. Do it now.’ He cleared his throat, shifting in his seat to get a better view of you. “Um, y/n. There’s something I want to tell you. You gave him your signature heart-melting smile, “What’s up, Pete?” This was it. He was finally taking a chance, ready to take the plunge and fully dive into you. “I-I, um,” he hesitated, the thought of never being able to turn back to normal running through his head. He knew if he didn’t do it now, he probably never would.

“I think I’m in love with you and I don’t know what to do,” he said it quickly and without thinking, making it come out all wrong.

‘I think? Don’t know what to do? Good job, stupid. All I had to was, “I’m in love with you.” Of course I would fuck it up.’ Too caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the way your eyes widened, your smile instantly turning to a frown as you shakily asked, “What?”

He didn’t hesitate this time. “I’m in love with you.” Peter didn’t know what to expect, he never did when it came to you, but there was a part of him that thought maybe, just maybe you felt the same way. That same part of him hoped to see you jump into his arms, professing your love for him as well. Instead, you jumped up from the couch, shaking your head as you headed for the door. You only turned around to softly say, “I’m sorry,” before exiting the apartment and shattering Peter’s heart.

You ran out of the apartment and headed straight for the stairs, you mind going a mile a minute. You wanted to go back, to tell him you felt the same way, but all that came out of your mouth was a breathless mantra of “fuck, fuck, fuck.”

‘What am I doing? I love him. I should go back. I have to go back.’ You stopped for a moment, finally looking back now that you were out of the building. You considered going back just for a second, your worries creeping up on you almost immediately after, convincing you to walk away and go home before you did any more damage. That’s how you spent the next six days after that. Convincing yourself to see him, or at least talk to him, starting to make the first move, only to come marching back to your bed, or throwing your phone as far away from you as possible.

You laid in bed, engulfed in thick blankets, a piece of a kit-kat one hand and your phone in the other, your finger once again ghosting over the call sign next to his contact on your phone. Just one tap on the screen and things could be fixed, back to normal. ‘Or even better than normal.’ The thought popped into your head, filling your mind with cute scenarios. You and Peter dating, holding hands as you cuddled on the couch, both of you content in each other’s arms. It was so vivid, seeming so real you almost made the call right then and there. ‘Or he already changed his mind and doesn’t want you anymore.’ And just like that the lovely thoughts were gone and you immediately shut off your screen, tossing your phone to the other side of the bed. You couldn’t risk it, you wouldn’t. Peter meant everything to you. If you took a chance and it didn’t work out, then who would you have left? You didn’t even want to imagine not having Peter in your life. Less than a week without him, the longest you’d ever gone without speaking, and you felt so lost, like a piece of you was missing. It hadn’t occurred to you in the moment, only when you finally got home and all you wanted to do was call him, but when you walked out the door, you also ended up walking out of your friendship.

‘I need to see him. Maybe I can still fix this.’ You got up, feeling determined as you grabbed your phone and car keys. You were going to make things right.

You paused, catching sight of yourself in the mirror. You were fully dressed in your Perry the Platypus pajamas, your hair a total mess, and flip flops on your feet. “I can’t go like this,” you whispered to yourself. You shook your head, knowing Peter wouldn’t care and if you turned back you would chicken out and end up back in bed.

You took a deep breath, “Okay, I’m going.” You marched straight to the door, confidence bursting through you. You immediately stopped in your tracks once again, coming face to face with a wide eyed Peter. There were bags under his eyes, his lips all broken up from biting them too much, something you knew he did when he was nervous. You didn’t think it could, but your heart broke even more.

He looked down at your hands, noticing the car keys. “Where you heading somewhere?”

“I, um,” you could barely speak, not believing he was actually here, “No. I wasn’t.” You stepped back, telling him to come inside.

He hesitated, looking at you with sad eyes. “We’ve never done this long-“

“I know.”

He looked away, tears in eyes, “I miss you.”

You could feel yourself choking up, hating to see him in pain. “I miss you too, Pete.”

He walks in, still a little hesitant with his movements. It hurt you to see him acting as if he was out if place. He looked around, his eyes resting on you after a moment and gives you a sad smile. “Look, I’m sorry if I came on too strong and freaked you out. Just forget what I said, okay? I want things to go back to normal.”

You didn’t say anything, processing his words. You almost agreed with him, telling him you wanted normal again too, but you didn’t. You couldn’t, not after everything. “I don’t want to forget,” you didn’t meet his eyes, deciding to focus on fiddling with the string on your pants instead, fear coursing through your veins, “I love you, Peter.”

He frowned, taking a couple of steps away from you. “Y/n, please stop. Don’t pretend to feel something just because you feel bad for me.”

“I’m not pretending, I swear.” You sigh, wondering how you could possibly explain it to him. “Loving you is like,” you paused, trying to catch your thoughts. “It’s like skydiving, ya know? I’m standing on the edge of the airplane, ready to fall. But, Peter, when I look at you everything stops. Suddenly it’s just you and me and instead of falling, I’m flying.” He stares at you for a while, not saying a word and you’re sure doesn’t believe you. You’re seconds away from telling him to forget the whole thing when he comes up to you, grabbing your face gently and pulls you in for a kiss. Your eyes widen in shock as you kiss him back, wrapping your arms around him.

He pulls away, moving his hands to your waist to pull you closer, barely believing this was all real. “You really love me?”

You give him a gentle squeeze, nodding as you snuggle into his chest. “More than anything.”

In that moment, totally wrapped in Peter’s arms, you were soaring.

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Review: THE KING OF STATEN ISLAND gives Pete Davidson a better canvas on which to paint

When we look back at the 2020 movies that got the worst deal from all that happened with the COVID pandemic, Judd Apatow and Pete Davidson’s collaborative comedy, The King of Staten Island, will surely be among the ones that didn’t deserve how badly they ended up being dumped.

As you’ll read in the following review, it isn’t one of Apatow’s stronger efforts, but it was a genius move to set it to open the SXSW Film Festival, one of the pandemic’s earliest cancellations. The movie was also set to play Tribeca, which was also quickly cancelled. It’s a shame since much of the appeal of Apatow’s best comedies come from watching them with a crowd. Frankly, I think his movie This is 40 didn’t get nearly as much favor as it should have since so many critics watched the movie on an awards screener, conveniently sent out earlier in its month of release and before any press screenings.

The King of Staten Island is loosely based on Davidson’s own life. His character, Scott Carlin, lost his fireman father when he was really young, and when he’s not hanging with his stoner-slacker pals, Scott’s dream is to be a tattoo artist. He’s still living with his widowed mother (Marisa Tomei) and younger sister Claire (Maude Apatow), who is about to head off to college. After an unfortunate incident, Scott’s exploits get the attention of Ray Bishop (Bill Burr), a fireman who starts wooing Scott’s mother, which just makes Scott’s home life progressively worse.

That’s the basic premise for another Judd Apatow production that could have been perfect with tighter and more judicial editing. It’s also a film that takes its own sweet time to get to a point where it might be considered a worthwhile or enjoyable story worth telling. As much as I enjoyed the early stuff between Davidson and Bel Powley as Scott’s girlfriend Kelsey, but there just isn’t enough focus on that part of the story to maintain one’s interest. The same can be said for Scott’s relationship with his sister, which serves little purpose except to show how much different Scott can turned out if he was a little less… um… Scott.

First and foremost, The King of Staten Island is meant as a showcase for Davidson to show off his talents as a writer and actor that may not be so evident from the five-minute bits he did on “Saturday Night Live,” and if you paid attention to his monologues then you’ll already know some of the most autobiographical parts – losing his fireman father during 9/11 when he was just 7 and the fact that he still lives on Staten Island with his mother.

Somewhat disappointingly is how long it takes The King of Staten Island to sell its co-writer main star as a character that we might want to learn more about.  One can easily draw parallels between Davidson and Apatow’s earlier leading men, Seth Rogen, Davidson is no Rogen, definitely not as an actor but also not as immediately likeable either. Davidson’s Scott has so much in common with Rogen’s character in Apatow’s Knocked Up, a stoner completely oblivious to anyone’s needs or concerns other than his own. Like Rogen’s character, Scott is surrounded by a motley crew of friends geared to get laughs while making Scott look infinitely better.

Oddly, it’s not Davidson or those friends who drive the first few acts, but it’s the women in Scott’s life, as Apatow is unable to resist his urge to instill the rom-com elements found in much of his oeuvre.  Marisa Tomei is particularly great playing yet another big-time MILF role, giving more depth to her character than migh have been in Davidson’s original portrayal of the character. The other women in the film, particularly Powley and Maude Apatow, are also very good, Apatow’s daughter being handed one of her better roles and showing she’s her mother’s daughter by delivering a performance on par with some of Leslie Mann’s better ones. There are also a few decent smaller roles like Kevin Corrigan, although it’s a little worrying how little Steve Buscemi appears in the first half of the movie considering how much we see of him in the trailer.

Another big issue I had with Davidson and Apatow’s film is that it almost guarantees that few people will ever want to venture on the ferry over to Staten Island. Davidson does not paint his home territory in a pretty light, considering how much yelling and inanity seems to be the norm there. Many of the earlier ideas in the film go on for too long and characters like Scott’s sister and girlfriend are quickly forgotten once it becomes more about Scott’s feud with Ray. The latter also leads to Scott taking Ray’s kids to school and bonding with Ray’s ex.

The last act is when the movie gets infinitely better, moving into the firehouse with Scott being able to learn more about his father. This is also when we get to see more of Steve Buscemi, who has barely been in the movie up until that point. This is also when the movie begins to achieve something closer to Trainwreck, getting more sentimental and touchy-feely, also de rigueur for an Apatow comedy.

As much as there’s a real danger of The King of Staten Island being considered lesser Apatow ala Funny People or This is Forty, the myriad and often disparate ideas and subplots eventually do come together for a solid conclusion.

Rating: 7.5/10

Hi dear amazing writer Could you do an established starker where peter sees tony kissing some man on a newspaper and confronts him please ? With a happy ending and no daddy kink if you can. Have a lovely day :)

I’m sorry this took so long, but I still hope you like it! Also, I changed man to woman, simply for the fact that it would be more painful for Peter. Hope you don’t mind!

Words: ~ 1,6k

Peter isn’t the jealous type, even though being with Tony Stark should probably make him cautious. Tony loves him, after all, they’ve been together for over a year. He can trust him, there is nothing he needs to worry about, despite the countless of people - women and men alike - flirting with his boyfriend. Over the last year, Peter became a little more self confident and he never had any reason to doubt Tony’s loyalty at all.

Until he opens the newspaper one morning and is greeted with a picture of Tony. Of Tony kissing someone who is certainly not him. Tony is gone for most of the day, which leaves Peter alone and brooding over what he stumbled across. Of course Tony’s phone is turned off, but he doesn’t want to talk about this on the phone, this is too important, too personal.

It’s a bad day overall. Whenever Peter tries to distract himself he sees this cursed picture again, sees Tony’s lips pressed against those of a woman he doesn’t know. He tries to ignore the awful pit in his stomach and the bitter taste in his mouth, tries to tell himself there’s got to be a reason for this, that it’s not what it looks like. It doesn’t work. Just knowing this happened hurts on such a deep level that Peter can barely stomach it.

When Tony finally comes home, Peter’s nerves are blank and he spent over an hour crying, to which his boyfriend is completely oblivious when he wraps an arm around his waist and kisses his cheek in greeting. Peter doesn’t kiss back. He always does, but tonight he can’t.

“How was your day?” he asks instead, his voice monotone and quiet, almost shy. Like it was almost a year ago, when all of this started.

“A complete nightmare,” Tony sighs and pulls back, not even addressing the unusual behavior of his boyfriend in any way as he strips out of his jacket and throws it over the chair. “Too many idiots thinking they know better than me. Glad it’s finally over.” He drops onto the couch and throws his head back, closing his eyes.

“That’s… nice,” Peter mumbles, turning away from Tony. His chest hurts, something he’s been struggling with for most of the day and that he now can’t ignore anymore. The newspaper still lays on the dining table right in front of him, he couldn’t put it away yet. Now, he puts a hand onto it, trying to somehow calm himself down.

“I really just want to sleep, wonder why I even bother with investors anymore.”

“Is that what you did yesterday too?” Peter asks, his voice thick from emotions. Last night Tony came home so late, he had already been asleep. Not knowing what he would wake up to. Not knowing the first thing he would see would be his boyfriend kissing someone else. “Did you try to find new investors at this event you attended?”

“Of course not,” Tony sighs as he kicks off his shoes. “I told you, I had to go there to please some people I hate. I would have rather stayed at home.”

Peter swallows and grabs the newspaper between his fingers. This all sounds like the laziest lie Tony could come up with, why can’t he just tell him the truth? Why is he doing such things behind his back, knowing full well what he’s doing to him?

“So, kissing random women is considered pleasing some people now, is it?” he asks and turns around, glaring at Tony.

“What are you talking about?”

Peter narrows his eyes and walks up to Tony, dropping the newspaper into his lap. “You tell me, Tony,” he says sharply, clenching his fists at his sides. “Is this what you’re doing when I’m not there? What else happened yesterday? What happened today? Tell me!”

Tony gulps and takes the newspaper with shaking hands, staring down at the picture of himself with wide eyes. His face goes pale when he looks back up.

“I can explain, Peter, I swear,” he says, but Peter isn’t having it. Not about something like this.

“How can you explain kissing someone else, tell me,” he hisses, both anger and hurt boiling in his chest. “Do you know how I felt seeing this today? Do you know how much it hurts knowing you’re lying to me like that? I thought I could trust you! I thought your word means something!”

“It’s not what it looks like, okay?” Tony quickly says and stands up, trying to grab Peter’s shoulder, but the other just pulls away.

“Oh, really?” Peter scoffs and gives him a glare. “I don’t know how kissing someone could be any different from how it looks!”

“Candy and I are friends, okay?”

“Candy?” Peter snaps and actually lets out a harsh laugh. “Are you kidding me? Candy? What kind of stripper name is that? If you’re trying to lie to me, at least try harder!”

“My God, Pete, this isn’t at all what you think it is, I swear!” Tony groans and runs a hand through his hair. “We met at the event, I didn’t know she would be there, okay? We talked and had a few drinks because it was boring as hell and before she left she gave me a kiss. That’s all there is to it. It’s just something she does, it doesn’t mean anything!”

“You really think I’m that stupid?” Peter asks and shakes his head, glaring at him. “Is that why you want to go to these events alone? So you can make out with other people without me noticing it?”

“Pete, I don’t -”

“Don’t fucking lie to me, Tony!” Peter is shouting now, his eyes filled with tears he can’t hold back anymore and everything just hurts. “Am I not good enough, is that it? Am I too much to handle? Am I too boring? What is it, tell me!”

“Nothing happened, Jesus Christ!” Tony snaps himself now, closing the distance between them and grabbing Peter’s wrist before he can walk away completely. “Candy has a girlfriend, okay? They are engaged! She’s just an old friend who kisses people goodbye, that’s all!”

Peter tries to free his hand, still angry and unable to believe Tony’s words. “And why are they calling you the lost lovers reunited? Why, if you aren’t more than just friends?”

“Because we had something going on five years ago or so,” Tony says and rolls his eyes. “Peter, all of this happened before we knew each other, okay? I don’t want her anymore, she’s just a friend. I’m not fucking around behind your back if you think that’s the case!”

Peter sniffs and wipes his eyes with his free hand, his struggle to get his hands free becoming less urgent. “Did you… did you like it?” he asks, without looking up. He just has to know, even if it hurts him even more to just get the words out.

“Of course not,” Tony huffs and pulls Peter closer. “I don’t have any feelings for her anymore, I promise. It was like kissing Happy, just weird and… strange.”

“You kissed Happy?” Peter asks, raising a brow and finally looking up. At the absolute confused look on his face, Tony lets out a laugh.

“Thankfully not,” he says with a grin and pulls Peter into his arms. “But it would be the same, you know? She’s just a friend and besides, we talked a lot about you and me. She’s going to marry her girlfriend in a few months and invited us to the wedding. You and me.”

“R-Really?” Peter blinks surprised, not even realizing as his anger starts melting away. “You’re not just making this up so I stop being mad at you for kissing her?”

“Darling, as soon as you meet her you’ll see that she’s just a sweet and nice friend and no one you need to worry about, I promise,” Tony says with a smile, cupping Peter’s face. “I would never want anyone else but you, I told you that. And if you feel better about it, I’ll happily take you with me to those events in the future. They are boring like nothing else, though, just so you know.”

“Maybe they’re not that boring if we go together,” Peter says, cracking a weak smile as Tony wipes some stray tears off his cheeks. “And I can keep an eye on you.”

Tony rolls his eyes and leans down, kissing Peter’s nose. “You really think I could risk what we have for a random one night stand?”

“I don’t know, maybe?” Peter looks at him with big eyes. “You… you won’t, right?”

“I would never,” Tony promises, kissing his cheek gently. “You’re all I want, I’m sorry for letting this happen and not explain to you. I didn’t know someone took a picture of us, I really didn’t think much about it because it’s just normal for her.”

“It’s alright, I… I overreacted, I think,” Peter sighs and shakes his head the best he can. “I’m sorry for snapping at you like that…”

“Don’t worry,” Tony smiles, caressing Peter’s cheeks. “It’s very flattering to see you become jealous like that, actually. At least I know you still want me.”

“I always want you,” Peter admits, blushing slightly. “I don’t want to lose you…”

“I don’t want to lose you either, darling,” Tony says and suddenly wraps his arms around Peter’s waist, picking him up. He takes the few steps towards the couch backwards and drops down, ending with Peter in his lap. “Just tell me if something upsets you, okay? I hate arguing with you or fighting so much.”

“I will, I promise,” Peter nods and leans against Tony, wrapping his own arms around him. “I love you, Tony…”

“I love you too, Peter.“