Randomly remembered all those times someone on a forum or wherever would ask, like, "if your comic was ever turned into a movie or a tv-show, what would you want it to be like", and I was always spewing something about obvious answers like Fortiche or whatever

BUT ACTUALLY. That's wrong.

The correct answer is that I would want it to be filmed as one of those film-student-project fan movies. Where no one has any money and their camera isn't stabilized and the 'sets' are all local buildings but everyone is very committed to making it work with what they have. And all the actors are friends or classmates or someone's parents and therefore look especially real and human.

Pride Day

(Kyalin)

Lin stood at the head of the department, the eyes of her subordinates on her.

“It won’t be that hard, if a fight breaks out you stop it. Don’t draw too much attention, this is supposed to be a fun event.” She told them, hiding her excitement. When Kya had first mentioned that she wanted to throw one of these she had put in a word to Zhu-Li who greatfully agreed to hear the waterbender out. Lin smiled when she thought of Kya’s face tangos morning, how it lit up with the sunrise and she realized she was finally going to get her day. Lin wasn’t going to let backward thinkers ruin.

“You got it chief, play it cool,” Mako replied, putting on a pair of sunglasses. She scoffed, unamused.

“Well what are you waiting for? Get out there it starts in 30 minutes.” The officers scurried out of their desks and out the door.

“So Kya threw this whole thing huh?” Mako said coming up to her.

“I believe so.”

“You must be proud of her.” Lin glared at him. Mako was a great detective, he had managed to find out about their relationship before anyone else, much to Lin’s dismay.

“Not as proud as she is of herself.” Lin replied.

“Feel free to have fun out there today Chief, me and the guys can handle this.” Her glare intensified and Mako left the precinct with a nervous smile on his face, running into the door on his way out. Lin grunted at his clumsiness before returning to her office to get her things. She was surprised to see a small envelope on her desk, certainly in wasn’t there this morning? She opened it, sliding her fingers under the flap. Inside was note and a small pin of a rainbow flag. She blushed as she unfolded the paper, smiling at the words written in large black ink.

Because I’m so damn Proud of my Chief

She took the pin in her fingers, wondering if it was wise to wear it. She wanted to, she really wanted too but it would announce something to the world she wasn’t sure she was ready to share. Before she could decide a horn blared out, that was the final call for the parade. She grabbed what she needed to and headed for the door.

The parade started near the library and Lin was able to make it in just a few minutes by swinging on her cables, the pin still pressed in her hand. When she landed on the ground she marvelled at the sight. Large rainbow floats covered in streamers, people holding each other close and smiling. She didn’t notice her own smile until she was tapped on the shoulder and brought out of her daze.

“You made it. I was a little worried when Mako showed up without you.” Kya grinned. Lin smiled in return, and after making sure she was out of sight of her officers she allowed Kya to kiss her.

“I got your note,” Lin said when they separated.

“And?” Lin opened her palm, revealing the pin still resting on her hand. “Do you want to put it on?” Kya asked. Lin nodded and Kya took the pin from her, in lapsing it from the back. She put it on Lin’s shoulder, opposite of her badge. Kya smiled and kissed Lin one more time. “I love you,” the waterbender said before walking away.

“I love you too,” Lin replied before she was out of earshot. She looked down at the pin and blushed briefly. When she heard her name get called she stood up straight and released a breath, a trick Kya had taught her when trying to relax.

“We’re ready to go,” President Moon said, pushing her glasses up. “Are your guys ready?” Lin looked around at her scattered officers, some were standing in tight circles with each other while others were roaming around talking to the paraders.

“I think so,” Lin said. She used a cable to grab onto a nearby building so she could go to her post at the back of the parade.

“You don’t want to supervise upfront?” Zhu-Li asked. Lin smiled and shook her head.

“I’m a cop first. You hired me for this job and I fully intend to do it.” Zhu Li shrugged and without another word Lin snapped her cable closed and flung herself to the back of the line.

“I don’t know what I expected, but it was not this big of a turn out!!” Mako shouted over the noise of the parade. Lin smiled, she couldn’t take her eyes off of the gathered crowd that cheered and danced. “Lin it looks like you have an admirer.” Lin looked at him sharply.

“Don’t call me that.”

“That’s your name.”

“We’re at work.”

“Fine whatever you say. Three o’clock. Here she comes.” Before Lin could reply an older woman with long straigtt hit black hair, dark brown eyes and a very flattering dress came up to her.

“Chief Beifong, I didn’t know this was your crowd,” she said with a wink.

“It’s not,” Lin replied.

“Really? The pin on you’re shoulder says otherwise.” Lin blushed, how was she supposed to deny it now. She loved Kya, but damn was she good at getting Lin into trouble.

“I’m on duty, it’s just a formality.”

“Yeah then why isn’t boy band here wearing one?” Mako who was taken a back crossed his arms.

“Because I don’t have a girlfriend to give me one,” He muttered just loud enough that the Fire Nation woman could hear.

“Mako!” Lin hissed, causing him to shrink away in the crowd.

“Girlfriend? Well in the case I’ll let you be. The name Nia Lee incase you’re over... looking for some shopping.” Now left with a wink before walking ahead to the next parader. Lin sighed and looked around for Mako, who had evidently disappeared into the crowd. Lin started to make her way forward, after the interaction she would feel better if she was closer to Kya. And truthfully she wanted to see Kya illuminated like she was this morning, to see the excitement in her eyes that had melted Lin just hours ago. It wasn’t long before Lin was approached by another girl, this one of upper Earth Nation decent with short spiked hair that Lin found... interesting.

“Well I have definitely had this dream before,” the girl said crossing her arms. She was taller than Lin and was even more muscular, Lin placed her at about 40, give or take.

“Excuse me?” Lin asked.

“Chief Beifong you never cease to amaze me.”

“I haven’t even done anything.”

“Nothing you can see,” the girl smirked. Lin began to internally panic, she hadn’t anticipated getting this type of attention. She knew it was a bad idea to wear the pin but she wanted to.. for Kya.

“I’m taken,” Lin said sternly, and to her own surprise.

“Well darn, never ends this way in my dreams.” What am I supposed to say to that? Lin thought to herself.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you.” She eventually replied.

“I bet you are,” the girl said, walking away. Lin shook her head in attempt to clear her mind. Just get to Kya.

She kept her head down as she made her way through, ignoring the summons of various interested parties. She didn’t know what she would do if she wasn’t with Kya, would she had taken one of her suitors up on their offer? Finally Kya’s float came into view, Asami had not disappointed. It was the largest by a long shot. A rainbow balloon arch stretched into the sky framing Korra and Asami, and in front of them on a lower podium stood Kya who waved to the crowd, smiling and showing off water bending skills. Lin watched Korra pick up Asami in a kiss and swing her around, genuine joy on both their faces. Lin hadn’t noticed she stopped until Kya caught her eye, looking at Lin with a soft smile. Lin gave her a small wave and Kya gestured for her to come up. Lin shook her head and Kya put her hands on her hips, giving Lin a look that was her last ditch attempt. Lin shook her head again and Kya shrugged, running up to Korra and Asami who were pulling some of the walking Paraders on the float. Lin look forward to the skyscraper up ahead. Kya wanted her to go up the float with her, and it would be nice certainly to be out of the crowd but it was risky. Finally she sighed, and ducked out of the parade into the side crowd.

Kya helped Asami pull a man onto the float, who then in turn helped others up by earths bending them into the air and catching them, kissing his boyfriend when he landed in his arms. She smiled and looked ahead of her, the end was nearing but Kya wasn’t quite ready for it to be over. She looked over to Korra who smiled nervously at Asami who had her arms crossed at Korra’s entourage.

“I owe you guys a thank you,” Kya said coming up behind Asami. “This... this is because of you guys.”

“What do you mean?” Asami asked, “you threw the parade.”

“Yeah but you and Korra being together... it really changed the world. Opened their eyes. It gave me my own confidence.” Asami pulled Kya into a hug and grinned.

“I’m going to call you Aunt Kya now,”

“Might as well, Korra already does,” Kya laughed pulling away. Asami’s look went from glee to fear, and when Kya turned to see what had her scared she was picked up and pulled into the air. She pulled water off of a street puddle and turned into ice, rearing to see who her attacker was. Lin. It was Lin. Lin let her cable go and they landed on the front of the float, Kya’s icicle still in the air.

“What was that?” Kya asked, winded. Lin just smiled and took Kya’s face in her palm, placing the other on her waist. Kya smiled and before she knew it Lin had leaned forward, pushing her mouth against Kya’s and kissing her with an unfamiliar passion. “Lin!” She laughed when Lin pulled away, breathing heavily.

“I love you. And also I need these people to know I’m taken.” Kya smiled and Kissed Lin again, allowing the metal bender to pick her up and swing her in a circle. When Lin set her down Kya took her hand, ignoring the looks of shock from Korra and Asami, she would talk to them later. This was good, right here. She turned to Lin and adjusted the Pin the police chief was wearing.

“You left your post,” Kya smirked.

“Yeah well, Mako can handle it.”

“Are you sure about that?” Kya asked, looking to the ground next to them where a very dressed up Prince Wu presented Mako with a white flower.

“Huh,” Lin said, “I would never had guessed.” Kya laughed and kissed Lin on the cheek, smiling at how the earth bender blushed. She held onto Lin’s arm and looked ahead of her at the end of the parade. She hadn’t been ready for it to be over, but now all she wanted to do was go home and curl up in her girlfriends arms. She looked up at Lin who stared straight forward, her expression blank except for the small smile that tugged at the edge of her lips.

“Okay!” Alex bellows and claps her hands together, “Next game! You gotta partner up!”

Nia scoots in close around the coffee table and pushes into Brainy’s side, while Kelly settles down on the arm of the chair that Alex is sitting in and cards a hand through her hair.

“I’m with Lena!” Sam claims across the room from the kitchen and runs over with two precariously balanced glasses of wine in one hand, plopping down next to Lena on the couch.

Kara, hunched over in front of the fridge, stands up quickly and lets out an indignant scoff, “That’s not fair! Lena is my partner by default. House rules.” Kara closes the door and jams her finger into the scoreboard stuck the front of the fridge. “See!”

“She’s my best friend!” Kara and Sam say in unison, and Alex swears she can see her sister’s eyes pulse with a burst of hot anger and sinks down into her chair a little further.

“I am the property of no man.” Lena counters, which causes an elbow to jab her in the side from a smirking Sam.

“Ain’t that the truth,” Sam says conspiratorially under her breath, and Lena snorts into her wine glass as she brings it to her lips.

Kara’s brow crinkles as she makes her way over to group and takes a spot on the floor across from the couch, “Fine, I guess I’m the game master.”

Kelly glances down at Alex, who gives a small grimace as she reaches into her pocket and removes her phone, “Uh, okay. So I-..”

“Not going as planned?” Kelly dips her head and whispers into her girlfriend's ear.

“Nope,” Alex reponds under her breath with a pop.

Nia clears her throat and gives Alex a pointed look from across the room and motioning with her eyes discreetly towards the couch.

Alex opens her mouth to speak, but realizes she is taking too long and juts her hand with her phone out to Kara, “You gotta read the questions and keep score.”

Kara eyes her sister suspiciously and she plucks the phone from her hand. She scrolls through the screen for a few seconds before glancing up and looking around the room.

“Really?” Kara deadpans.

Alex tries her best to hide her pained expression, so she picks up her beer bottle and presses it to her lips and tilts her head back with an emphatic thumbs up.

This is going to be a disaster.

Kara rolls her eyes and places the phone down on the table and picks up a pen and paper to keep score, “Okay, so, you gotta guess the answers based on what you know about your partner.”

“Like the Newlywed game?” Nia asks, perking up.

Brainy tilts his head, taking in his girlfriends information, “Yes. Exactly like the Newlywed game, we discussed this earli-.. OOF! ” He is effectively silenced by a sharp elbow in his side. Brainy clears his throat and forces a smile, “continue” he whines through a breath and raises his hand weakly, relinquishing the floor back to Kara.

“What is the Newlywed game?” Lena asks, arching a quizzical eyebrow.

Sam waves her off, “Don’t mind her. She has never had a stay-home-from-school-sick day and watched daytime tv.”

Lena scoffs and presses hand to her chest in offense, “I would never watch daytime tv.”

Sam turns her hands over in a so-there gesture, “See.”

Kara smiles softly, because of course Lena doesn’t watch daytime tv. Though, she does remember the one time she had to convince a hungover and couch-bound Lena not to order Lifelock  just because “Jane Rizzoli said so.” Lena had relented only after Kara made her a mimosa to nurse her headache and sang “Take my identity as a Luthor, take all my money too, for I can’t help falling in lo-..” until Lena’s bright laughter had cut her off and filled the room.

“Hey,” Alex leans forward, snapping her fingers in front of her sister's face, “ground control to Major dork. Let’s go!”

Kara shakes her head, loosening the memory from her thoughts, but a floating warmth remains in the center of her chest. She adjusts her glasses and smiles in Lena’s direction, who has a single finger pressed against her lips and a curious look.

“Wha-.. oh, yeah, right. So, I ask a question, and both of you come up with an answer. If the answers match, you get a point.”

Everyone nods agreeably, and Kara lifts her glass, and takes a long pull of the amber, alien liquid inside, “First question, what is your partner’s favorite movie?”

Alex and Kelly raise their hands in unison, “Terminator 2!”

Alex pumps her fist and gives her girlfriend a high-five, “Yes! And yours is....” Alex snaps her fingers, hoping that perhaps it will jumpstart her brain, “honestly, anything black and white. She’s a sucker for classics.”

Kelly nods and presses a quick kiss to the crown of Alex’s head.

Brainy’s favorite is ‘any movie with Keanu Reeves’, which causes a ten minute reprieve of the game as he launches into nearly a film-thesis-length speech about the transgender allegory of The Matrix until Nia clasps her hand over his mouth.

“Babe, I love that you know that, but just answer the question.” she says.

“Ah, yes. Nia Nal’s favorite movie is the Harry Potter series. She is a Gryffindor and her Patronus is a dapple grey stallion.”

Kara tallies two points each under their score column, and taps her pen against the table with growing impatience as Sam stares intently at Lena.

“God, you had the VHS box set in college. I can picture it on your shelf.. fuck, I can’t remember it!” Sam throws her hands up in frustration.

“Titanic.” Kara says under her breath to no one, and averts her gaze down the point sheet in front her, because how could Sam not know that? Best friend, her alien ass.

“Yours was that obscure French one, Jeux d’enfant,” Lena laughs, “God, how many times did you watch that? I swear you just wanted to impress that French exchange girl. What was her name?”

Sam lets go of a breath, “Esmée.” she says, dreamily, “I could be living in the French countryside right now as a vineyard wife.”

Lena gives Sam a playful swat against the arm, “What’s yours, Kara?” Sam asks between playful attacks and fits of laughter from her friend.

“Working Girl,” Kara and Lena say in unison, and Lena’s laughter dies down, “she always cries at the end.” she says, punctuating with a wink at Kara.

“All of the hair in that movie is just so horrifically 80’s. It would make anyone cry.” Kara counters as she marks down a one under Lena and Sam score column.

The game continues, and Alex and Kelly are so finely tuned that Kara reminds herself to tell her sister to wife Kelly quickly, because she has already started a mental catalogue of what she is going to need for their wedding.

“Favorite TV show?”

“Game of Thrones!”, “Greys Anatomy!”

“Worst handwriting?”

“Alex. She writes like she finished medical school.”

Brainy and Nia seem to find a rhythm, even if Brainy keeps going on tangents about each of his answers.

“Her favorite musical artist is Taylor Swift, but not 1989 era Taylor. She considers that album too popsugar polished, especially since it is widely believed that she played up her so-called ‘beef’ with fellow singer, Katy Perry.”

Kara’s scoring has started on a sideways slant, because every time she ends up on Sam and Lena, she finds herself drinking more and tempering down her annoyance at Sam who can’t seem answer one fucking question right.

Kara instead has started a running tally in the corner of the score sheet, checking off each answer as she mentally screams.

Lena’s favorite junk food? Big belly burger. Check . Silliest pet peeve? Lena hates fliers and leaflets because “They are a waste of our time and trees, Kara. Honestly, if one more follower of Rao tries to shove one in my hand, I’m going to shove a redwood tree up his ass.” Check.

Lena’s favorite color is purple. Check. Lena hates salmon. Check. Lena doesn’t like tequila, but if she is buzzed enough will take a shot of it, but only with lick of salt and a lime as a chaser. Check. Lena hates her brother. Triple Check. Lena takes her coffee black. Check. And Lena always looks like she stepped out of a noir film with a dark shade of red on her lips that Kara is sure, ‘so sure’, would not smudge if she was kissed. Check (tbd).

Kara is throwing her head back, finishing off the liquid in her glass, burning and hot in the back of her throat when Sam answers ‘Maleficent’ for what Disney character Lena would be.

“Oh my god,” Kara shakes her head, “how are you so bad at this?”

Sam seems taken aback and looks between Lena and Kara, “Excuse me?”

“This.” Kara gestures towards Lena and then drunk and loose over the scribbled score sheet in front of her, “You haven’t gotten one answer right. Lena is carrying your team. You,” Kara sits up straight, trying to center herself but sways as she points an accusatory finger in Sam’s direction, “suck.”

Sam looks around the room. Kelly and Nia are both suddenly very interested in their phones, while Alex’s eyes have grown wide, wondering briefly if her sister is going to rear up off the floor and throttle their friend. Lena is staring at Kara with a bewildered look from over the rim of her wine glass while Brainy’s searching eyes move across the room from each person, trying to form the proper reaction to this level of intensiveness.

“Relax, Danvers. It’s just a game.” Sam scoffs as she leans forward to pick up her wine glass from the table.

“No!” Kara shouts a little too loudly, and brings her hand down on the table, splintering a corner and nearly rattling the drinks off of it, “No.”

“Kara,” Kelly leans forward, and with her best therapist voice, tries to defuse the situation, “perhaps we should just take a break from the game, and get some wate-..”

“No. Anyone with eyes knows that Lena is Moana. She would cross oceans and fight Gods and do whatever it took to do the right thing.” Kara says resolutely towards Kelly, and then turns back to Sam, “Lena is Moana. She is a Queen and she is good, and she isn’t fucking ‘Maleficent’!” Kara punctuates with air quotes.

Sam’s eyes grow wide, and she settles a steely glare on Kara, “Fine. You wanna do this?”

“You’re damn right I do.” Kara bites back, pushing her sleeves up her arms, “Lets go.”

“Well, fuck me I guess.” Kelly mutters under her breath as she sits back, defeated. Alex cautiously leans forward, and takes her phone from in front of her sister.

Brainy narrows his eyes and glances between Kara and Sam, “Am I to believe they are fighting for Lena’s honor?”

Nia waves a hand frantically in Brainy's face, “Just.. shush.” she says squeezing her eyes shut, “Shhh.”

Sam finishes the last of the wine in her glass, and juts out her arm in Lena’s direction, a silent demand for a refill. Lena rears back and plucks the wine glass out of her friends hand at the stem, “Oh kay, then.” and cautiously moves from the couch towards the kitchen.

Kara and Sam’s eyes never leave the others as Lena scoots past.

Alex clears her throat and lets a silent prayer float up into the rafters of her sisters loft that Kara has home insurance in the event Sam ends up dangling over the fire escape.

“Describe your partner in one word.” Alex says, and glances up from her phone.

“Bitch.”

“Good.”

Kara nearly digs her fingers into the hardwood floor beneath her.

“How are we gonna keep score?” Nia whispers over the table to Alex.

Alex grits her teeth at the realization and shoots the woman in the kitchen a sympathetic look, mouthing “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no.” Lena shakes her head, “No.” she says, pointedly.

Brainy perks up, “So Lena must determine the answer, and then deem one worthy of her affections.”

Nia smacks him in the chest.

A pair of bright blue and honeyed eyes look towards Lena, who is gaping in the kitchen with one quaking hand holding a scotch tumbler and a wine bottle in the other.

“You must decree it so, Lena. Who gets the point?” Brainy bellows enthusiastically, and then flips a single kernel of popcorn into his mouth with a smile.

“Where the hell did you get popcorn?” Nia asks, dumbfounded.

“Inconsequential!” Brainy declares, shoveling a fistful into his mouth.

Lena swallows hard, and dips her head towards the living room, “Kara.”

“HA!” Kara barks, and raises her hand, which is promptly high-fived by Brainy.

Sam cranes her neck side to side and shakes out her arms, “Again.”

Alex glances up at Kelly, “Is this how I die?”

Kelly gives a noncommittal shrug, and leans over her girlfriend's shoulder, scrolling through the questions on her phone, “What is your partner’s worst habit?”

“Biting her nails when she is nervous.” Sam says, glancing at Lena as she sits, who promptly pulls her thumb away from her mouth.

“Running on three hours of sleep and thinking of a large, black coffee as a meal.” Kara counters.

All eyes land on Lena, leaving her drumming heart echoing in her ears and the steady crunchcrunchcrunch of popcorn filling the room, “Nails. It is horribly unsanitary.” she says with a wince.

Kara curses in Kryptonian under her breath, and Sam sits back on the couch, arms crossed with a smug smile plastered across her face.

Nia raises up on her knees, and reaches across the table, quickly snatching the phone from Alex’s hand, “My turn!” she declares and scrolls for a few moments, “Ideal vacation?”

“Beach, getting her cute, pale ass burnt in the sun with a margarita in her hand.” Sam waggles her eyebrows, and nudges Lena with her elbow.

Lena sways and keeps her eyes set on a single thing; the door, her only escape from this current hell on earth.

“Swiss alps. Skiing and just relaxing in the lodge,” Kara answers with a smile that shifts with a distant look, “bundled in some cozy sweater, hands curled around a cup of Irish coffee. She’d probably read a book and enjoy the quiet of the falling snow. She’d doze off on the couch by the fire, and she’d look so at peace and warm that you wouldn’t want to move her, but you know she’d complain in the morning about the knots in her neck, an-..”

“Okay,” Sam raises her hand, “we get it. You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”

Lena turns her head and looks at Kara, who gives her a soft smile, one that she returns.

“Oh, you gotta give Kara that one.” Kelly says, propping her head up in her hand, nearly swooning.

Alex takes in her girlfriend’s dreamy reaction and looks around cluelessly, “I’ve lost her.”

“Whatever,” Sam rolls her eyes, “you’ve clearly never seen her in a bikini.”

“Oh, snap!” Brainy bounces in his spot.

Nia places a calming hand on his shoulder, “Not the right time, babe.”

“Yeah,” Lena concedes with a sheepish smile that she masks behind the tumbler at her lips, “you get that one.”

Kara straightens and gives a quick nod and bright smile towards Lena, who gives a subtle wink.

Brainy flips up fingers on his hand, “So, that makes two for Kara and one for Sam. At what score does Lena determine the winner?”

“Best of five?” Nia offers, and Lena tips her glass towards her friend, “Five is good.”

Nia hands the phone back to Alex, who smiles as she lands on the next question, “Who is your partner's hero?”

Lena nearly spit-takes her scotch, but instead dribbles it down her chin and shirt.

“Well, it sure as hell wasn't Reign, that’s for sure.” Sam mutters under her breath. Lena gives her friend a sympathetic smile, and a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Oh, I’ve got this,” Kara says, pushing up on her knees so she is nearly level with Lena on the couch. She clears her throat, and pulls back her hair into a tight ponytail, “Supergirl may have saved me, but Kara Danvers,” she gives a sly smirk, donning her best Lena impression, “you are my hero.”

Lena pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and forces a tight smile, “Oh, so you can do me now? You think you’re so clever.”

“Oh my god,” Sam breaths out under breath, and looks over to Alex, “do they even hear themselves? Are they always this stupid?”

Alex closes her eyes and gives a pained nod, “ No, and always.”

Kara quirks an eyebrow and shuffles on her knees closer to the couch, “Am I wrong?” she asks, all the alcohol having burned out of her system. She is simply gloating for the sake of gloating at this point.

Plus she likes the flush that is creeping up Lena’s neck, and settling in her cheeks.

Nia leans over towards Brainy, “Now you can ‘ oh snap.’ ” she whispers.

Alex puts down her phone, “Sorry, Sam. It goes to Kara in the best of five.”

Brainy suddenly stiffens, “Wait,” he turns fully towards Nia, “this is not going according to our original plan.” he says, conspiratorially.

“Ya think?”

“Lena was supposed to partner with Kara, so that Kara would gradually be led into her feelings for Lena. Sam has co-opted this entire operation!” he hisses, “every scenario that I ran had Lena and Kara confessing their feelings to each other with 98.6% success rate, leading to their eventual coupling.”

“Does she always have that lovesick puppy thing going on with her face when she looks at you?” Sam says out of the side of her mouth.

“Samantha!” Lena admonishes.

“What?” Kara’s gaze shifts from Lena to the woman beside her, and a warm pulse flickers behind her eyes.

“Oh, chill with the theatrics. I already handed your ass to you once, I can do it again.” Sam says a little drunk and with far too much bravado.

A round ‘WOAH’s’ quickly moves throughout the loft. Kara is on her feet, along with Alex.

“I’m going to say it. Lena must know how Kara feels. Their future depends on it.” Brainy says resolutely, and stands, taking in a deep breath.

“Brainy, don’t!” Nia pleads, pulling on her boyfriend's arm, trying to reel in the control of a situation that has clearly lost it.

Kara takes a confrontational step forward and cocks her head to the side, “You need a flight back to Metropolis?” she says raising a fist, “Oh? You have a layover? Then I’ve got your connecting right here.” Kara mocks, raising her other fist.

“How about I dangle you over the fire escape and drop you off the side of a building again?” Sam sneers.

“HEY! WOAH!” Lena stands abruptly, positioning herself between the blonde and brunette, “We are all friends here. What is going on?!”

“She started it!” Sam and Kara say in unison, pointing an accusatory finger at the other.

“Lena! You must know that Kar-..” but Brainy is effectively silenced by his girlfriend’s hand clasping tightly around his mouth.

“Shut it.” Nia says curtly, and pulls Brainy back down the floor with her.

Sam closes her eyes for a moment and shakes her head, “It’s just a game. Why are you so bent out of shape about it?”

Kara scoffs, “Because you claim to be Lena’s best friend, and you don’t know a damn thing about her!”

“Defensive much?” Sam counters, and arches an eyebrow as her eyes flit to Lena, “I know more than you think.”

“Sam.” Alex warns, quietly.

Sam scoffs, and rolls her eyes, “Watch this.” she says, raising a finger, “I’m going to take care of this in less time than it took you dummies to set up this game night coup.”

An offended noise rumbles in the back of Alex’s throat, “Wh-..what are you talking about?”

Sam cranes her head back, “Ugh, you’re what? The director of a covert government agency? Kelly has a Phd in psychology, so she should really be better at this. Nia is...” Sam glances down to the woman on the floor.

“A journalist.” Nia finishes.

“A journalist, and Brainy is what, a twelfth generation Texas Instruments calculator?”

Brainy’s mouth falls open, and he lets out an offended, high pitched whine.

Sam turns her attention back to Kara, “You wanna be Lena’s partner?”

“More than anything.” Kara grinds out.

“Oh my god. Grant me the serenity.” Sam mumbles under her breath, “Lena, you have what? An IQ of 168?”

Lena straightens slightly, and tilts her head, “180, why?”

“Because you’re the dumbest genius I know.”

Lena’s mouth drops open, “I beg your pardon?”

“And Kara” Sam glances over Lena’s shoulder,  “I bet you learned calculus at seven.”

“Five.” Kara says, the anger draining from her tone.

“And you probably know all about quantum entanglement.” Sam says with a smirk, which causes Lena to turn around with a surprised look.

“You do?!” Lena asks, affronted.

“Pfft, of course she does. She just likes to hear all the words that come out of your dumb, pretty face.” Sam says with a tone that leaves no room for an argument, “Do you know how long I had to hear Lena go on and on about your stupid, cute, dumbfounded face after that conversation?”

“You think I’m stupid?” Kara asks dumbly.

“You think I’m pretty?” Lena says, giving a hopeful smile.

Sam cuts her eyes to Alex, who raises a hand, effectively cutting her off before she has the chance to ask the question, “Yes, it is like this all the time.”

Sam sighs, “Look, I’m going to ask you both rapid fire questions. You need to answer at the same time.”

“Why?” Lena asks, glancing over her shoulder.

“Because we ,” Sam gestures vaguely around the living room, “can no longer live like this. Just humor me, okay?”

“Fine.” Lena says sharply and turns her attention back to Kara, “Ready?”

Kara gives a resolute nod.

“Okay, great. Favorite color?” Sam starts.

“Navy blue!”

“Purple.”

Lena and Kara both smile at each other, and Kara gives her a playful poke in the shoulder, “Nice.”

“Favorite junk food?”

“Eliza’s chocolate pecan pie, but that is only rivaled by Noonan’s sticky buns.”

“Those little scones from Dublin.”

Lena’s eyes flutter shut for a moment, “God, those are good.”

Kara leans forward and winks, “I’ll make a trip soon.”

Brainy narrows his eyes, “This is actually quite clever. I did not take this into account during my scenarios.”

Kelly, Alex, and Nia nod in agreement and continue watching in rapt awe.

“Who is the little spoon?”

“Lena.”

“Me.”

Sam pinches her chin, and taps her index finger against her lips, studying the two women in front of her, “Anything clicking yet for you two?” When she is met with resounding silence, she continues, “No? Great. This isn’t painful to watch at all.”

“What song best describes the other?”

“Where You Are.”

“Glass Vase Cello Case”

Kelly throws up her hands, and Alex sinks down into her chair, nearly collapsing onto the floor, “Oh my god, from the movie?!” she groans.

“I didn’t know Kara was so emo.” Nia whispers towards Alex.

“We went to Warped Tour three years straight,” Alex says, pulling herself back up into her chair, “It was a whole phase.”

“It wasn’t a phase.” Kara says, keeping her gaze fixed on Lena and taking a tentative step forward.

Sam quirks an eyebrow and takes a step back, “Phew, it’s like a sexual tension black hole,” she glances over her shoulder at the audience behind her, “how do you guys deal with this?”

“You get used to it.” Nia says nonchalantly, throwing some popcorn into her mouth.

“Right, so last question,” Sam claps her hands together and rubs them together,  “are you two in love with each other?”

The collective gasp nearly sucks the remaining air that Lena and Kara haven’t already burned up out of the room.

“Yes.”

“Undoubtedly.”

“Great!” Sam chirps, “My work here is done.”

There are a few beats of silence, and Lena blinks hard, breaking the moment, and bringing Kara back to reality along with her.

Kara’s hands shoot up and clasp over her mouth tightly, skewing her glasses, eyes wide behind the sideways frames

Lena lets out a bubble in incredulous laughter and shakes her head in disbelief, “Oh.”

“Ho-..how did you do that?” Alex asks.

“Sometimes you just gotta light a fire under their asses.” Sam chuckles, and smacks Lena firmly on the backside, the impact sending her forward and into Kara, who catches her with steady hands on her hips as Lena’s arms wrap around her neck

Brainy is the first to stand and offers his hand to Nia, assisting her to her feet, “This is our cue to leave.”

“Mhmm.” Alex hums in agreement, swatting Kelly against the leg, “Let's get out of here.”

Sam scoots past the two intertwined women and gives a sly wink as she passes, “This was a fuckin’ blast. You two have a great night.”

“Oh, they will. There is a 100% probability they will be engaging in a copious amount of lovemaking tonight.” Brainy says, gathering his and Nia’s jackets from the coat rack by the door.

Alex’s face scrunches up, “Ew. Copious?”

“Nice.” Sam says, opening the front door.

Brainy waves his hand towards nothing in particular as he steps into the hallway, “It will be an entire thing in the future. Any available surface will be a target for their insatiable sexual appetite: work desks, kitchen counters, the bathroom stall at Al’s, Alex’s bed.”

Alex turns on her heels in the threshold of the door, “My bed, Kara?!” she shouts as Kelly pulls her back, and leans around Alex, closing the door and muffling her girlfriend's curses.

“I-..I haven’t done anything yet?” Kara says confused, looking back at Lena, who is barely containing her laughter.

“What’s so funny?”

Lena loosens a hand from around Kara’s neck, and waves in between them, laughing “It’s just... have we always been that clueless?”

Kara snorts out her laughter, “I mean... I guess so?” she says with a growing, bright smile.

“Well,” Lena says quietly, bringing her hand up and removing Kara’s glasses, “I’m glad we figured it out.”

Kara hums her agreement, and kneads her fingertips firmly into Lena’s hips, and walks them around her lower back, pulling her in closer, “So now what? I heard something about copious lovemaking ” she says in her best Brainy impression.

Lena tosses the glasses behind her, somewhere forgotten on the couch, and wraps her arms around Kara’s neck, absently twirling soft, blonde hair around her fingers, “How about,” she presses a soft kiss to Kara’s cheek, who turns her head in an attempt to capture Lena’s lips, “you explain quantum entanglement to me.”

Kara drops her head to Lena’s shoulder, and sways in their embrace, groaning her displeasure into the fabric of her shirt before lifting her head and flipping her hair dramatically away from her face with a pout.

“Alexa, play Warped Tours greatest hits.”

playin' games (with my heart)

ok, so. i wrote this for day 4 of buddie's first kiss week (which was on a dare). but the thing is: i hated it. the more i looked at it, the more i hated it. i don't know why. but it's friday night and i'm home alone in the middle of quarantine wishing i were, in fact, as drunk as most of these people are. this is not what i usually write, so i’m nervy, but here. have it anyway

title is from the bsb song w the same name. it doesn't have anything to do with the story but i hate having to figure out titles

3.5k words / truth or dare / read on ao3

-

The night is young, awfully so. Eddie doesn’t remember ever feeling this young, being this young.

Tonight, he is.

He’s got a drink in hand. He doesn’t know what it is, who put it there. But he’s got it, and he downs it in one fluid motion, enjoying the burn, and laughing to himself; it wasn’t even a shot.

He’s not entirely sure what brought them all here, if he’s being honest. Well, he knows. It was just dinner at Bobby and Athena’s, as they try to do at least once a month. What he means is: he’s not sure how they ended up having a party. It wasn’t supposed to be a party, if he remembers correctly. But suddenly, Harry was off to see his grandparents for the week, Denny had a sleepover and Karen’s mom wanted to have Nia for a little bit, Christopher begged to go to Pepa’s house where his cousins would be for the weekend. May has been in college for six months now, Maddie still has two months to go before the baby comes. It’s adults only.

It’s almost like they all forgot what that was supposed to feel like.

His vision is just a little bit blurry at the edges, his limbs loose in a way they haven’t been in a long time. He feels good, comfortable.

There’s some kind of pop music Eddie doesn’t know playing loudly, Athena, Bobby, Hen and Chimney are dancing in the middle of the living room, Maddie and Karen watching and laughing. Michael, his boyfriend, and Buck are in the middle of some intense conversation on the other side of the room.

Eddie loves them all.

The laughter that escapes his lips is directed at no one; there isn’t even anything funny happening, he’s just… feeling good. He hasn’t felt this good in a long time.

Buck sidles up to him, out of nowhere, offers him a beer. He takes it, nods his thanks.

“Whatcha laughing at?” He asks. “You look goofy.”

Eddie shrugs. “Don’t know, actually,” and that sets him off again.

“I think you’re drunk, buddy,” Buck says, but Eddie can tell he’s not that far behind. “‘M not judging!” Buck hurries to add. “Just pointing it out.”

They look at each other for a second, sipping their beers.

Buck’s cheeks are flushed, alcohol working hard against his white skin, making his eyes stand out. He’s beautiful. It’s not the first time the thought has crossed Eddie’s mind. It’s not the first time they’re drunk together, either, but Eddie always makes sure to stay in line, not let his thoughts wander. It’s a little harder when Buck has unbuttoned his black shirt and rolled up the sleeves, tight tank top under it, allowing Eddie to see the flush going down his neck and into his chest; his long legs in some tight pants that Eddie is pointedly not looking at. Eddie can feel Buck’s stare almost like a physical force pushing into his skin, and he has to look away for a second.

“Hey, yo!” Michael yells out, trying to be louder than the music. He fails at that, but succeeds at breaking the moment he was having with Buck, and Eddie’s thankful (and just a little sad about it). Michael still gets everyone’s attention even though the music is louder. “We should be playing party games.”

“Ooh, how ‘bout some truth or dare?” Athena suggests, and Eddie was not expecting that.

“If everyone promises no hard feelings, no matter what happens,” Bobby adds, always awfully reasonable.

“I suggest someone finds fun Bobby so we can play some party games!,” Buck yells back, and everyone cheers.

“Hey,” Eddie quips, “we’re all adults, huh? I’m sure we can work something out.”

“I’m extremely sober,” Maddie says, laughter in her voice, “and I promise you guys I’m gonna have so much fun!”

“As long as you’re happy, baby,” Chim says, and Eddie smiles, so big it hurts.

It feels good to let go, not to worry about Christopher, knowing he’s in good hands, and not to worry about Buck, because he can see him at all time. It feels good to watch his friends having fun, being reckless in a good way.

For the first time in a long, long while, Eddie feels no guilt. No guilt about having someone else taking care of Christopher, no guilt about having fun, being drunk, letting loose; no guilt about looking at Buck and thinking about how fucking hot he looks.

Buck has a tequila bottle in one hand, and a bunch of plastic shot glasses stacked in his other hand.

“Help me out here, Eddie, c’mon,” he says, handing Eddie the bottle, while he passes everyone the tiny cups. “Sorry, Maddie, you don’t get any. Sucks to be you.”

“Thanks, asshole, I’m pregnant.”

“Which is why you don’t get any!”

“Oh, I get plenty,” she says with a wink at Chim, teasing, and Buck scrunches up his face, yelling gross, Maddie!, and she laughs, throwing her head back, while Chim laughs on the other side of the room.

Eddie pours everyone a shot.

“Ok,” Buck says, “everyone ready? On three! One… Two… Three!”

They all drink, and in the end agree to play some Frankenstein’s monster of a game: truth or dare, choosing truth and refusing to answer means taking a shot; choosing dare and refusing to do it means taking two shots – Bobby declares he won’t be refusing anything, to which Athena replies: “Don’t worry, we’ll come up with something equally as humiliating for you”. Being an asshole means everyone can gang up on you. They’re all adults, all car keys have been confiscated. Nothing is off limits. Maddie gets to be the judge of everything.

“Playing sober while pregnant sucks, my friends,” she reasons and, well, she’s right.

They sit in a circle, because they’re mostly drunk and it’s fun. Athena, Bobby, Michael, his boyfriend, Chimney, Hen, Karen, Eddie and Buck.

Their knees are touching, and Eddie feel like a schoolboy, but he can’t concentrate on anything else besides that.

“Ok,” Maddie says. “Chimney’s starting because I’m the judge and I say so! Spin the bottle, baby!”

Chimney rubs his hands and spins. It lands on Hen.

“Henrietta, my love! Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

He smirks. “Who’s your best friend? Me or Athena?”

There’s a chorus of whoa going around, everyone laughing. Hen looks pained.

“No. No, I can’t, pass me that bottle,” she says, dejected, which only makes everyone laugh more.

Hen spins, then, and it lands on Michael.

“Dare,” he says, before she can even ask.

Hen smirks.

“I want you to give Bobby a kiss.”

Buck chokes on nothing, which makes everyone laugh. Eddie puts his hand on Buck’s knee, trying to steady him for a second.

Michael looks at his boyfriend, looks at Athena. Looks at Bobby. His boyfriend nods, playful smile on his lips.

“Go on, boys,” Athena says, a tone to her voice that no one can identify, but they sure can hear. She licks her lips.

Michael nods, goes on his knees. Athena taps Bobby on the knee, and he does the same. It’s mostly a non-kiss. They barely graze each other’s lips before they’re moving back, and Hen, Athena and Chim immediately start booing them.

“Man, y’all suck,” Athena says, but she’s laughing. Bobby’s blush is furious. Buck’s laughter is loud, which gets everyone going.

Michael spins, then. It lands on Karen.

“So?”

“Dare.”

“Give Hen a lap dance,” he says, and he looks incredibly pleased with himself.

“Damn,” Eddie says, and notices his hand is still on Buck’s thigh. He picks up his beer just for a reason to move his hand away, to quit being a creep.

“Whose phone is playing the music?” Karen asks, and she doesn’t look shy at all. She changes the song to something with a low bass, and when Hen sits on the chair, as they all turn to watch, she puts on a show.

“Damn, Karen, my girl!” Athena yells, as Michael wolf-whistles, and everyone laughs.

“God, babe, you’re good,” Hen says, and they kiss.

Everyone sits back down at their original spots.

“Michael, you just had the best idea,” Chim says. He sounds like he’s plotting something. Eddie has the feeling he doesn’t want to know.

Karen spins, and it lands on Chimney.

“Truth.”

“Ok.” Karen looks serious, takes a deep breath. “Chimney. Is it a boy or a girl?”

Everyone explodes in laughter. Maddie, above them on the couch, starts yelling:

“Overruled, overruled!”

“Sorry, Karen, guess I’ll have to take a shot.” He does.

“You’re all super funny,” Maddie says. “Ha-ha.”

Karen blows her a kiss.

“Ok, my turn,” Chim says, and spins. It lands on Eddie.

Chimney slips on a poker face immediately.

“Edmundo. Truth or dare?”

Eddie wants to say truth, he does.

“Dare.”

Chim smirks.

“I want you to sit tight through a lap dance. From Buck.”

Buck chokes. Again.

“How is that my dare?” Eddie asks, but he knows as soon as he says the words that it’s the wrong thing to say.

“You know why this dare is for you, Eddie,” Chimney replies, which. Fair. Everyone knows, probably. Eddie’s suddenly drunker than he’s ever been in his entire life.

Chaos descends. Everyone is laughing, or making some snarky remark Eddie is pointedly ignoring.

“Buck.” Bobby says, low in the middle of the noise, but Eddie still catches it. “Are you ok?”

He doesn’t reply. Instead, he grabs the tequila bottle and takes a shot, then another one.

“Alright, Eddie,” he says, “move your ass to the chair.” He turns to Athena, making grabby hands. “Phone.”

Suddenly, everyone’s quiet.

Eddie’s sitting on the chair, and Buck, already taller than him when they’re both standing up straight, is looming in front of him, looking impossibly tall, impossibly broad, impossibly big. Buck shouldn’t even be possible. Eddie is sure Buck is a fever dream he’s having; that’s the only possible explanation to this moment.

God, Eddie is so screwed.

The song starts, and it’s probably not what any of them expected, but it is, somehow, exactly something Buck would pull up.

He cracks his neck, looking down at Eddie. This is another person. This is another Buck, in an alternate universe, where he looks at Eddie like he wants to eat him whole. He’s so damn big.

He starts moving, and Eddie knows he isn’t the only one surprised by just how not gangly he is. He’s never gangly, in life, but Eddie wasn’t expecting him to be able to move his hips like that. He’s not looking at anyone, can’t possibly tear his eyes away from Buck’s body, but he knows everyone’s thinking the same.

Who is this man?

He moves, his hips swaying as he goes, until he’s behind Eddie. He goes down, his hands moving slowly from Eddie’s shoulders, down the length of his arms, and back up. He keeps going, until his hands are on both sides of Eddie’s head, and then he’s tipping it back, making Eddie look at him, upside down. He winks. Eddie’s breath catches. Oh, God.

He moves in front of Eddie again, and starts coming close. Eddie hopes he won’t come any closer, that’s dangerous, but of course Buck does. Of course, Buck pretty much sits on Eddie’s lap, moving his long legs on either side of Eddie’s. Of fucking course, Buck moves his hips. Never learned a thing about control, huh?

He takes Eddie’s hands, places them low on his belly, holding onto Eddie’s wrists, and makes them move up, up, up, until Eddie gets the memo and starts pushing Buck’s shirt off of his shoulders until it falls to the floor.

Somewhere, distant in Eddie’s mind, he thinks about the fact that he can’t hear shit save for the song, loud around them. Their friends are almost annoyingly quiet after all that noise. But, then again, Eddie gets it. Buck’s putting on a show.

And, frankly, the whole thing is going fine. Is Eddie currently sporting a hard-on while Buck is in his lap? Sure. But that was par for the course, right? That was exactly what Chimney was hoping would happen. So, yeah, Eddie is doing fine. He is.

Right until Buck sinks his head to Eddie’s neck and licks a wet, wet stripe up to his ear.

Eddie, who was being a good boy up until now and was keeping his hands to himself, is only human, and cannot help himself as his hands shot up to hold onto Buck’s thighs, hard.

The song ends. Buck stills where he is, and presses a kiss behind Eddie’s ear, where his face is still tucked against Eddie’s neck, and moves up slowly, giving Eddie a second to breath.

Hen’s the first to break.

“Holy shit, Buckaroo! Whew, I’m hot over here, baby, and I don’t even like whatchu got!”

Buck laughs, ducks his head, a blush spreading hard down his neck.

“How you holding up there, Eddie?” Chimney says, teasing, and Maddie throws a cushion at him. “Ow, babe!”

“Shut up, Chim,” she says. Eddie’s thankful.

The music goes back to whatever it was before, and Eddie moves back to his spot quick, grabbing Buck’s shirt of the floor, balling it up, and placing it on his lap. A guy has modesty. Chim won’t stop looking at him, a knowing smirk on his lips – but hey. It’s not like no one else was watching. Everyone knows. Whatever.

He takes a shot of tequila, just for good measure. Then he spins. It lands on Athena.

“Truth or dare?”

“Truth for a change, I guess; we need to stay alive.”

He laughs. “Ok. Tell us one thing Bobby would not like for you to tell us.”

Buck’s laughter is the only thing he can hear.

“Oh, Eddie, risky!”

Athena’s face is the look of mischief. “Sometimes my husband over here wants to wear socks to bed, if you catch my meaning,” she wiggles her eyebrows, looks around at everyone. “I don’t let him, of course.”

This just might be the loudest everyone’s laughed so far.

“Hey, I’m old, ok? A guy gets cold,” Bobby tries to go for nonchalant, but his cheeks are almost neon red.

“I’ll tell you guys,” Maddie starts, and Chimney immediately starts groaning. “Mr. Chimney has tried that once or twice on me. Stay strong, Athena!”

They laugh, and Athena spins. It lands on Eddie, but Maddie stops them.

“Nah, he just went, let the guy breathe. Spin again.”

It lands on Karen this time.

“Truth or dare, babe?”

“Truth.”

“Who’s your favorite? Michael or me?”

“You guys really need to quit the favorite thing,” Maddie complains from the couch, while Karen laughs.

“Nah, sis, Imma have a shot,” she says, and does.

She spins, and it lands on Buck.

“Alright, Buck! Truth or dare?”

Buck smirks. “Dare.”

Karen looks at Chimney. They smirk at each other.

“Brave, brave boy,” she says. “Take a shot, Buck.”

He looks confused. “Is that the dare?”

“Take the shot.”

He’s still confused, Eddie can see, but he does as he’s told.

“Good boy, Buck. Ready?”

“Yep,” he says, popping the p at the end.

“Seven minutes in heaven. You and Eddie.”

It’s Eddie’s turn to choke.

It feels as though someone hit the slow-motion button on the universe’s remote. He can feel his heart beating in his chest, can hear as everyone cheers and groans and laughs around them. When he’s able to focus again, Buck is already standing up and he’s offering one hand down to Eddie.

Taking it is both the easiest and riskiest thing Eddie could do tonight.

This has to be a fever dream, right? There’s no way this is happening to Eddie. They’re all adults. All drunk out of their minds, playing a stupid game of truth or dare. There’s no way this is happening.

But, hey. If this is a fever dream, then might as well take the chance while he has it. If he’s hallucinating, then there’ll be no consequences.

He takes Buck’s hand.

Karen and Chimney high five.

Eddie can hear as Athena yells “just go in the bathroom”, but Buck was already one step ahead of her. He locks the door and turns off the light, as dictate seven minutes in heaven rules.

They’re quiet, but they’re breathing heavy. Eddie has his back against the wall, and he’s reminded, yet again, of just how damn big Buck is, especially when he’s all up in Eddie’s space like this, when his hands are bracketing Eddie’s head, keeping him in place.

“Hi,” Buck says, and Eddie can hear the smile in his voice.

“Hi,” he replies, and he hates how breathless he sounds, but the only thing he can think of is the time they’re wasting. Seven minutes. Maybe the only seven minutes with Buck he’ll ever get. The clock is ticking.

“Is it ok, Eddie? We don’t have to do this.” He sounds careful, and Eddie hates it. He hates it when Buck’s careful with him, but what he hates more is the hesitation; hates that maybe Buck doesn’t want this, and that they’ve been forced into this situation by their pushy friends. He feels suddenly sober and he doesn’t like it.

“We don’t have to, Buck. It’s fine if you don’t want to. We’ll be fine.” He can’t help how dry his voice goes, how he sounds like he just lost something. He feels like he has.

There’s a pause. He can feel Buck moving, and suddenly there are big (thick, strong) hands around his jaw and cheeks, and Buck’s entire body is pressed against his, hot like a furnace.

“Oh, Eddie, I want it.”

And then he’s kissing Eddie, hard, his tongue pushing its way into Eddie’s mouth like it has a right to it, and, boy, Eddie is drunk.

Buck keeps his relentless assault on Eddie’s mouth as his hands move down, one settling on Eddie’s waist, and another going lower to grab a handful of his thigh, and Eddie, well. He’d be embarrassed, in any other circumstances, but right now all he can do is let out a small groan that still makes its way out despite their kiss, and Buck pulls away for a minute to laugh. Eddie is about to protest, except that Buck latches onto his neck next, and oh, oh, my God, this is embarrassing, but Eddie is painfully hard in his pants.

He moves one of his hands up where he can’t get a good tangle in Buck’s hair, because it’s so short (and ain’t that a shame?), but he can scrape his short nails against Buck’s scalp and the back of his neck. He learns that that does something, because Buck’s roughly shoving a leg in between Eddie’s, and suddenly there’s the amazing friction that Eddie so desperately wanted. He croaks out a broken get back up here, because he needs Buck’s tongue against his again, right now, or else he’s pretty sure he’s going to die.

He feels like the teenager he never really had the time to be. It’s intoxicating.

Buck’s hands are inside his shirt, moving up so, so slowly, when there’s a knock on the door and the spell breaks.

“Fuck,” Buck says, so heartfelt that it makes Eddie snort.

“Time’s up, boys,” Bobby says on the other side.

Buck squeezes his waist.

“Be right there,” he rasps out, and he sounds good.

Eddie knows he’ll never recover from this.

“We’re finishing this later, right?” Buck asks, and he sounds hopeful. Eddie knows this is their make-or-break moment.

“Come sleep over,” Eddie says, and before he can think, Buck’s kissing him again, hard, happy, smiling against Eddie’s lips.

“Every night, Eddie.” Another kiss. “Every night.”

They stumble out of the bathroom, shielding their eyes from the lights after the darkness inside. Everyone’s quiet for a moment, until Chim says:

“Damn, Eddie, sure you guys were making out and not that Buck was punching you on the neck?”

They all start laughing, and Eddie knows he’s blushing, but Buck hugs him, hiding his face in Eddie’s neck, as he says I’m sorry, and Eddie decides he doesn’t care. He starts laughing with them, because, really, this whole thing is ridiculous. He moves his hands inside Buck’s shirt, moving them up Buck’s back, and holding on tight.

Eddie feels distant, content to be hiding behind Buck’s body, drunk on the alcohol, but also on the smell of him, and nothing matters, until he hears Athena say:

“Does this mean the game is done?”

“The two of you suck!” Hen says, but she’s laughing.

“They sure will,” Chim adds, to which Eddie has to laugh.

“Congrats, Chim, that’s the first joke!” Buck says, muffled against Eddie, but somehow it still makes its way out and everyone laughs.

Maddie gets up from the couch. “Alright, let’s just go back to everyone having fun,” she says.

And they do.

Win This Fight (GOT7 Jackson Wang x Dancer You) Part 2

Gif not mine Angst/Fluff/Smut This is purely fiction, nothing is real. A tad bit of smut in this chapter read at your own risk! Not proofread

Part 1 Part 2

Touring is not as glamorous as one thinks. There is so much packing, unpacking, and jet lag involved. Even though it may have its downsides, every city that was visited had its own aura and vibe, making every show memorable. Your favorite stop would have to be when you visited your hometown. At that show all your closest friends and family were also there to support. You were actually waiting for the day that the tour would end in Seoul so you could have one day that was free of schedules and a have a home cooked meal. After 2 months, you finally returned back into your small apartment. It was a mission to be unpacked as fast as possible so you took the clothes that were in the suitcase and dumped it into the washing machine, organized the shoes back to its rightful place, and sorted out all the gifts and souvenirs that was acquired through every trip. In record time the bag was unpacked and the washing machine had about 10 minutes left until it needed to be put into the dryer. You decided to call up Eric to see if he wanted to veg out on the couch.

“Hey Y/N! You’re back, how was the tour?” Eric answered animatedly “Hi Eric! Yes I am back, the tour was amazing.” “Are you tired or jet-lagged? The boys and I were going to go out to the club. Did you want to join?” “I don’t know Eric…” you look at the time and it was only 5pm yet you were already feeling tired. He sensed your hesitation, “Nia already told me she’s coming, so you won’t be alone.” He tried bargaining You started laughing, “If you two are together them I am definitely NOT going! As much as I love the both of you, once you two see each other it’s like no one else is there.” “Hey, don’t hate we still want you there.” You heard Nia over the phone “Really Eric, we literally just got back and you are already at her place?” you teased “Guess who picked her up.” “That’s why you couldn’t pick me up from the airport? We were literally at the SAME airport. I had to take an Uber home.” You feigned offended “I wanted some alone time with my girl.” You sighed; they were adorable together and couldn’t help but smile. “You could have called Jackson.” Eric responded Immediately the smile was wiped off your face. “Eric don’t-“ “Don’t Eric me…” he sassed, “He keeps on asking about you and I can see he’s not satisfied with my generic ‘okay’ answer.” “It’s not that I don’t want to talk to him, I just don’t know what to say.” “Have you met him? He talks a lot. I’m sure he just wants to see you, and I do too! So it’s settled you are coming tonight. I will pick you up to make up for the airport, how does that sound?” “Okay I’ll be ready.” You answer dejectedly “Try not to sound too excited. Be downstairs at 9. Bye see you later.” “Yeah ok bye!”

You quickly put your clothes in the dryer and head downstairs to get a small take-out meal. After eating quickly you figured out which dress you were going to wear and napped until it was time to shower and get ready. You slipped into your favorite black dress and black heels. Applied light make-up and was out the door. The venue was a laid back nightclub that was much fancier inside compared to its scruffy looking exterior. Upon entry glasses of champagne were handed to everyone and lots of people were already drunk dancing on the dance floor. “Hey Eric, what is this place?” “Oh JYP invested in this place and he’s letting his staffs and artists hangout and drink here so we don’t have to deal with paparazzi or other outsiders. But since today is special it’s by invitation only.” “Really so even when you are not working he can still watch you? Man what is this guys problem?” “It’s not like that, we choose to come here, and the liquor is free for us here so why wouldn’t we come here? As you can see no one cares so just shut up and drink up and lets have fun!” “Fine let’s do some shots!” you cheered along with everyone and down two shots of soju before joining everyone on the dance floor “You said today is special and by invite only right? What’s so special about today?” “I am not going to tell you!” he said dancing behind Nia using her as a shield “Nia, will you tell me?” “It’s not for me to say.” She said looking behind you You turn around and met face to face with Jackson. In your head suddenly he is the only one you can see and hear. “I am glad to see you are actually okay.” He said with his deep voice, oh how much you wish to hear his voice all day. Both of you took your time looking at each other and welcoming each presence. You were still in shock and did not expect to run into him this soon that no words were able to come out. “Today’s not that special really. JYP rented out the space for my birthday.” He said casually breaking the eye contact to look at the people around “I..I- Uh I didn’t get you a present.” You stuttered out a response to the best of your ability. “You just got back, I am glad you made it.” He said looking deeply into your eyes, “I really am happy to see you.” Once again no words were coming out so you just nodded. “I guess I should be mixing with the all the guests.” He stated but did not budge from your side “Yeah, sorry to hold you up.” He smirked and started slowly walking away. There was so much you wanted to talk about; his health, GOT7 activities, or his Chinese activities, and the kiss. “Jackson wait!” Immediately he stopped and turned around and once again your mouth could not function, “Happy Birthday.” “Thank you Y/N,” he said disappearing into the crowd. Apparently many celebrities were there, not that you noticed. You tried to keep your thoughts clear but your eyes would always seem to find Jackson. He was there mingling with everyone, talking and laughing freely. You promised the last time you were with him that you would not act like strangers, yet here you were unable to make more than a sentence. This put a damper on your mood so you sat at an empty table and watched the partygoers.  You were playing with the confetti on the table when someone approached you. “Care to dance?” You looked up and did not recognize the face, “Not really. Nothing personal just not in the mood.” “Hmm…” He took a seat next to you, “A beautiful woman sitting alone at a table doesn’t seem right.” “A lot of things in this world are not right.” “Yeah like a dancer not wanting to dance at a party,” he deadpanned. “Right… Is there anything I can help you with?” “Just making conversation until my friend is done in the bathroom.” As if on queue his friend had emerged. “Who do we have here? Why is this pretty little thing all alone? If you want, you can hang out with us.” His friend clearly drunk sat next to you. “No it’s okay, I came here with my friends, I just needed a moment alone. So please leave me.” You asked nicely You were in between two strangers who did not budge when you asked them to leave you alone. “Fine if you won’t leave, I will.” You said getting up They grabbed your hands and forced you to sit back down. The drunk one slid his arm on the back of the chair and onto your shoulder, “There’s no rush sweetheart,” he tipped your chin closer to his face. Behind his head, you saw Jackson in the distance near the dance floor. He was staring straight at you, and he looked heartbroken. To him it looked like you were in the company of two handsome guys, so he disappeared before he did anything stupid at his own party. When in fact really all you wanted to do is be in Jackson’s arms. Before you could even plea for his help to get you out of this uncomfortable situation, you felt the drunk mans stubble and chapped lips on your neck. “Stop it!” you yelled, “Stop touching me I don’t want you touching me!” The music was loud but some bystanders started staring which caused the two men to let your hands go. You took the opportunity to get away. You ran into the bathroom to scrub off your neck where he kissed it. You took deep breaths and tried your hardest not to cry. Upon exiting you ran straight to Eric and Nia who immediately knew something was wrong. “Let’s go it’s getting really crowded here.” Nia said You nodded and started walking to the door. “I’m going to let Jackson know we’re going.” You both nodded and waited near the exit. “What happened?” Nia asked “Those two creeps over there were not leaving me alone, and the one with the longer hair, he drunk and kissed me.” You spoke quickly “THEY DID WHAT?!” Nia exclaimed “I am going to get them kicked out, no one just gets to do whatever they want in here.” Nia was fuming “Okay I’m back, what did I miss?” Eric came to your sad face and Nia’s livid face “Baby,” Nia started, “You see those two guys over there?” “Oh yeah, those are Jackson’s choreographers what about them?” “Well they were harassing Y/N, and one of them even kissed her without her permission.” “What?” His face dropped “It’s true. Can we just leave? Please?” You begged “Yes we are leaving but are you alright, is there anything else I can do? Should I tell Jackson?” “No! You are not going to tell Jackson anything Eric,” You warned. “And I am okay just a little shaken. My mind just thinks had we been in another situation what could have happened.” “Don’t worry, I will always be there for you. You are my best friend.” Eric said hugging you. “Me too.” Nia joined --- 3 AM Banging on your front door. You look through the peephole and see nothing. You turn on the lights outside your door and see someone standing but still not clear enough. “Who is it?” you try to keep your voice as even as possible “It’s me Jackson.” He said taking off his black hat and facemask. You open the door and let him in. He takes a seat on your couch while you prefer to sit on the tea table in front of him. “How did you find my house?” You asked, this seemed a good way to break the silence. “Eric.” He answered quickly, he looked angry. “So what are you doing here? Are you okay?” “No you answer me this,” he stood up “Why didn’t you tell me someone was bothering you at my party, not just someone my choreographer?” “Ah did Eric tell you that too? He really cannot keep his mouth shut.” “Nia told me.” Oh you were really in trouble then. “What do I say to you Jackson? It was your birthday celebration. And this guy is like a brother to you.” “Yeah he is like a brother to me, that’s why when I saw you two together I thought you deserve someone like him who will be able to spend time with you, and take you out, and have a normal life with. Not someone like me.” He vented. “I didn’t know he was making a pass at you. The fact that he touched you without your permission just disgusts me.” “Jackson,” you tried to calm him “You want to know what makes me even angrier? It’s the fact that you didn’t want to tell me. We said, no, we promised that we weren’t going to behave like strangers, so tell me why I have had longer conversations with Coco than I have had with you? Why didn’t you talk to me at all the entire trip?” He paused and there was silence. You never thought a man that was always so happy could be this angry. And all his anger was being directed to you. “I’m sorry.” You said with an even voice but then felt your voice growing. “I didn’t want to tell you because I know you look up to him and I did not want to ruin the years of friendship you had with him because he drunk kissed me. I felt uncomfortable so I left. For many girls it ends much worse for them, and not everyone has a best friend or a night in shining armor to help them. I didn’t know what to say to you because I’m trying to be the best so your company doesn’t feel ashamed to see you with me. And honestly I am not there yet. I didn’t talk to you the entire trip because I didn’t know what to say after you kissed me, and I didn’t know where we stood. And quite frankly it bothers me that you think I would be talking to another guy at your own party, when I thought I made it perfectly clear that the only lips I want on my neck are yours!” You panted suddenly aware of exactly how much you had to say. He hugged and your body molded perfectly into his, and you both felt the anger disappearing. “I’m sorry I yelled.” He whispered “I’m sorry I was quiet.” After some time, he let go of your body and pulled you onto the couch with him. “So tell me about the tour.” And you did, and spent the rest of the night talking whatever was on your mind. --- You woke up facing Jackson. His arms were around your body and your legs were intertwined. You started to shift out of his hold but he just grabbed onto you tighter. “5 more minutes” his voice somehow deeper in the morning. “You don’t have a schedule today?” you said running fingers through his hair “I expected to be hung-over so I requested today off.” You laid in his arms until he was satisfied. He had set up an alarm and casually turned around to turn it off and pulled on a shirt. “I am happy I came here instead of going back to the condo with the boys. If I were there I would be in the bathtub or something.” He said stretching and getting up You started to fix the covers, and headed into the bathroom to do your morning routine. Once you got out of the bathroom you handed Jackson a spare toothbrush and large clothes, though he opted into being shirtless. You started on eggs for breakfast and he came into the kitchen to start on dishes. “So what are your plans for today?” he asked as you both sat down “Nothing, you?” “Nothing too.” “Wow you really are a rapper Dr. Seuss.” You teased “I try.” He brushed his shoulders trying to hold in his bright laughter “So what would you like to do?” “If I can stay over? I really like talking with you,” He pleaded with his puppy eyes. “Sure.” You said sipping your coffee “Yay! Netflix and chill all day!” He beamed You choked a bit on your coffee and he immediately tried to correct himself, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. My intentions are innocent. Get your mind out of the gutter freak.” He playfully nudged. After some time of eating in silence, Jackson started again, “Hey I actually need your help with something.” “What’s up?” “I am looking for a new choreographer. Do you know someone that can dance?” He suggested to you. “You’re really going to replace him?” “Hell yeah! I don’t want a pervert on my team. Why are you even defending him?” He said holding your hand. “Also I am giving you an opportunity to join Team Wang. It is separate from JYP, he has nothing to do with my Chinese activities.” “I am not defending him, I just don’t want him to lose his job because of something he did when he was drunk.” He looked straight into your eyes, “Wow, I really am looking at an angel right now.” “Oh stop it.” You shied away from his intensity “No really! You know what they say the only people who say the truth are children and drunken people. No matter how much I drink, I would never treat a woman like how he was treating you.” He said facing you “Okay, I’ll help you out, as a friend though.” You clarified, “I will always be your supporter and always on your team.” “I was hoping you would help me as more than a friend.”  He suggested “What happened to innocent intentions?” “I will be. I just don’t want you to get all hot an bothered while dancing with me.” “Oh then I guess you need to find a new choreographer.” You said standing up and putting the dishes away “No wait!” He whined You giggled at his sad puppy face and he brought you into a big bear hug successfully lifting you in the air and spinning around. He put you down but didn’t release the hug, “I like this.” “Like what?” “This, us. We’re talking so casually. I really like it.” He said hugging you one more time “I like this too.” You said hugging him a bit tighter, not only referring to the talking but also they warm feeling that was inside your heart. One thing about Jackson, once he gets serious all playfulness is out the door. We were trying to get the choreography just right in time for his new song released, “100 Ways.” The song had a playful vibe with a great beat drop, but behind the happiness, there was a much darker backstory. The dancing was very fast. Every moment had to be strong but also precise. A halfway mark finally had been reached and you were drenched in sweat despite the air con fully blasting cool air. You collapsed on the couch while Jackson went to get water for the both of you. He came back and laughed at your exhausted state. “Come on, you’re telling me one of the best dancers in Korea is tired after only 3 hours of dancing? Come on Y/N you are slacking on me here.” He said handing you the water “What happened to Netflix and chill and being lazy?” you said out of breath “That’s after we finish perfecting the dance.” He said getting up and stretching, “Come on break is over.” “Noooo, it hasn’t even been 2 minutes.” You complained He pulled you up to your feet and hugged you. He was sweaty (so were you) but no complains were made. Something about being in his arms always made you feel good. He seriously was your energy. You hummed in content. “Feeling better?” “Yeah.” Both were in comfortable silence but you couldn’t shake off this feeling in the back of your head. You both were acting like a couple even though neither one had the right to do so. You quickly let go before your mind could overthink “Not that I am not enjoying this, but lets wrap this up okay?” you said starting the music again Jackson noticed your sudden change in demeanor, “Hey if you don’t want to do this we can stop. I just want to spend time with you but, if you’d rather do something else… or if you have other plans. I mean you already helped a lot I’m sure I can figure out the rest from here,” he began rambling. “No I didn’t mean it like that. I do want you to be here, and I do want to help you! I was just thinking too much into this.” you motioned between each other “What are you thinking into?” “Jackson don’t you think we are being too couple-y?” you asked softly He took a moment to see if you were going to add to your question. He took your silence as a chance to respond. “Yeah we do act like a couple. So what?” “But we’re not.” “We are not.” He said slowly, “But I very much would like to be. I am trying my hardest not to just stop everything and just kiss you into oblivion.” That managed to crack a smile on your face. “I would like to as well, but dating me would ruin your idol image.” “No, it won’t. And so what, we keep it a secret only between us. Just until we figure out how to break the news to everyone.” “Jackson a relationship is the last thing you need right now on top of that a secret one. I am not saying I am high maintenance but you are going to be exhausted, and that’s not fair for you.” “Y/N can I kiss you?” He asked out of the blue “I am being serious!” “So am I. I really want to kiss you.” He stood in front of you and crouched down to your eye level. “You didn’t ask me for permission the last time you kissed me.” You joked, “You’re not as innocent as you think you are.” “It’s a simple yes or no.” He puckered his lips in front of you “Buy me dinner first.” He giggled. “You’re really going to leave these lips hanging?” “I really am.” You shimmied away from him, “Come on let’s dance!” “Noooo!” he was the one complaining now. --- Dinner was more of take-out and yes Jackson did buy. Everything was sprawled across the dinner table and wine was being poured. “Did you have fun today? I know it’s not ideal to be working on your birthday.” You started “I haven’t had this much fun on my birthday in years.” He said shoving food into his mouth “Slow down you’re going to choke!” you said pouring him a glass of wine, “So what can I get you for your birthday?” “You already gave me a gift. Now every time I dance or hear this song I’ll only think of you.” Ever since the conversation prior there has been a tension in the air and the both of you are doing your best to ignore it and keeping the atmosphere as light and playful as possible. “That doesn’t count, this was a freebie. I help you with your dance, you bought me takeout, we’re even.” He just smirked and continued eating silently, which was completely out of character. “What’s with the smirk?” “Nothing.” “What tell me!” you lightly shoved him and he grabs hold of you and keeps his arm around your shoulder. “So this, would you consider this me buying you dinner?” he asks holding you close “I mean it kind of is dinner. But we didn’t really go out.” You said teasing and sipping your wine He caught on to your tone, and leaned in closer to you. He took the wine glass out of your hand and placed it gently on the table, his eyes never leaving yours. He used the same hand and placed it on your face, his thumb caressing your cheek. “You deserve better than me.” He said softly “What? Jackson no! I should be the one saying that.” You responded confused “You deserve someone to take you out on dates, and enjoy a normal life with. If you’re with me this is the best I can do, quick takeout dinners at home. Y/N you deserve more than that.” “I don’t care about that, I am just more than happy to spend time with you.” “You say that now, but how about later on? Work will always get in the way. Work will always be my first priority. That’s not fair.” “Where is this coming from? I just thought you were going to kiss me just now.” You said getting up and creating some space. You lacked his body heat and instantly felt the difference. “Y/N. I want to kiss you, been wanting to since I saw you yesterday. But then I saw your face, your beautiful innocent face and instant thought what if they find out and take you away from me for good?” “What are you talking about? How much wine did you have?” “Y/N-“ He said getting up as well “Jackson, please let’s just worry about the future when we get there.” You said snaking your arms around his waist and looking up at him. He took your face in his hands again, “I worry about you, a lot. It’s probably unhealthy how much I worry about you. And JYP has a lot of friends in high places. He can make sure you never make it in Korea.” “I worry about you too. But know this, I don’t care if he wants to play that way, let him, you can’t stop him. You said it yourself make it big, so I will. And so what if he knows some big people in Korea, I now know some people of my own. Just wait and enjoy the show, I’ve got plans.” “Am I in any of those plans.” He said rubbing circles on your waist “Publicly, no you are not.” He pouted. “Privately, I really do hope so.” He leaned down and finally captured you lips in a long awaited kiss. He did not hesitate to deepen this kiss and pull your body closer to him. You hands also freely roamed his body feeling his toned back, biceps, and pecks. You felt his heart beating fast and paused to make sure he was okay. “Jackson?” As if he knew what you were going to ask, he already answered he’s okay and resumed kissing you this time pushing you to the nearest solid surface, which just so happened to be your fridge. Magnets and other small bottles in the fridge definitely had fallen but the both of you didn’t seem to care. He placed his hands on the back of your thighs and told you to jump. You latched onto his body and he carried you to the bed. His body caged you under him and he was once again staring into your eyes making sure you had no hesitation. You pulled him closer and started kissing him again the other hand lifting up his shirt. He pulled off his shirt not breaking the kiss and helped you take yours off too. His newfound access to your body had him reeling with excitement. His large hands were on your hips and his lips were on your neck. “Be mine?” he said kissing down the valley between your breasts “Yes Jackson.” “Forever.” He said looking up to you “No one is going to get in between us.” He kept going lower, pulling the band of your pants down. You starting grinding your hips up and he tossed the piece of fabric across the room. He kissed his way down to your inner thigh and returned to kissing your lips. His hands roamed freely grabbing your breasts and slowly making his way lower, until he reached the thin band of your panties. He lifted it slightly and his fingers made contact with your core. Your moans were being muffled by Jackson’s mouth on yours. While his hands were busy, you also were rubbing his hard shaft through his pants. When you reached in and touched it with your hand he let out a hiss mixed with a groan. “Fuck baby.” He tenderly whispered in your ear. He helped you get full access to his cock, and returned back to fingering you. When he felt you were stretched and wet enough he guided you under him and lined himself up. He slowly filled you up and the slight burn was there, but he felt so good. He slowly took out his cock and buried you deep several times until you were adjusted. After a few minutes he propped you legs up and set a much faster rhythm and that had you seeing stars. “Oh Jackson! That’s so good!” you screamed out “Y/N you’re so tight.” He continued varying his pace. He would have quick shallow strokes and the next thing you know he will be buried deep inside. No matter what, he held your hand through it all placing soft kisses on your cheek or forehead. “I’m close.” He slowed his hips and removed himself. You were about to whine because you were chasing your high, but then he attacked your core with his tongue. “Jackson..!” you couldn’t speak properly the way his tongue was entering and leaving your hole and lapping up all the arousal. His fingers were rubbing your clit and in no time you were cumming on Jackson’s tongue. Your body stiffened, breathing became irregular, and you could swear your have never came faster or harder in your life. Jackson slowed his hand down as your high passed and just watched you with adoration. “You’re so hot cumming on me you know that right?” he said running fingers in your hair and pecking your lips. “Baby, do you mind turning around for me?” You sluggishly did so, sticking your ass in the air. He slipped his cock back in and the stretch was still there, and you heard him moan, “Baby you’re going to be the death of me,” he said picking up the pace. This time Jackson wasn’t taking his time, he was seeking release and you were more than happy to help him get there. Each thrust was deep and hard and he started mumbling a string of curse words along with your name. He moved your hair aside, “You’re taking me so well, and I’m so close.” His hips snapping up and this deathly grip on your hips signaled he was already on the edge. “Jackson let go, cum inside me. Pretty up my walls.” With that he released with a moan and his cock pulsing inside. He toppled onto you and encased your into a hug. You nuzzled into his sweaty chest and he placed soft kisses onto your head. “Y/N, wow.” You giggled, “Happy Birthday.” You said getting up to clean yourself. You winced when you got onto your feet but the way Jackson was admiring his toll on you made it somewhat okay. “What are you smiling at?” “I have the best and hottest girlfriend in the world.” “I can say the same about you!” you said slipping into the shower to rinse off. You came back to the room and Jackson was half dressed and mindlessly scrolling and texting someone on his phone. He sensed your presence and instantly smiled. You sat on his lap and he wrapped his arms around you as he continued to text. You began placing light kisses on his jaw and cheek. “Will you stay the night?” you asked hopeful “I want to,” He said placing his phone down and rubbing circles on your hips. “But I have an early schedule tomorrow, catching up on the past 2 days of work plus I have a fashion shoot.” He went into work mode. You didn’t respond, you knew he had a busy schedule always, so it is understandable. You didn’t want to sound upset so you said nothing. He also seemed to understand your silence. And started to lay back down with you on top of him. “You know, you can always text me.” “Yeah I know.” You said “I prefer you here though.” He giggled. “I’m sorry was that too clingy? I will stop now.” You said burying your head in his chest “No baby, I like it.” He said pulling you to face him, “Never feel embarrassed when it comes to me.” His phone rang again. He sighed, you got off him and he answered the phone call. You started to get into the covers fluffing up the pillow and sinking under the bed covers. You watched Jackson mindlessly walk around as he was talking on the phone. His conversation ended and he turned back to you. Seeing you under the covers all alone on the queen sized bed made him instantly want to jump in beside you and be your best source of heat and comfort. But his schedule stopped him from doing such. He kneeled next to you on the ground, “Babe, I will have to go now.” “Okay, Stay safe Jackson.” You said holding his hand “Get some rest and again Happy Birthday.” “Thank you Y/N.” He said placing a kiss on your forehead. “Goodnight.” “Text me when you get home okay?” you said running a hand through his hair “Will do.” He kissed your lips one last time before leaving your apartment. That night you made many phone calls to your new contacts, literally everyone and anyone; producers, artists, choreographers, anyone that needed help with any project you wanted in. You received many call backs saying they need an extra here and a background dancer there. You even landed a small acting role in an episode of a drama. You scheduled your week so that you can be exposed to as many possibilities you can. Through all this you made sure all your contacts were not in partnerships with JYP. Your vendetta was, if he wanted you, he would have to call himself. 3 months later You were to go to Jackson’s house for date night. Things have been busy between the both of you but little messages between the days made the distance bearable. Your name was starting to become a regular in the business and soon your schedule became just as packed as Jackson’s. The only difference you were more behind the scenes and gaining popularity in production, while Jackson was gaining more popularity in front of the camera. Anyone that needed choreography for a dance, most directors would call you immediately. Yes it was hard the first month doing so many gigs for little to no money, but you showed them your punctuality and expertise to which many were impressed. You typed in the key code and noticed he wasn’t there. You went into the kitchen where you know he keeps your favorite kind of wine and poured yourself a glass waiting for him. You heard his key code being typed in and excitedly waited by the door. When it opened your were greeted by an unfamiliar woman. “Um hi, who are you?” “I’m Jackson’s,” You hadn’t exposed your relationship with Jackson, “I’m his choreographer.” She took a long look at you and did not seem convinced, “Then why are you drinking his wine?” “He always let’s me have full access to his house, this also means his alcohol. Speaking of, where is he?” “Listen honey, I am not dumb, you are obviously not his choreographer, maybe you’re his side piece. All I know is that your services with him are no longer needed. He has a new girl in his life so you can leave now.” “You’re his girlfriend?” you choked out At that moment Jackson walked in completely unaware that you would be there early. “Jackson, I’ll be in our room once you take care of the extra uninvited guest.” She said fluttering away You crossed your arms and waited for an explanation. “Baby,” he stepped closer to you, and you took a step back, “I know it looks bad but you have to believe me when I say she is not my girlfriend you are. I would never betray you like that. She’s just a co-worker who cannot get the hint that I am not into her. And I can’t tell her about us because I know you want to keep it a secret.” You remained quiet trying to process what he just said. You were mad at him, but mostly yourself. “She’s kind of a big deal so I have to be nice to her, but I can tell her to leave, that we had plans first.” He said grabbing your hand You scoffed and went to grab your bag. “Are you asking me for permission? You want me to tell you what to do?” You said in a low tone “I just don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I don’t want to upset you especially because this was supposed to be our night.” “I am upset, you should have thought about that before you invited her over. You should have said tonight is off limits.” You said walking to the door “Come on Y/N you know my schedule can change any minute.” “I do know that! I completely understand if your plans change last minute, just text me let me know ahead of time, and save me the embarrassment.” “Y/N baby-“ “I’ve got to go. My boyfriend’s date is waiting for him in his bedroom.” You walked out and closed the door. You were hoping he would follow you outside and try to convince you to stay but it was no use. As you made your way back to your apartment he hadn’t called or texted once. You skipped dinner and went straight to bed. In the morning you had woken up before your alarm had sounded so you lay in bed scrolling through your Instagram feed. You notice Jackson post a story of him and the girl he was with yesterday with the caption WORK FLOW, New things cooking with fire emojis. His captions and stories always made you smile. Even though you were supposed to be mad at him, it really was hard to hold a grudge. He still had not messaged anything, and being stubborn, you weren’t going to either. You prepared yourself for a long day. Since the weather was getting warmer, more activities were happening outdoors. Today you had to attend 3 photo-shoots and be on set for an advertisement. Most of the apparel was city/street wear and the same clothes were being used to advertise the music video. You were in charge of a simple dance that showed the fashion and durability of the clothes. You got to the shoot early and were showing some basic poses to the models. The photographer was the same one you used for your portfolio pictures, so needless to say he was a friend, so you were not shy about your opinions on what looks good and what does not. As this shoot started to wrap up, your friend asked you to also pose with some apparel and he shot some pictures. You tried some basic poses and some unconventional ones. He kept the ones he liked and the remaining was added to your portfolio. On the way to the next shoot, you got a text from Eric about getting drinks at this new bar. You responded yes seeing that you didn’t have any other plans and continued along with your busy day. Getting home about 830p you were relieved that the day went so well. You hopped into the shower and relaxed your sore muscles, shampooing all the built up sweat and dirt on your face and body. Getting ready for the night, you wore denim shorts that showed off your toned legs and soft thighs with white racer back crop top from the street wear ad and tied a printed long sleeve shirt around your waist. You topped the grungy chic look with a beanie and was on your way. There were a lot of people at the new bar and you were waiting for Eric and everyone else he invited before he went in. While standing admiring the view the waiting area had, someone tapped your shoulder. You turned around and realized it was the girl that Jackson was working with. “What brings you here?” she started “A car.” You responded dryly “You mean you’re here alone?” She feigned concerned “What do you want?” you asked “I just want to know who you are exactly. The other day when you left he wasn’t the same and I need to know who you are to derail someone who is so driven and focused.” “I’m his choreographer.” You responded giving your back to her again. “I don’t believe it.” She said popping up on your side “See we are hanging out tonight but he must be running a little late. I thought maybe he invited you too, since you guys are friends.” “He didn’t invite me, I am meeting up with my other friends.” You responded hurt “Oh whoops, maybe it was just us two that he made the plans for.” She winked, “Oh I see him!” she said waving him down You kept your back to them, not wanting to show Jackson how hurt you were. “Hey look who I ran into waiting for you, it’s that girl from your place.” “Hey Jackson.” You said still not facing him “Hey Y/N.” he said as he was welcomed by your backside. “Do you want us to wait for you while your friends come?” “No have fun with your date.” You responded a little too quickly “Y/N-“ Jackson started with a hand on your shoulder “A date! Wow Jackson I didn’t know this was a date, how romantic!” she started squealing “Hey why don’t you find a table, I’ll be right there.” He said shoving her away He stood beside you admiring your profile. “You look amazing Y/N. I am still very sorry about yesterday.” “I am sorry too Jackson. I miss you there’s so much I want to tell you but I can’t.” You said finally looking at him. His eyes, they were tired and you wanted to abandon all your plans and just take him back to your apartment and cuddle him to sleep. “Tomorrow meet me at my studio, it’s just going to be me and boys.” “I have things to do tomorrow.” “Just reschedule them!” “What? No you reschedule yours!” you paused not wanting to argue, “I understand my plans may not be as important as yours but to me they are.” “No baby they are important to me too.” He said cupping your face in his hands. You took a step back and he cleared his throat and awkwardly put his hands back into his pocket. “Sorry, I miss holding you.” “Eric just texted, he’s inside.” You said smiling up at him, “Want to say hi?” “Yeah let’s go in.” he said wrapping his arm around your shoulder.

burlesque!sos - chapter 3

description: rory bumps into a handsome stranger while at the bar who seems to be having his own troubles. an explosion of sorts from crystal also sets you back a bit.

warnings: some yelling and one injury

word count: 3.6k

taglist: @spicycal​ @castaway-cashton​ @irwinkitten​ @n-ctarinenga​

chapter 1      chapter 2

****

You sat up straight at your vanity, your freshly painted red lips perfectly pouty as you took in the dramatic changes your makeup made to your face. Georgia sat right beside you, a dazzling grin on her face and a small pencil brush in her hand. 

“Well?” She asked, turning your head to look at her. 

You matched her grin. “I love it!” 

Georgia squealed, clapping her hands together before she collected herself. “Now, if you ever need help with makeup again, you know you can always count on Sister Georgia!” 

You couldn’t help but laugh, happy to have the curly red head in your corner. You both stood quickly after, adjusting your fishnets and mini skirt in the mirror as your heels snapped against the floor. It was your first night performing and your adrenaline was pumping, the music being tested through the speakers just outside of your backstage area. Chairs scraped the floor as they were adjusted, the crew's loud laughter drifting back to your ears between bits of music. 

You readjusted your top for the 10th time as Sierra strutted into view, another tight dress on her body with the heels to match. Beside her was a new boy, his curly blonde hair held back with a bit of product. 

“Ladies,” Sierra called, clapping her hands twice to get everyone’s attention. The chatter died down, all eyes trained on the new boy. Your eyes traveled down his body, taking in his silk black button up and tight ripped jeans. 

“Ladies,” Sisi said again, gaining everyone’s attention. “Now that you’ve all had a moment to devour our new toy with your eyes, please give a warm welcome to Luke. He’s our new waiter, and he’ll be popping back here to bring any drinks you heathens want. Be nice to him.” 

Luke smiled, lifting a hand to wave as a collection of voices said ‘hi Luke’. You could tell he wasn’t used to the attention but welcomed it, his stance getting more confident as eyes moved to him. 

“I’ll let you all get acquainted as time goes on,” Sisi continued, one hand resting on Luke’s shoulder. Even in her heels, he was taller than her. “But we have patrons coming in any minute, so let’s finish getting ourselves ready!” 

The girl all cheered at that, all of them returning to what they were doing before as Sierra turned on her heels to walk away. Luke remained where he was, obviously a bit nervous as he looked around, no doubt trying to get his bearings. 

Feeling bold in your new attire and look you sauntered over, a coy smile on your lips as you reached him. “Hi, Luke,” you greeted sweetly, holding out a hand. “I’m Rory. I’m new here, too.”

A look of relief washed over the man’s face, his hand taking yours as he gave it a squeeze. “Hi, Rory, it’s lovely to meet you. I’m glad I’m not the only fish out of water here.” 

You laughed lightly, lacing your own fingers together behind your back as you spoke. “Far from it. It’s actually my first night performing.” 

Luke looked impressed by your words. “Well, you look like a pro from where I’m standing,” he said kindly, a smile on his face. The two of you paused for a moment before Luke looked behind himself. “I should, uh, probably head back out there. Break a leg, Rory.” His hand reached up and rested on your arm, his smile still on his face as he turned and walked away. 

As he left you bit your bottom lip, releasing it when you remembered the lipstick Georgia had spent so long perfecting for you. So far, all the men that worked here were tall glasses of water, and you were a thirsty little thing. 

You quickly shook the thoughts from your head, returning to your vanity without incident as the band played a bit of jazz for the patrons already walking in. The digital clock on the back wall displayed the time in bright red letters, your heart racing as you decided to focus on what was before you: your first performance at your new job. 

** 

Calum carefully smacked down the shot glass, his face puckering as Michael, his new friend, laughed. 

“Bit too much, mate?” He joked, still laughing while sliding the glass back to himself. 

Calum quickly shook his head, his styled blonde hair making him resemble a golden retriever puppy. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Michael chuckled, turning around to wash the glass. 

Calum licked his lips, turning on his bar chair to face the stage. He had gotten to Express just as the doors opened, paying the admission fee and quickly parking himself at the bar. Within a few minutes Luke was appearing from a side door, his eyes scanning the crowd before landing on Calum and grinning. 

Calum smiled as his best friend walked over, giving him a hug as he reached him. 

“Thank you again for coming tonight, mate,” Luke said, sincerity in his voice as the bartender slid a tray over to the other blonde. Luke nodded to him and gestured to Calum. 

“Cal, this is Michael, the lead bartender,” he said, Calum smiling and shaking hands with the new blonde. “Michael, be nice to him, alright? He’s got a broken heart to heal.” 

Michael chuckled. “You got it, brother. He’s in good hands.”

Luke grinned and nodded, turning on his heel and tucking the tray under his arm as he moved into the crowd to help the seated tables. 

Now, after another round of shots, Calum was feeling better. All the weird exotic stuff Michael has given him to test were hitting hard, his liquid courage making him feel nearly invincible as he watched the girls dance on the stage. A pretty blonde and a girl with lavender hair were on the stage now, moving along to whatever jazz beat was being played by the band, and Cal turned back to his new friend. 

Michael was beaming proudly, his eyes locked on the stage before he finally turned back to Calum. “Sorry,” he said, grabbing a new glass and filling it with water. “The blonde one is my fiancée.”

Calum nodded with understanding, taking the water and sipping at it. “Congratulations,” he said kindly, smiling at Michael. “How long until the wedding?” 

Michael shrugged. “Haven’t set a date yet. We keep going back and forth on it.” 

Cal nodded, chuckling as he lifted his glass to his lips. “I know that feeling,” he stated, pausing to chug the rest of the glass before setting it down and standing. “I’m gonna go get some fresh air.” 

Michael nodded, gesturing towards a curtain hanging on the other side of the bar. “Through there is the staff entrance, you can chill out there and slip back in real quick. No re-admission fee.”

Calum smiled and nodded, thanking Michael before making his way to the curtain. While he wasn’t fully wasted he definitely had to focus on his footing, finding the door Michael was talking about and stepping outside in the cool air. The door shut behind him and he was enveloped in silence, leaning against the building and letting out a sigh. 

His fingers dipped into his pocket, pulling out a cigarette and lighter and lighting up. He was aware of what an awful habit this was, but the euphoria that came with the first drag was enough to relax his tense shoulders. He stared up at the sky as he blew the smoke, continuing his drags until his phone buzzed in his pocket. 

Expecting a text from Luke he was surprised at the name on the phone, the man freezing for a second before stomping out his cigarette. He cleared his throat before he answered. 

“Hey Nia.” 

“Hi Calum,” the woman on the other side of the phone greeted. An awkward silence fell for a moment before Calum spoke up. 

“Uh, what’s up?” 

Nia sighed on the other side of the line. “How are you?”

Calum chuckled darkly. Now he wishes he still had his cigarette. “I know you didn’t just call to check in on me. What do you want, Nia?” 

The woman sighed in annoyance. “Oh, now I have to want something from you whenever I try to call you? I thought we were going to try being friends.” 

“Yeah, well, it’s only been 2 months since I caught the love of my life cheating on me with some guy from her work, so, apologies if it’s taking awhile for me to forgive you.” 

Nia groaned. “Do you have to bring that up every time-“ 

“You never could handle me telling you the truth.”

The other side was quiet, the silence speaking volumes. “This was a mistake. Bye, Cal.” 

A click signaled the end of the call, Cal gripping his phone as he let out a breath. He pulled it down from his ear and shoved it back in his pocket, turning to face the wall and leaning his forehead against it. He closed his eyes and breathed, focusing on that instead of the anger boiling over inside of him. 

After a few minutes he was calmed down enough to go back inside, the effects of the alcohol he had downed so far already losing their edge as he stood up straight. As he pulled open the door the screech of tires sounded from the street, his eyes and head turning that way - causing him to bump into the poor soul on the other side of the door. 

A yelp mixed with the feeling of someone bouncing off his body snapped his attention back, the frame of a girl now laying on the floor as Calum froze. 

“Shit-“ he started, propping open the door with his foot as he leaned down to help the girl up. He noticed now that she was dressed in fishnets and heels, his eyes going wide as he took her hand. 

“Holy shit I just knocked over a burlesque dancer,” he said, helping the girl to her feet and meeting her eyes. “Holy shit. Uh, I’m so sorry, are you okay?” 

The sound of laughter bubbled up out of the girl, the sound bringing a small smile to Calum’s lips. 

“Thank you, but I’m okay,” she giggled, stepping outside as Calum let the door swing closed. Her red lips curled into a smile. “Admittedly a little stickier than I was a few seconds ago, but fine.” 

Calum smiled in return. “Stickiness is definitely better than an injury,” he chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets as he met this girl's eyes. After an awkward second he cleared his throat, holding out his hand. “I’m Calum, by the way. Calum Hood.”

The girl took his hand and smiled again. Her lips curling almost forced Calum to smile back, the look absolutely enchanting. “I’m Rory. It’s nice to bump into you, Calum.” 

Cal chuckled. “I’m sorry again, I should have been paying attention.” 

The girl waved off his apology. “Don’t worry about it, love, we all have those days.”

“You’re too kind,” he chuckled, still feeling guilty for almost injuring a dancer. Even while in her performance attire and makeup, Cal could tell this girl was just as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. “Can I buy you a drink at least? To make up for it?” 

The girl - Rory - was about to answer when the door swung open again, Michael stepping out and stopping short at the sight before him. He stood aside, a hand lifting as his thumb pointed behind him. “Ro, they’re looking for you backstage.” 

Cal looked back at the woman and sighed, a smile still on his face as her eyes met his. 

“Raincheck?” She asked, Calum nodding as she started to slip inside. “Michael, can you take his number down for me?” 

The blonde nodded, masking a confused look on his face before he looked at Calum. Once Rory was gone he spoke. “What’d I miss?” 

Calum laughed, stepping inside and clapping Michael’s back as he did so. “Nothing, mate. Don’t you have a bar to manage?” 

** 

A few months pass and you and Calum become friends, the two of you growing rather close as you texted and talked. The conversations remained friendly, but as you started to hang out in person, the tension rose a bit. It was obvious to any passerby that you two wanted the same thing, but both of your oblivious nature’s won out. You convinced yourself that he only wanted friendship, solidifying that thought when he told you the story of his ex; his clearly broken heart was on the mend, and you decided to keep any feelings for him that venture outside of plantonic to your damn self. 

Rehearsals and performances came and went, patrons enjoying your company as you opt to sit in the audience at times to watch your friends take the stage. You did this so often that you knew many of their routines, sometimes mimicking the moves in the privacy of your own room just so you could prove to yourself you knew them. While you would never admit it to anyone, you sometimes practiced these extra routines so one day you could maybe perform them yourself. 

With the passing time seemed to come a growing resentment for you from Crystal, too; her obvious but hidden distaste for you has become quite public, her attitude towards you backstage always keeping you on edge. She would take over conversations you were in and exclude you in an effort to make you feel unwelcome; she would spill things on your vanity “accidentally” so it would take you longer to get ready; and sometimes she would go too far and hide your performance attire from you, burying them in the racks at the bottom of the spiral stairs. While this all made your blood boil, you kept your distance, taking the high road and doing your best to remain positive. She never seemed to really be out to hurt you anyway. 

At least, not until now. 

Rehearsal had started like it always does for you; you arrived early and stretched, Sierra and Ashton arriving a bit early as well and walking you through some helpful new stretches for some of the new routines you had learned. Slowly the other girls trickled in, most of them carrying whatever coffee or tea that needed to get through whatever hangovers they were still shaking off as they crossed the threshold of the building. Sisi pretended not to notice the large sunglasses on your friends faces, instead looking at a sheet of paper Ashton had in his hands as Crystal and Michael walked in. 

Since your first rehearsal with the group, you had filled in on all the gossip and relationship drama; specifically all the ideas about Crystal and Michael. Michael had respectfully asked for permission from Sierra and Ashton to marry Crystal before he proposed, knowing that their relationship could affect their business, and when he got permission he popped the question. Neither of them wear rings to work, claiming neither of them wanted to worry about losing it, but Georgia’s theory was probably closer to the truth; no rings means more tips for Michael, and no ring meant more fun for Crystal. 

The couple stepped inside and started going their separate ways, Crystal giving Michael a quick kiss on the cheek before she joined everybody on stage. Michael waved to you on his way to the back, a smile on his face as he disappeared. Your friendship with Michael had evolved a bit since you ran into that handsome stranger by the staff entrance; he enjoyed teasing and joking around with you, knowing you had thick enough skin to take it and dish it out at the same time. Genuinely, you thought of Michael as a friend, even though Crystal thought of it as more. 

You shook your head clear of your thoughts as Sierra started speaking, paying attention as she gave you the run-down for practice. You took a quick glance at the line, noticing one of the girls was missing before looking back to Sierra. 

“As you ladies may have noticed,” she started, meeting your eyes and gathering your confused expression. “We’re missing Daisy today. Yes, she is still working here, so don’t worry about that.” The girls all audibly sighed in unison, causing Sierra to chuckle a bit. “She is, however, pregnant and at an ultrasound appointment this morning.” A unified gasp and excited chatter exploded through the girls, all of them so excited for their friend. 

Sierra clapped her hands, gathering everybody’s attention again before continuing. “So, because of that, Rory will be taking over Daisy’s spots in routines. So places, ladies, let’s get this ball rolling.” 

Georgia caught your eye and grinned as you got into position, your lips curling into an identical expression as you took your new spot by Crystal. 

Most of practice was quiet, everybody helping you learn Daisy’s parts and assisting you in cleaning up your movements. The time eventually came for you to do the number Daisy had with Crystal, the two of you on stage together running through it for the first time. 

During a certain move you lost your balance, unfortunately crashing into Crystal while the music paused. Your head bounced off the wooden stage, a sharp stinging pain shooting your head. Your ankle throbbed, no doubt twisted while you were falling, the pain dragging a pained wince from you. Beside you came a frustrated groan, the sound of heels clicking towards you making you look up as you tried to stand. 

“Could you please learn how to fucking stand?” She asked, anger painting her face. “That move was easy, yet you still managed to fuck it up. How?”

“I didn’t mean-” 

“Of course you didn’t!” Crystal said, throwing her hands up in the air. The girls were silently staring, mouths dropped open as tears pricked your eyes. “You never mean to. Instead you just float through every number like it’s nothing to you. Do you think you can just coast through here like you’re some golden girl? If you’re not going to put in the effort then there’s the fucking door, you ugly tramp.” 

The air around you froze, the silence absolutely deafening as you sniffled. The pain in your ankle and head had reached a peak now, tears spilling from your cheeks as Crystal’s tirade continued. Your ears were ringing now, not entirely listening as she continued for a few more sentences. 

“Enough!” 

The loud, sharp command came from the back of the room, your eyes turning to see Sierra, Ashton and Michael standing in the back. Ashton and Michael wore identical looks of shock, Sierra’s covered in seething anger. She was the one who spoke, a storm approaching the stage as she moved forward. 

“Crystal, my office. Right now.” 

Crystal huffed and turned on her heel, stomping backstage towards Sierra’s office. Georgia immediately scrambled on to the stage to you, her petite figure kneeling beside you and taking you into her arms as you sobbed. You gripped her shoulders, your body shaking as she ran her fingers through your hair. 

Another pair of hands appeared on you, hooking themselves under your knees and across your back and lifting you up. You curled into the body carrying you, not even noticing it was Ashton as he and Georgia carried you off the stage. Sierra appointed a senior dancer in charge and stormed to the back, Ashton and Michael hovering over you as everybody was forced to continue on with practice. Georgia lingered until Ashton gently escorted her back to the group, the girls moving on with a different number while Michael kneeled next to you with a medical kit. 

“What’d you hit?” He asked kindly, reaching up to gently wipe at the tears. You had calmed down significantly, the pain still radiating through you while Ashton took your now swollen ankle and propped it up on his jacket. 

“M-My head,” you said thickly, sniffling. “And I-I think I twisted my ankle.” 

Michael nodded, his hands gently combing through your hair as his eyes looked your head over. “Okay, so the good news is I can’t feel or see blood anywhere,” he said, smiling at you. The smile didn’t reach his eyes, the clouds behind them worrying you until Ashton spoke. You looked over at him as he shoved a cell phone back into his pocket.

“Mike,” he said, Michael turning his attention towards the other man. “Kay is on her way. Go grab some ice packs from the back, please, let’s see how much of this swelling we can get down before she gets here.” 

Michael nodded, giving you one more smile before moving to the back. Ashton shifted to your side, taking your hand and giving it a squeeze. 

“Love,” he said gently, his hand finding its way under your chin and tilting it towards him. He gave you a gentle smile. “Don’t listen to her, okay?” 

Tears threatened to spill again. “But she’s right-” 

Ashton shook his head, squeezing your hand again. “No, she’s not. You’ve worked much harder than some of your sisters here, and you deserve to be here just as much as they do.” He glanced at the group of girls starting the opening number, his voice dropping in volume as he leaned a bit closer. “Honestly, you’re better than most of your sisters, too.”

His compliment made you smile, his lips reflecting it back to you. “There’s the winning smile.” 

“Thank you, Ash,” you said kindly, Michael appearing beside you again with two ice packs wrapped in cloth. HIs words helped you feel a bit better, but the sting of Crystal’s harsh words still lingered.

The three of you stuck together until a woman in scrubs walked in, Ashton immediately moving towards her and kissing her cheek. He guided her over to you, her kind smile immediately easing your worries as she knelt beside you.

“You’re in good hands, Ro. We’re gonna get you fixed up.” 

32. Part 2

Drinking the Hennessey from the bottle, I have not been in a club for so long. I mean I would have loved to have Rylee here but I think she went home with Royalty or did Nia take her, I don’t even remember “we got Breezy in the building!” the DJ shouted down the mic, lifting my bottle up in the air bopping my head “We poppin' like Ayo! All my bitches got real hair chilling with the top down screaming like Ayo!” I sang my own song as it came on, I love getting lit with my own songs. Sinko nudged me, looking over at him he bought his head closer to me “let’s go to a strip joint” he said in my ear, furrowing my eyebrows unimpressed with the gesture “the only time I will go to a strip joint is with my girl, we can throw ones together” drinking the bottle, Sinko didn’t look impressed with my answer at all. I honestly wish Rylee came, I am sad as fuck now. I got every bitch here, I think I must have fucked them all. Placing my hand on Keeis’ shoulder in front of me, leaning down “my girl thinks you had sex in the home is that right?” Keeis’ smile grew “one time nigga, it just happened” smacking the back of his head, she knew and she was right “my girl is always right” I said to myself before drinking.

Feeling my tee being yanked back “you cool?” Joe asked “yeah, I’m straight bro. Fuck them niggas, they bitch asses” putting a finger up at Lo and Hood, my bodyguard pushed me back up “push him back straight! Aaron pull him back” feeling an arm around me as I got pulled back, I hate them niggas so much. I want a bust a cap in their asses so bad, he tried to fuck my girl and that keeps playing in my mind “cuz! Yo, look at me” turning my head to see Hood “fuck you!” pushing Aaron “woah, cuz. It’s me, chill” rubbing my face, I swear that was him “did someone put something in my drink?” Aaron gave me my drink back “just calm it yeah? Have my blunt” he placed it in my hand, looking at the blunt like a foreign piece of thing “where Sinko?” I shouted out “he put something in my drink, he did” but I continued to drink it “what?” Sinko shouted “you put something in my drink?” reaching over and grabbing his jacket “you do me favour” I paused gathering my thoughts “shoot them, throw a bottle and tell them to get out” letting his jacket go.

I feel like something has been put in my drink, I can handle my drink but I am going crazy for nothing. Hearing the glass shatter and the crowd disperse, I just stared but my vision is gone. I busted out laughing because he did it “get here” I got dragged down from where I was stood “we need to get you out” laughing as Joe and Carlos dragged me out, I ain’t even moving my feet at all and this shit is so funny to me “cuz, nigga stand up!” Aaron shouted behind me, suddenly everything went black for me and you can just hear the screaming “move!” Joe shouted, yanking my arm away and pulling the jacket off from my head “Chris we need to go” I got pushed forward, turning around in anger “the fuck pushing me for!?” seeing this guy looking at me and I just punched him “woah!!” arms got wrapped around me and pulled back and Joe got in front of me.

Seeing the police outside, my arm around Aaron’ shoulder holding me up “officer, hood and Lo. They the ones bro” tapping his shoulder and walking “I’m ok, I can walk” trying to move my arm from Aaron but he kept my arm around him “you stupid nigga, the hell you listen to him?” Aaron spat “he said it, he told me too” hearing Sinko say, I am gone “come over here, put him in the SUV” hearing Joe say “we gon beat yo ass Chris, you keep fucking with us” Hood shouted “get him in the car” trying to turn around but Joe’ big ass gripped the back of my tee and dragged me inside.

I gasped jumping out of bed as the house alarm sounded “fuck” seeing the bed empty as fuck, seriously why me and why now. I hate this shit because I don’t know what to do besides hide, luckily I don’t have Royalty so I can just stay here but this alarm is really about to give me a headache. Grabbing my phone, rushing over to the tablet on the table. I can just log into the app and see who the hell it is, this damn thing is about to take so long to load. Maybe I should go down and see or maybe stay here, I am so confused. The footage came up, tapping on the camera aimed at the cars “seriously?” tapping on the camera at the door, Chris is out there with Joe “asshole” placing the tablet down, why can’t he just walk in, grabbing my robe and rushing down the steps to turn the shit off before police come and I don’t want that either.

Unlocking the door seeing Joe holding up Chris “I am sorry, he triggered it by being stupid. He is drunk somehow, you want me to take him in” he is a mess “was he sick? Does he have everything on him still?” walking up to Chris “I was talking about you” Chris moved his arm away from Joe to walk to me, he is wobbling everywhere “ok, good but look at you” he was sick “ugh! Please don’t tell me he was sick anywhere here?” Joe pulled Chris back with his tee “no, he was in the car but he will get that bill” I am not angry with him, I can’t be angry with him. I just rather he didn’t get like this “hold him still for me” pulling his top up “freak shit” Chris slurred out, his top is full of sick and I want to be sick now. Navigating his arm through the arm holes “I don’t feel good” lifting the tee over his head “Joe, can you like put him on the couch” walking inside to put this in the garbage, I am not about to wash it.

I am not about to have him in the bed, I can’t even carry him but now I am stuck with a drunk Chris “don’t think so, lay down” I said before he attempted to try and roll his ass off the couch “why you shout? I didn’t do anything” sitting on the edge of the couch “because I don’t want you to move, just sleep it off for me. Why did you get drunk for stupid?” Chris smiled as he hugged my arm “I am not about to sit here with you, I will get you a blanket and you will sleep here” if he thinks he can hug my arm while I sit here like this, I do not think so. Moving my arm away from him as I got up, pulling his sneakers off his feet and letting them fall to the floor “I don’t feel good” he mumbled, of course he don’t. Putting my hand in his pocket and pulling his phone out and also his cards, I am not angry with him. More like why do that shit.

I am glad Chris fell asleep but I couldn’t help but keep checking on him, I just wanted to know he was ok and he was. Sleeping like a baby “Kyrie will you just get off the phone” I swear to god my little brother is really pissing me off “but where is Chris?” he asked again “up my ass now go” Kyrie gasped as the phone got snatched off him “my baby girl, how are you?” my dad said “why do you bother giving Kyrie the phone, I am good. Just a little tired, what about you and mom?” stifling out a yawn “she good, she is making progress, still the same and you know me. I am great just can’t believe how Christmas came around so quick” chewing on my bottom lip “yeah, I still not decided how I am doing this” I blurted out “what you mean? We did say tell Chris to come here” my dad said “but it’s not that simple, he has to stay for his daughter and he wants me with him. Chris is very clingy to me and he doesn’t really want me to go there” my dad sighed out “but he can stay with his daughter, I want my daughter with us. What if this is our last Christmas as a family and you just let that go, Chris has his family there” my eyes widened “so now you want to emotionally black mail me dad, I can’t be with both you and Chris. I get it, I am your only daughter but” my dad cut me off “I need you to help me with dinner Rylee, I can’t do it on my own and I won’t have your mother in the kitchen doing it when she does not have the strength” I can’t even reply to that “so you will hate me if I stay with Chris? He is my future” I was going to stay “he has you all day every day Rylee, when do we have you? Just do not ruin this for us” this is so fucked up, on both ends I will get emotionally blackmailed.

Taking my mind off shit I am just cleaning, I can’t stop cleaning now either because I am angry. I am angry at my dad but I get him but also Chris, he will not want me to go. Scrubbing the kitchen counter in anger “you angry with me?” I jumped at Chris’ voice “Jesus!” I spat turning around, I was so in my own thoughts there and he just scared me. Chris rubbed his head “no, not you. Just cleaning, you need to have some water. Have a shower and then we speak” I guess in that time I can make him a good breakfast, Chris looks so sad but I think he is upset with himself. He turned around walking off “hey” walking to the fridge and opening the fridge door, grabbing the water bottle. Opening the water as I walked to Chris “drink some water, stop being sad” Chris took the water and walked off, he knows he’s done wrong but I am not even angry with him. He is stupid for getting drunk but I am happy he is just home.

“Wow! For me?” Chris said, looking behind me as I filled the dishwasher “yeah” pushing the tray and closed the dishwasher door “chicken and waffles though, I didn’t do anything good” he said while sitting down “but I am not angry with you” drying my hands on the towel “honestly I didn’t barely drink, I think someone put something in my drink. I swear Sinko did, because all of a sudden I felt drunk and high, my vision was gone and I was being dragged” he rubbed his face “fucking Lo and Hood was there and I am not stupid Rylee, they think I am but I’m not. Sinko did something to my drink but I couldn’t control my body, I was gone. I am not lying, he did something to me” placing the towel on the kitchen counter “you would never lie, I believe you. It’s ok, maybe you need to stop fucking with him also” pulling the chair out “but I made him start shit with Lo, like I remember telling him and then I watched the video and the whole club was throwing bottles and that was on me. I got angry, Hood wanted to fuck you. I was here when he said it first hand, he made you out to be some hoe and I just got angry again thinking about it” holding his hand “I believe you Chris, just eat your food and just stop hanging with idiots. They don’t care about you, the only people caring about you is the man that bought you home to me. I don’t want to dictate your life but anyone that associated themselves with Hood and Lo once upon a time are a no go. Sinko clearly wanted to start something, I think you should think of yourself because whatever he put in your drink could have fucked you up, just cut them off” moving my hand away from his, I will let him think on that,

Holding the earrings up to my ear, they don’t really match my outfit “you going out?” Chris said behind me “Dinner with Maria, you are coming with me” turning around in my seat “I don’t really feel like going out, I do it next time” I feel so triggered right now “so you want me to sit with Anton and Maria on my own when I said my man would come. You wanted to go to the club I didn’t say no. Your ass came home drunk, felt sick on yourself and I cleaned you but you can’t come with me for a couple evening. Don’t come with me then do not speak to me for the rest of the week, I will be on EJs bus. I ask one thing from you and you just say no, shut me down like that” turning back around to look at myself in the mirror “do not touch me Chris! Please don’t” I can see his creeping ass walking closer, getting up from the seat. Placing the earrings on the table “I ask one thing from you and you can’t even do that for me” Chris stared at me in shock “why you crying for? I am sorry” it’s too damn late now, I have ruined my makeup “just don’t” walking by him, he was about to grab my arm but I hit it away before he could.

I have kind of saved my makeup, but I still feel a mess. Shaking my head looking away from the mirror as I sobbed out, I feel so sad and I felt it yesterday but with everything going on I never got to cry, I never got to cry, cry at the moment I found out that she was pregnant and then my family, now this. Chris just triggered me to cry and now I can’t stop “fuck my life” I said to myself, looking back in the mirror and I have totally messed it up. I need to leave this room, it’s not his fault it’s just built up emotions. Turning around to leave the bathroom, unlocking the door and opening it. Blowing out air “Rylee I am sorry, I just didn’t feel good but I will come” Chris got up off the bed “it’s ok, it was just me. I had built up emotions on things and I cried and took it out on you” walking towards the walk-in closet “oh ok but I will come with you, can I hug you?” he asked, turning around and seeing that Chris is following right behind me “yes” opening my arms, Chris walked into me and hugged me close and again I felt overcome with emotions “Rylee, you are crying again” Chris picked me up and carried me out of the walk in closet.

Chris won’t let me get ready now until I talk “why are you hurting and crying? Is it me? Please just talk to me, I don’t like you crying” I feel so stupid crying “just stupid tears, I am crying about myself, I am crying that I won’t be able to make you a father again, crying because I just felt like crying” I shrugged “I feel emotional, and then I called my dad and he said he wants me to come for Christmas but you also want me and I feel stuck Chris, I just want to be with you for that day” Chris sighed out “he said what if it’s my mom’ last Christmas and then he said he needs my help” I wanted to keep this away from him but I couldn’t, he is my future “have you spoken to your mom, this is our first Christmas in this home with new couches” he said which made me laugh, he always makes me laugh “I won’t keep you away but you can go, I don’t want you stressing and crying. Your mom is unwell but I have to stay here” shaking my head “I want to be with you but also my family, I don’t know. Maybe speak to my mom and see what she says, because it’s my dad making the arguments” I can’t believe I cried because of this.

I didn’t wear no earrings, I just went simple. Slapped on some lip-gloss after ruining my makeup, tied my hair back and wore some loose-fitting clothing. Chris is driving us in his Bentley, he has come with me “you know I am very sorry about upsetting you, I was feeling a little off” he apologised again “it’s fine, did you manage to find out from Aaron if Sink did put something in your drink?” I don’t know why he bothers with them friends “uh nah, I just not bothered with them. Fuck them, I am glad I am coming out with you though. Just at that moment I felt off and don’t worry I will get some new couches. But once I am done with the tour we will change the home up a little. Keeis does need to stay though, actually forget it. My mom can house sit” that sounds like a better idea “great” looking for my phone in my bag “so, tell me about yesterday. You were upset? Speak to me, I know your face and you looked so sad” finally finding my phone “I just found out Maria is pregnant and I got sad for myself Chris, I just don’t think I will. I was being stupid” I shrugged “we haven’t even tried, right? I mean we are now, just sit back and wait and if not then we can just go and see a specialist you get me?” smiling at Chris “Rylee I support you in everything, I am just annoyed at myself too. I didn’t go out to get drunk just things happen” stroking his cheek “it’s fine, I was never angry with that trust me. I should leave it to god” I am worrying too much.

Maria eyed up Chris’ plate “he doesn’t eat much” she questioned “he is not well, that is what happens when you get drunk but he came for me” Chris smiled placing his arm on the back of my chair “you got another tour date tomorrow?” Maria said to him “I do, I just need to sleep it off. After this we are going back on the bus and gone, I should be fine. I have nurse Rylee here” Maria laughed “you mean hide away from work Rylee, she never liked doing sick patients. You remember that time when that guy proposed to you” pulling a face “don’t remind me, he was stupid. Anton he said to me I was his number one and he was a virgin. The guy looked fifty and smelt like booze” Maria laughed at me “I didn’t understand why people want to be nurses, I said to Maria. I said are you sure Rylee is a nurse? She is always hiding” I gasped at Maria “oh I see you, you been bitching about me” pointing at her “bye, you left me with that sick patient I was mad as fuck” she got a point, I did ditch her.

“You got any work going on there” Anton asked Chris “work? Rylee brother asked me the same thing, what can you do?” Chris asked “anything, hell I’ll be your tour bus cleaner” Chris chuckled shaking his head “I don’t really employ anyone, for now I don’t need anyone. I will keep you in mind, I am just trying to get Rylee on something. She is too hard headed” glaring over at Chris “how?” I questioned “when I said I can get you with Wilhelmina you denied it, you won’t take the money from the Black pyramid that you made” rolling my eyes at him “girl, get it! Bitch you have the looks and body, model that Gucci bitch” waving her off “no, I am hoping to be a mother” I openly admitted “how you feel about that Chris?” Maria asked him “fine, it is a blessing because I will get to actually feel and see my child be born, Rylee is a perfect step mother already” I cooed out at Chris “aww, it’s different when you see it. That bond” I pray I do get to make him a dad again.